Longboards is in a former Subway location in a strip mall but loads of redecorating hid that fact. Walking into Longboards and you see surf boards, dim lighting and South Pacific themes everywhere.
The locals rave about this place and they tend to be pretty and fit - many of them coming from two nearby gyms and businesses. Everyone seemed to be wearing flip flops even the guy taking your order who used "bro" a lot.
The California style wraps and bowls menu (with some Asian and South Pacific inspiration) can be overwhelming for a first timer so do yourself a favor and look it up on Urbanspoon before you go.
They have grilled and cold wraps here and grilled flat wraps with something called og which seem to be bigger wraps. You can combo anything for about $8 which gets you a side and drink. Og also means to get extra meat and egg on another part of the menu.
JE had the cabo beef wrap combo with pasta salad. The wrap has beef, guacamole, rice, salsa, pepperjack, and chipotle ranch on a chipotle wrap. The pasta salad was good but had a definite kick to it like a sweet red chili sauce which I can only imagine came out of those Thai red rooster bottles of hot sauce.
I took a lot more time trying to figure out what I wanted. Since JE got what I wanted to eat, I really couldn't get the same thing and make it a good review. So I finally decided on what I wanted and got a thai chicken wrap that contained chicken, peanut sauce, veggies (snap peas and broccoli), pepperjack, and rice on a chipotle wrap. I also went with the pasta salad. I also tried their jasmine blueberry tea which was good and JE described it as kool-aid.
I will say that I wasn't really looking forward to the peanut sauce so I should have left it out of the wrap but I got it the way it was on the menu.
After my first bite, it was the first time JE saw me make "puke face". My wrap was swimming in peanut sauce and I didn't like it at all. It about made me throw up. I only had a few bites and gave up on the wrap so JE could have it for lunch the next day. I decided to eat the pasta salad which was somewhat spicy.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I actually ate the rest of my sandwich the next day after warming it up in the microwave and honestly it was much better the second day as the peanut sauce wasn't overpowering like the day before.
JE liked his wrap and I agree that his was much better than my bad decision. I would have liked his more without the guacamole.
After we left, I was, of course, still hungry and JE has this rule that if we're anywhere near In A Tub, then we have to stop by for at least one taco.
SIDE DISH: In A Tub
From what JE tells me, you really would have had to grow up in the Northland to appreciate this grease palace. It is comfort food for those who did grow up North and the place hasn't changed in a million years. JE remembers when it was on the east side of North Oak Trafficway.
Deep fried tacos and a burrito with everything makes this place an institution. Like I mentioned before, anytime we travel north we have to stop in for one regular taco.
"What the hell is an In-A-Tub?" our friend Mark once asked and he soon found out 20 years ago and he's still going back.
If you dine in, you'll be transported to 1970-something with paneled walls and orange booths.
For the uninitiated, I can only attune it to one of the greasiest tacos you'll ever eat. It has a somewhat normal taco shell, some beef, some lettuce, some taco sauce and... powered cheese like you could get in boxes of macaroni and cheese. From my first experience, I was taken back by the grease running down my arm and the fake cheese they put on them but I guess that's how it's always been. I had two this trip (JE took the other one) and a butterscotch shake. I had to have some substance since I didn't eat my Longboards wrap.
They may look unassuming, but trust that this is pure trash dining at its best - fast, hot, and greasy. And to quote JE, don't go back to work after eating here unless you work alone because the glorious gas that will follow you for a couple hours is a trademark, let alone the trip you will have to take to the bathroom.
Try it at your own risk, but try it anyway and say you've had the In-A-Tub experience.
Longboards
In A Tub
You should try it again, and this time order something with a sauce you actually like. Try the Cabo with chicken, and if you don't like quac make sure to ask for it without quac.
ReplyDeleteIn a tub is amazing. I grew up on those taco's and have the same rule as your friend. If I am within 20 minutes i MUST get at least one taco :)
ReplyDeleteI need to clarify:
ReplyDeleteWe were in someone's car freshman year of college. I know Jhoneric was in the car, and I know Jennifer was in the car. Gregg might have been there, as well. I can't remember (this may have been the "Jewel of the Nile" day, JEC).
Anyway, we went to the In-A-Tub in Liberty (which is not there any more) OR the one at Metro North Mall (is ANYthing there any more?), and I got a plastic In-A-Tub cup which I kept for years in the hopes I'd have it when we started talking about it again. Alas, it is gone.
Anyway, someone (or everyone) in the car wanted to know why I wanted an In-A-Tub cup. I said, "Because, years from now when I'm a grandfather"--(pause for hysterical laughter to die down). Anyway, I said, "Because, years fro now when I'm a grandfather, my grandchildren can look at it and say--"
And here I think it was Jennifer who said, "What the hell's and In-A-Tub?" (You know, as if she was one of the grandchildren.)
However, unlike the cup, the phrase has withstood the test of time.
Also: I ate at Longboards yesterday. I can't remember what I had, but I liked it. I know it had a spinach wrap, and chicken was involved. Oh, I know now: Orange Chicken Wrap. I want to go back and try others now.
I agree with Anonymous #1. You should definitely give Longboards another shot since it sounds like it was just the flavor of the peanut sauce that turned you off -- not the wrap itself.
ReplyDeleteAs for me, I get the Chicken Thai Wrap and Pasta Salad almost every time I visit, and it's always delicious. (I'm also fond of the Thai Boxer, which is bigger due to more meat and cooked egg.) Their fruity tea is good too!
Keep your day job!
ReplyDeleteIf you ever go back to Longboard's, my favorite menu item is not even a wrap. It's the Hawaiian Sliders. 6 Hawaiian Sweet Rolls topped with pulled pork, chicken, and imitation crab, sweet chipotle sauce, pepperjack and monterrey jack cheeses. Then the whole thing is pressed in a panini maker. It's incredible.
ReplyDelete