Ike's Sandwiches Hits Home Run With Newest Location

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA — Sandwich lovers are already flocking to the newest Ike’s Love & Sandwiches even though the grand opening for the Mountain View location is Aug. 14.

While the names of the sandwiches may not be what customers are used to, all the numbers are.

Lee Alvord, training coordinator for the restaurant chain, told Patch that names change to reflect the location of the shop.

"Ike is a big Giants fan," Alvord said.

That would be Ike Shehadeh, the man behind this sandwich sensation. He opened the first shop in 2007 in the Castro District of San Francisco. Now there are 63 locations.

Shehadeh will be at the Mountain View location at 1020 N. Rengstorff Ave., Suite F on Wednesday for the grand opening.

The first 50 social media followers of Ike's will get a free sandwich on Aug. 14.

Sandwiches at the Mountain View locations will cost only $5 for the grand opening.

By the end of the year, five more shops are expected to open, including one in Sunnyvale. Alvord expects the next South Bay location to be operating this fall. No exact date has been set; it’s all based on construction crews.

One thing Mountain View customers will not have to contend with is parking. That is because this site shares a lot with Costco. Alvord is also hoping they will be sharing customers.

While it can be daunting looking at a menu with nearly 800 sandwich options, the top three sellers, according to Alvord, are:

• No. 1 – Matt Cain (No. 18), which is roast beef, turkey, salami, godfather sauce and provolone and; served with dirty sauce, lettuce and tomato
• No. 2 – Menage A Trois (No. 111), has Halal chicken, BBQ, honey mustard, real honey, pepper jack, cheddar and Swiss. It's served with dirty sauce, lettuce and tomato
• No. 3 – Sometimes I'm A Vegetarian (No. 61), grilled mushrooms, marinated artichoke hearts, pesto and provolone, one that's served with dirty sauce, lettuce and tomato.

All sandwiches have “Ike’s Dirty Secret Sauce” baked into the bread.

The Matt Cain sandwich points to the owner’s love of the San Francisco Giants. It’s appropriate the retired pitcher sandwich is No. 18 because that is the jersey number he wore for the orange and black.

“Most of them have created their own sandwich. They came into the store and made a sandwich and we put it on the menu,” Alvord said of the various athletes whose names are immortalized with yummy food.

It’s not just baseball stars who have a sandwich with their name – think Steph Curry and Steve Young. The late Steve Jobs even has a breaded eggplant concoction with his name on it.

Ike’s is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sundays from 10 a.m.-7p.m.