Sammy's Cafe

Located a block away Gringos, near the Craze Fun Center. A Landmark in itself.

I remember opening day in Fall of 2010. I stood in line for 2 hours and it was totally worth it. Mere months later, I don’t remember where we used to hang out before Sammy’s existed – it’s the most happening place in Rexburg, and you sort of have to go there at least once. The Sammy’s ambiance is part old timey soda bar, part trendy/indie hipster. There is live music every weekend, which has saved me on more than one date occasion (that is a rant for a different blog), ranging from jazz to alternative to folk music.

The thing you absolutely must try is the pie shake. Basically a piece of pie is inserted into a blender with milk and ice cream, and voila! Awesomeness. To maximize the experience, go with either pumpkin pie or coconut cream. Your shake will be like a regular shake, with chunks of pie crust augmenting the experience. If you opt for a fruit pie, it comes out to be the same as a normal fruit shake – good but not special. And you want special. They also have cupcake shakes, using the Cocoa Bean cupcakes. However, this basically results in a shake with soggy cupcakes, so go for the pie.

The burgers are excellent as well. The meat is high quality, cooked to perfection, at a slightly larger than normal proportion. There is a variety of burgers listed, with the Promo being your basic burger. I like the Big Lou (supposedly names for Lou Buhrly, an Anat/Phys teacher here) which adds pastrami, but there are many options, all pretty dang good.

They also have a unique promotion called Mustache Mondays. I sported a horrible mustache for the better part of a Monday so that I could get me a free grilled cheese sandwich there. Mostly I just wanted to say I took part in the promotion. Fake mustaches get half off – it’s a good sandwich though. Go with Swiss cheese.

The only drag is that when the place gets busy, service can reflect that – I once had my order forgotten about for over an hour. When I finally brought it to their attention, I was given free food, so I don’t harbor hard feelings, I’m just giving the warning. Sometimes it’s best to go during the non-peak hours. Overall though, it’s one of the best places to go eat, albeit a little bit pricey on my poor man budget, so I reserve it for first dates only. Good food, good music (usually), and good atmosphere – Sammy’s doesn’t even need my review to garner attention, but it’s on my top 10 anyway. It is Sammy’s after all.