Harvest Thyme: Lunch just got a whole lot more boring!

2 West University Avenue

1 Thumb up (not the worst place in the world, and not outright bad, but I rarely want to eat here)

Price Range: The average sandwich is around 7 dollars!

Every downtown needs a good, quick, traditional American style sandwich shop. Harvest Thyme has been vying for this spot for years; however, they can't really deliver on the "good" part. Despite my affinity for single digit addresses, I'm not wild about this place. Whenever I think of eating here, I get a semi-sick feeling in my stomach, knowing that what I order won't be that good.

They have all your traditional deli style sandwiches, but at 7 bucks a pop, they are quite pricey. Since lunchmeat is such a processed item, its quality/flavor is pretty standard no matter where you go. In order to really stand out, a sandwich shop must have really good/unique bread and fixings. At Harvest Thyme, neither are much to speak of.

I've tried many items on their menu and have similar complaints about them all.

The Caribbean Chicken wrap features grilled chicken, jerk sauce, melted jack & cheddar cheese, fresh pineapple, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts & carrots rolled in a sun dried tomato wrap. Sounds delicious, right? Well, it's pretty good, but it has a fatal flaw, in my opinion. The grilled chicken is hot, while the wrap and fixings are cold. The chicken melts the cheese, but the cold items halt the melting process somewhere near the bizarrely gelatinous goo state. The hot chicken with the cold toppings also creates an unfavorable temperature-moisture discrepancy that makes the sun dried tomato wrap assume a soggy consistency.

The Farmers Market Pita is comprised of lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, carrots, cucumbers & melted jack & cheddar cheese. I have the same complaint about this wrap as the one above. The melted cheese really kills it for me and makes it hard to get through a whole wrap.

I've also had the Homemade Hummus Pita, with lettuce, tomato, sprouts, carrots & cucumb..asdf.kajf.asdf. Oh, I"m sorry, while typing this description out, I fell asleep and my head landed on the keyboard. This couldn't be a more boring wrap. Also, the homemade hummus is nothing to write home in Arabic about.

Finally, I've had the Gardenburger (A veggie burger served on a "fresh baked" kaiser roll, with lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, red onion, jack cheese), which is nothing unique whatsoever. It's decent, but at 6.50, a bit pricey.

In general, I think a good rule of thumb is to avoid restaurants that have a play on words for their name. It's a sign that they think they're creative, which is usually a good indicator that they're not.