The Unvegan

While in Michigan, one restaurant I had to visit was Olga’s Kitchen in West Bloomfield. The local chain has been around forever and has never attempted to veer away from the core factor that makes the restaurant a success. This core factor is Olga Bread and it is no ordinary bread. The closest thing it can be compared to is Greek pita, but to simply call it Greek pita would be an injustice. It is buttery and crispy and multiple levels of delicious. Olga’s uses it to make their sandwiches and as a side for their salads, but by far the best use of Olga Bread is in Olga’s Snackers.

This incredible appetizer/side is made from sliced up wedges of Olga Bread, toasted to a crisp and seasoned. They come with a Swiss almond cheese dip if you get the original or a marinara dip if you order them pizza style. You can’t lose with either choice, but I prefer the original style. I’m convinced that if Olga’s Snackers were served at any sort of peace negotiation, all issues would be quickly resolved. Trying to disarm Iran? Give them Olga’s Snackers and uranium enrichment will be halted at once.

While the snackers are the best reason to visit Olga’s, they also serve some great

sandwiches made with that amazing Olga Bread. Not really any of them are unvegan from the start, but they can be customized to fit unvegan needs. My favorite is the Three Cheese, featuring Cheddar, Swiss and Monterey Jack cheese. It also comes with onions, tomatoes and Olga Sauce. I ask for it without the offensive onions and tomatoes, but keep the sauce, which is like a Greek-style yogurt sauce without the cucumber flavoring that all-too-often makes its way into that sort of sauce.

The result is like a grilled cheese taken to the next level of awesome. The cheeses are melty and delicious, while the sauce keeps the sandwich from being too cheesy (if such a thing exists). The only concern here is the possibility that some of the melted cheese escapes out of the back end of the sandwich. It’s always good to keep some extra snackers on hand to scoop up the remnants in case this occurs.

Olga’s Kitchen is really a great and unique place. Were they just to offer Olga’s Snackers, it would be enough, but they didn’t just settle for that and created a restaurant full of joyous Olga Bread. It is definitely a place worth returning to again and again.