The half sandwich

[Fat Guy]

I have never ordered the "soup and half sandwich" combination on offer at lunchtime at many a a casual American restaurant. But the other day my friend did.

Now putting aside the issue that half a sandwich isn't enough for me, I noticed something interesting: this half sandwich really was half a sandwich. In other words there had been a whole sandwich that was cut in half to make this one.

I would have figured the half sandwich was a menu fiction used to describe a smaller sandwich. But from looking at the cut face of this half sandwich it was clear that its mate existed somewhere in the back of the house.

How is that possible? Can they possibly have enough certainty to know someone will order the other half soon? Does it just get thrown out? Do the cooks eat it? What's the deal?

[Jeffery C]

I would bet that at certain diners, the soup and half sandwich combo was requested enough times the establishment was warranted in making it a general offer. So to answer your question on the restaurant's behalf, yes, with a strong certainty better than 99% probability the half sandwich's mate would be ordered in a matter of minutes. Depending on the type of sandwich if the 1st half was ordered late in the lunch rush, the 2nd half could be saved for the next day's service, or consumed as a meal for some lucky line cook

[janeer]

Actually, every half sandwich I have ever seen has been skimpy, because they are making them as halves and do so in a half-a way. I never order them for that reason. I've watched them make them, and it's like they don't count.

[BeeZee]

There is a local soup/salad/sandwich shop near my husband's office that uses the small pieces at the end of the rye bread loaf for their "half" sandwich on the combo deal. Not the really small ones (those get turned into croutons).

[jsmeeker]

When I used to travel to Los Angeles regularly for work, I had a lot of meals at Jerry's Famous Deli. One of my most frequent orders was a half a pastrami sandwich with a cup of chicken noodle soup. The half sandwich was quite large. The cup of soup was more of a bowl. It was PLENTY of food, especially for lunch.