David, you just brought back some fond memories. When I was in Austin, TX attending The University, Schlotzsky's was a very small sandwich shop next door to the now famous Continental Club just across the river on South Congress. Spent many a lunch money dollar on those warm sandwiches (and a few more dollars in the club). This was the original Schlotzsky's back in the late 60's....way before they franchised them out. They made sandwiches exactly like my German grandmother used to make every Sunday evening when I was just a kid, with warm homemade bread baked the day before, homemade butter, several different lunch meats, several different cheeses, lettuce, tomato, onions, and black olives. Not a lot of olives like a muffaletta, but just enough to make it interesting. A great sandwich.
Now another memory. About 10 years ago, my girlfriend and I were in Germany for a few weeks to visit her hometown, Mannheim, and her two brothers, Walter und Hansie. We decided to take a little side trip up north to Berlin for the weekend. It was time for dinner and we wanted to search out some authentic German food. As we walked through town looking for a good restaurant, we found this quaint little sidewalk cafe and went in to order our food. As we were looking at the menu on the wall (in German), it took us a while to finally realize that it was really a Schlotzsky's franchise store.....so we ate there two nights in a row.
I am now very lucky here in Houston. There are 3 or 4 Schlotzsky's stores very close to me and I eat there often. The original or #1 on the menu is still my favorite.
