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  • - Hey, it's Andrew, Steven and Adam.

  • This episode was filmed at the beginning of the year,

  • before we began social distancing, due to COVID-19.

  • - And, while we're currently practicing social distancing,

  • we wanted to share these great restaurants with you,

  • even though dinning out is not the same right now.

  • We're in Houston, Texas!

  • - We're doing breakfast sandwiches!

  • - The classic breakfast sandwich...

  • - Right

  • - What does that look like?

  • It looks like breakfast in a sandwich,

  • eaten for breakfast.

  • - I'm thinking, like, muffin, egg...

  • - [Steven] Mm

  • - [Andrew] Some cheese?

  • - [Steve] Have to have cheese.

  • - [Andrew] Maybe a ham or bacon...

  • - [Steven] Yes.

  • - But what if, breakfast didn't have the halves

  • of the sandwich closed?

  • - [Steven] What if it was on a donut?

  • - [Andrew] What if there were no eggs on it whatsoever?

  • Is that a breakfast sandwich?

  • We're gonna be finding out today, on Worth it!

  • ♪ Is it worth it? ♪

  • ♪ Make it worth it ♪

  • ♪ Make it worth it, worth it. ♪

  • ♪ Worth it! ♪

  • - Today on Worth It, we're gonna be trying

  • three different breakfast sandwiches

  • at three drastically different price points

  • to find out which one is the most worth it at its price.

  • Oh, and just wanna say off the top,

  • thank you to Toyota for making this season possible.

  • Okay, Andrew...

  • - Like I hinted at earlier,

  • the breakfast sandwiches this trip

  • are going to challenge your convention

  • of what a breakfast sandwich is.

  • - I always like the episodes where Andrew goes rogue.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • - Andrew goes rogue, Andrew goes food theory mode.

  • Where are we going first?

  • - We're going to see Andrew and his mother Nga,

  • at Cali Sandwich to try their banh mi,

  • because banh mi, from what I understand,

  • is eaten at all times of day in Vietnam,

  • as well as breakfast.

  • (guitar music playing)

  • - Can you tell us a little bit about Cali Sandwiches.

  • - Oh, we started in 1993, yeah, that time we only

  • sold sandwich only.

  • We sell about 700 bread a day.

  • - [Andrew] Your previous restaurant sold

  • 700 sandwiches a day?

  • - [Nga] Yeah, yeah.

  • - [Andrew] So you still only make sandwiches,

  • what do you guys sell now?

  • - We have pho, we have egg rolls, uh, spring rolls,

  • we, we have branched out, so stir fried food.

  • - Cause Cali Sandwiches, in Houston,

  • is one of many Vietnamese restaurants,

  • what is it that makes your food, you know,

  • a little different, a little special?

  • - [Nga] We make fresh everyday, we make everything here,

  • we get here eight o' clock, you know,

  • and then we start, you know, cook everything fresh,

  • by the second day, they're not fresh no more.

  • They say that's gonna be too much work,

  • I say, "I don't want people who, you know,

  • eat one time, and they say 'bye, bye'."

  • The meat some places, they buy already cut,

  • but we don't want it like that.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah, you guys are

  • very well known around town.

  • Like everybody I've asked who says

  • "where should you go for banh mi?"

  • Everybody says " Cali Sandwich"

  • - Really?

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • - Thank you.

  • - Oh, I didn't know that.

  • (laughs)

  • - [Andrew] Yeah!

  • - [Steven, Owner] So once they grill the meat,

  • they cut off all the chars,

  • she doesn't wanna put too much char

  • cause it's not really good for you.

  • - [Steven, Host] But then why do you char it?

  • - [Steven, Owner] So you get the flavor, smoke it.

  • - [Nga] You put on oven, it not fry good.

  • - [Andrew] Our video is about breakfast sandwiches,

  • I actually learned recently that Vietnam,

  • people eat banh mi first thing in the morning.

  • - [Nga] This morning, I walk in,

  • I was so hungry, and I had the half sandwich

  • with the thin pork, oh my, it made me so good, yeah.

  • - [Andrew] So that was your breakfast today.

  • - [Nga] Yeah.

  • - [Steven, Host] How do you spare your

  • breakfast sandwich though, it's a,

  • it's a sandwich you could eat kinda on the go?

  • - [Andrew] You guys offer a lot of different versions

  • of the banh mi, which ones should we try today?

  • - [Nga] Uh, combo and the grilled pork.

  • - [Steven, Host] Uh, how much is the banh mi?

  • - Banh mi is, uh, $3.69.

  • - What?

  • (laughs)

  • (cash register ding)

  • - Wow, thank you.

  • - [Andrew] Thank you so much.

  • - Cheers!

  • - Cheers, Steven.

  • - Mm.

  • - We got their Thai iced tea that they make in house.

  • - Good morning, Andrew!

  • - Good morning!

  • - Good morning.

  • - Good morning, sandwich!

  • - Good morning, sandwich.

  • - We got a grilled pork, and we have a combo.

  • So why don't we have half of each,

  • start with the grilled pork.

  • - [Steven] Lets do it.

  • It is a lot lighter than I thought it was gonna be.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • - Cheers.

  • (crunch)

  • - Mm!

  • - It's the perfect sandwich, regardless of the time of day.

  • - That was really fresh.

  • You know the first thing I want in the morning

  • is to feel refreshed.

  • You get up, you wash your face, brush your teeth.

  • - Yeah, it's like looking in the mirror and...

  • (smacking noise)

  • Slap on your face.

  • - Yes.

  • - That's what having a jalapeno for breakfast is like.

  • - Hey, I got you, I got you.

  • (paper crinkling)

  • - Okay, I gotta wipe that down now.

  • - We're moving on to the combo.

  • - Woo!

  • - Oh.

  • - Wait a sec, wait what's in here again?

  • - Pate, pork roll, steamed barbecue pork.

  • - Steamed barbecue pork.

  • - [Andrew] And ham.

  • - [Steven] That's a labor of love right there.

  • (cash register ding)

  • Cheers.

  • (crunch)

  • The jalapeno.

  • - Yeah...

  • - Woo.

  • - This one's a little spicy.

  • You know what's interesting about jalapeno,

  • in a otherwise not spicy thing?

  • A jalapeno... (slurps)

  • makes you salivate more after your bite,

  • therefore making you want even more sandwich.

  • Oh! (slurps) Salivating,

  • I want some pate, rich pate, cool it off.

  • You eat that, but hey, there's a bite of jalapeno

  • still in there, circle of sandwich life.

  • - Couldn't have said it better myself.

  • (silent crunch)

  • Breakfast sandwich fact time!

  • Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo!

  • According to historian Heather Arndt-Anderson,

  • the breakfast sandwich has its origins in

  • early 19th-century London when factory workers

  • desired a quick and convenient breakfast

  • on their way to work.

  • The soft roll used for the sandwiches was called a "bap."

  • It's both a sad and a happy thing.

  • - Why sad?

  • - Sad because it was like "oh, no we don't have

  • time to eat breakfast anymore so lets just

  • package it in a way, so we can get to work faster.

  • - But a delicious thing was born.

  • - Yes.

  • - Okay, so our next breakfast sandwich,

  • we're going to see Mark and Drew at Squable,

  • where we're going to be having their

  • donut breakfast sandwich.

  • Of all the sandwiches we're gonna be having in this episode

  • this one definitely contains

  • the most breakfasty items, you know?

  • - All right, let's go to Squable, I, uh,

  • I do respect the name, great name, Squable.

  • (chill music playing)

  • - Could you just give us a description

  • of what kind of restaurant Squable is.

  • - A rustic, European restaurant,

  • with American influences, which gives us like

  • liberty to kind of play with cuisines,

  • like French cuisine, Italian cuisine.

  • - So you guys are co...

  • - [Together] Co-chef partners.

  • - Do you have different focuses here?

  • - I mean, I'm very much focused on the bread.

  • So I'm, you know, responsible for the donuts.

  • Mark is more responsible for the savory part of the menu.

  • - The mustaches, was that before you guys met or like...

  • (laughs)

  • Once you decided to start a restaurant together?

  • You were like, "this is the look".

  • - The last time we did a photo shoot, uh,

  • we said "next time let's do it with mustaches."

  • - [Andrew] So, bread and pastry is really intertwined

  • throughout this whole menu, right?

  • - [Drew] Definitely, we have these specific bread section,

  • but it finds its way in to like, pretty much half the menu.

  • - And, so with this breakfast sandwich

  • that we're having today,

  • can you talk about how that ties in together?

  • - [Mark] In a roundabout way,

  • the sandwich is like a croque madame,

  • but a little bit more playful.

  • - [Steven] And then, why use a donut?

  • - [Drew] So, we serve donuts for dessert,

  • as well, for dinner.

  • - [Mark] A big part of this restaurant is

  • making sure we utilize everything, as much as possible,

  • I don't like wasting anything.

  • And we were like "Well, what would be kind of interesting

  • to do and use the donut in more than one way?"

  • - [Drew] Generally, the ones that we use for brunch

  • come from the service before.

  • - [Mark] We more or less need like a stale donut

  • to be able to build a sandwich out of.

  • We tried doing it with like a fresh donut

  • it would be too hard to eat.

  • The sandwich is layered with a ham and cheese,

  • so we use country ham, with Gruyere.

  • You have a mornay sauce, which has a little bit mustard,

  • Gruyere cheese, Raclette cheese,

  • and there's a little bit of Parmesan milk in there,

  • from cheese rinds that we use.

  • And it was like "croque madame, put like an egg on top"

  • And I was like "that's gonna look really messy"

  • So we just started to like separate the two.

  • We confit egg yolks,

  • basically putting egg yolks in olive oil.

  • We use the egg whites in the sandwich

  • and then putting the egg yolk on top

  • because everyone wants to see that,

  • so we just kinda made it to where it's the star.

  • And then take the top part of the donut

  • and dip it in the maple reduction.

  • Um, and then it gets finished with a little flake salt.

  • - [Steven] I gotta say, man, that's a lot of

  • work and technique that goes into making this breakfast.

  • - And that's kind of the idea behind the restaurant,

  • to keep everyone challenged, in the restaurant,

  • and engaged.

  • - [Andrew] Is there a strategy for what to do with the yolk?

  • - [Mark] You kinda have to commit

  • when you're gonna eat the sandwich, right?

  • If I were eating for myself, I would just kinda,

  • like pop it just pick it up.

  • - Would you eat it that way?

  • - I agree with that, that's exactly how I eat it.

  • (cash register ding)

  • (Andrew woos)

  • - [Steven] I will admit, it is the most appetizing looking

  • Bloody Mary I've ever seen.

  • - [Andrew] It makes me think I'm just having a smoothie.

  • I'm doing this for my gut health.

  • - Yes, cheers.

  • - Thank you, I mean cheers!

  • (laughing)

  • - What?

  • - Mm, that's tasty.

  • - I think I'd like to have more,

  • because it felt like I was eating it.

  • I want a fork and a knife.

  • - So check this out, fork and a knife, built into the table.

  • (silverware clinks)

  • - [Steven] Nice.

  • - I would like a separate compartment

  • for people to put their phones in.

  • Stop texting, people.

  • Definitely gonna forget that.

  • (laughs)

  • - I'll start with the potato.

  • (Steven ohs)

  • - [Andrew] They are fluffy, yeah.

  • It's like mashed inside.

  • Look at the other visual on this plate.

  • - [Steven] It's wild.

  • For those of you in home who cannot smell this,

  • the smell is very confusing.

  • - It's like, is it dessert or is it ham?

  • - (laughs) yeah!

  • I'm so messy that if I go fork and knife,

  • it'll be as clean as if you go with your hands.

  • (both wooing)

  • - [Steven] Wow it is sticky.

  • - Oh my God. (laughs) Oh my God.

  • The maple syrup flavor is just there enough, you know?

  • - It has a donut and maple syrup and it's not that sweet.

  • - It's cause the balance is right there, you know?

  • Like it had a cheese sauce,

  • but it's a sauce that's very peppery and mustardy.

  • So it works with all of this other sweet and rich stuff.

  • This is a killer sandwich,

  • this is actually very well thought out

  • and I did not make the realization

  • that it's like a croque madame.

  • - Were you like "croque my damn."

  • I feel like I'm dreaming right now,

  • I feel like I'm sleeping

  • and my wild mind came out with this.

  • - I've never heard that term before

  • but it totally makes sense,

  • I know about the wild mind.

  • (laughs)

  • This feels really good to eat after the sandwich.

  • (lettuce crunches)

  • - Oh my gosh.

  • - You gotta try one of these potatoes, they're unreal.

  • - I definitely almost forgot my phone.

  • - You did forget your phone.

  • - Okay, yeah, we were about to walk out the door

  • and somebody pointed out that my phone

  • was in fact still in the drawer at the table.

  • This is actually gonna conclude our time in Houston,

  • and our last breakfast sandwich is gonna be in Dallas.

  • - Road trip!

  • - Before we, uh, head off to our next place,

  • time for a little breakfast sandwich fact.

  • - [Steven] Woo! Breakfast sandwich fact!

  • - It's actually not gonna be a breakfast sandwich fact.

  • - Come on!

  • - Okay, bare with me, our last breakfast sandwich

  • is served on an English muffin.

  • So this is actually gonna be an English muffin fact,

  • so English muffin fact!

  • English muffins in England are known simply as muffins.

  • - (laughs) No way!

  • - Yes way.

  • - So what is a muffin to them.

  • - I'm glad you asked, what we know as muffins in America,

  • sometimes in England they're called American muffins.

  • - No way!

  • - Or sometimes just muffin.

  • - Wait what?

  • - Yeah, it's confusing.

  • - Do they call it the English channel,

  • the English channel over there?

  • Or is it just the channel?

  • And is that channel just BBC?

  • (laughs)

  • Well we're here in Dallas, Texas,

  • because we're going to talk to Dean Fearing

  • and we're going to Fearing's restaurant to eat what, Andrew?

  • - [Andrew] We're having the crab eggs benedict

  • off their brunch menu.

  • I would argue that an eggs benedict

  • is an open faced breakfast sandwich.

  • And, in fact, if you go to Wikipedia,

  • that's what it says, I didn't make that edit.

  • Look, it's a theory, we're gonna test it out,

  • that's the new point of this show,

  • is a food what we say it is.

  • - All right, let's go.

  • (elegant music playing)

  • - I'm Dean Fearing, I am the chef owner

  • of Fearing's Restaurant

  • located at the Ritz Carlton here in Dallas, Texas.

  • So, Fearing's Restaurant is unusual,

  • in the sense that we have five different dining rooms.

  • And I wanted this factor,

  • to have people be able to sit

  • in a different atmosphere, each time they come.

  • Fearing's is a southwest restaurant,

  • but with many worldly features.

  • Southwest cuisine is ingredients indigenous to our area,

  • identifying Texas as it's own food source.

  • The main component is all the influence

  • of food that came from South of the border.

  • We change the menu almost every three or four weeks.

  • Now, we don't change the whole menu,

  • as we have some signature items,

  • our buffalo that's been soaked in Vermont maple syrup

  • for 48 hours.

  • - Buffalo soaked in maple syrup?

  • - [Dean] Yes.

  • - [Andrew] Wow.

  • - [Dean] Unbelievable.

  • Our crab cake benedict is definitely

  • influenced by the southwest.

  • Crab meat coming from the Gulf,

  • the Hollandaise being poblano,

  • a taste from Mexico that I absolutely love,

  • using homemade English muffin.

  • - I have this theory of the eggs benedict,

  • I'm interested in getting your opinion on it.

  • So the eggs benedict, I think,

  • really is kind of an open faced breakfast sandwich.

  • - Of course!

  • - You agree?

  • - I would agree!

  • Yeah it's probably the first of it's kind.

  • - And if you wanted to have a breakfast sandwich

  • in a little bit more of a refined setting...

  • - (laughs) Yes.

  • - You'd eat it with a fork and a knife, right?

  • - You do.

  • - Who's gonna be making the benedict for us today?

  • - Mike Matis is our restaurant chef,

  • I love the curve and the little quirkiness

  • that Mike brings to the menu.

  • - For me, generally speaking, great crab cake,

  • it's gotta be like maybe 95% crab,

  • so we but like a pinch of breadcrumbs or croutons.

  • You know, a benedict, the most important part

  • is when you hit it with that Hollandaise,

  • it looks fresh, it's appetizing.

  • - [Dean] You know, you just can't beat that flavor.

  • - [Andrew] Steven, we've made it

  • to the final breakfast sandwich.

  • Does my theory hold water?

  • - Sure, I mean you already had Dean agreeing with you so...

  • - It's your feelings that matter to me, Steven.

  • (laughs)

  • - Okay, your gonna say that here.

  • - You know what, why don't you reserve your judgment

  • 'til once we're done eating.

  • - Okay, all right.

  • - To start, we've got Dean's margarita.

  • Wow, that's good.

  • - Oh, tequila.

  • - Sorry, this is delicious.

  • - It's, uh, it's strong and it lets you know it's strong.

  • So, we're here, and we have this, quite beautiful,

  • and, I mean, benedicts are usually pretty beautiful,

  • but this is, this is a different level of beauty

  • that I'm seeing right now.

  • - I don't think I've ever had an English muffin

  • that wasn't the store bought variety.

  • (Steven woos)

  • - [Andrew] That is perfect yolk for me, it's just jammy.

  • Okay, cheers, Steven.

  • I'm gonna come over to you.

  • (laughs)

  • Yeah, that's great.

  • That Hollandaise!

  • - That's crazy.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I feel like I just bit into a crab.

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • - This Hollandaise is like if a hot sauce was dairy.

  • (laughs)

  • - What is Hollandaise?

  • Like what is the der, derivation of that?

  • - I can tell you.

  • - Oh, you know?

  • - Did you ever travel to Europe?

  • - Uh, yeah.

  • - Did you ever spend any days in Holland?

  • - Yes, we did.

  • - That's Hollandaise.

  • (Steven laughs)

  • Sorry what was your question?

  • - You know, you've made this theory

  • very prominently a part of this episode,

  • a benedict is an open faced breakfast sandwich.

  • You could eat it with a fork and knife that...

  • - Right!

  • - That is the one thing that I think kinda

  • deters me from your theory.

  • - Okay, you might recall our double cheeseburger episode,

  • at Petit Trois, the chef said "Sorry, in France,

  • we eat a cheeseburger with a fork and knife.

  • It's a little foo-foo, but that's how we do it."

  • - Right.

  • I really gotta say though,

  • the, the star of this dish is the crab, super good.

  • - Andrew, Steven?

  • How's everything tasting?

  • - Very delicious.

  • Tell me about this margarita.

  • - Well everything is pretty traditional,

  • except we use a Mexican liquor called Damiana,

  • that has a little bit of a licorice flavor.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah, and I heard you went

  • and selected the barrels of tequila?

  • - [Dean] Yes, out of 28 barrels,

  • I picked two for the hint of vanilla.

  • - [Andrew] It's a delicious margarita,

  • one of the best I've ever had.

  • - [Dean] Thank you for coming by

  • and joining us, and, and seeing what our

  • breakfast sandwich is all about.

  • - [Andrew] Thank you.

  • - (laughs) All right!

  • - Look what you've done, Andrew.

  • - [Dean] Enjoy!

  • - Steven, you look repulsed.

  • - I am.

  • I don't care if it's a sandwich or not anymore,

  • I just want this to stop.

  • - Well, Steven, breakfast is officially over.

  • Before we get to our Worth It winners,

  • what was your favorite thing from this episode

  • that was not a breakfast sandwich?

  • - Egg roll at Cali's Sandwich.

  • What makes it so crispy?

  • - Oh, the rice paper.

  • Some people use, you know, the frozen one,

  • but I don't like using those frozen.

  • I like that one.

  • - I also have ever eaten an egg roll that was wrapped

  • in a leaf of lettuce.

  • - Yeah.

  • - That changes the game.

  • - Andrew, what was your favorite thing,

  • not a sandwich, in this episode?

  • - I think I will have to choose the Bison

  • at Fearing's Restaurant, we talked about it,

  • but we did not eat it on camera.

  • It's delicious, they serve it with a taquito.

  • - Which breakfast sandwich was the most worth it to you,

  • at its given a price point?

  • - All of the sandwiches we ate today were worth it.

  • I also want to clarify that they were also

  • definitely sandwiches and definitely

  • consumable for breakfast.

  • - When you have to say "definitely" twice in a sentence,

  • that makes a reason to pause.

  • But yes, I would agree.

  • - You know, that donut sandwich, at Squable,

  • seemed like the kind of food that you would,

  • you know, scroll pass on Instagram,

  • and be like "there's no way that's actually a good sandwich"

  • But the way they have all those components dialed in there,

  • at Squable, is delicious.

  • But, for me, my Worth It winner has to be that bahn mi,

  • at Cali's Sandwich.

  • It's a beautiful idea to just eat

  • the thing you want the most first thing in the morning.

  • Okay, Steven, which breakfast sandwich

  • was most worth it to you, at its given price?

  • - If we were doing crab cakes,

  • my answer would be Fearing's Restaurant.

  • If we were doing donut, my answer would be Squable.

  • But we are doing breakfast sandwiches, my dude.

  • (laughs)

  • And that's why my answer goes to Cali's Sandwich.

  • It's in the name, the value on that,

  • which we don't even talk about enough on this show,

  • is absurd.

  • - Alrighty, one final question, Adam,

  • who's your most Worth It breakfast sandwich?

  • Adam says Cali's Sandwich.

  • (Steven woos)

  • - When was the last time we had a triple Worth It winner?

  • It's been a while.

  • - It's so nice to do a whole video in Texas.

  • - Oh, favorite thing that we, uh ,uh, sorry,

  • had off camera, that had nothing to do with anything,

  • we had dinner with my parents.

  • - It was fun.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Lovely people

  • - Yeah, shout out to my mom.

  • Hi. Mom, hi, Dad!

  • Last time I said "hi, Mom" and my Dad got mad.

  • So I have to say" Hi, Mom and Dad."

  • Hi Mom and Dad!

  • Love you guys.

  • (rock music playing)

  • ♪ Worth it. ♪

  • ♪ Worth it. ♪

  • ♪ Worth it. ♪

  • ♪ Worth it. ♪

  • ♪ Worth it. ♪

  • ♪ Worth it! ♪

- Hey, it's Andrew, Steven and Adam.

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