L&T

For the first few years at BYU, I lived at IHOP and on campus. Not literally. Technically I was paying rent at the University Villa, but I was rarely there, spending my waking hours at work or on campus. My sleeping hours were also, mostly, on campus...

Since IHOP provides their servers with one meal per shift, I subsisted largely on chicken salads, Country griddle pancakes, omelettes, and stuffed French toast. When I occasioned to stop by at home or had the (rare) day off, I ate apples and bagels.

And when I was on campus: I ate L&T.

L&T is a soup and salad place, but they also have delicious wraps. My favorites: the chicken taco on a tomato wrap, or the Oriental hold the water chestnuts, sub for grapes on a spinach wrap. Every time I ate there it was a horrible time trying to decide which amazing wrap to choose. I had a roommate who solved this easily by eating lunch with me, ordering the opposite of me, and then swapping halves.

Throughout the years, I remained true to L&T, and I rarely ate anywhere else on campus. Even since I've graduated, I find myself craving the delicious wraps, and if I happened to be on campus, buying supplies (or BYU brownies) for the office, or to meet up with a friend, I would take the opportunity to grab me a wrap.

Today, as I approached the well-known zig-zag line, I looked up to see that menu had changed.

I was in a panic. The Oriental was missing. Since it's hot outside, and the Oriental is filled with lettuce, mandarin oranges, cashews, and grapes, it seemed like the perfect choice. Now I was in a pickle. The chicken taco remains on the menu, but there are other things to try, like the Vietnamese Ba Mahn, or a Greek something or other... all interesting choices with intriguing dressings. But still missing the Oriental.

I ordered the Vietnamese Ba Mahn.

I want to be mad at L&T for changing such beloved favorites, but at the same time...This is the closest thing I have tasted to Cheesecake Factory's Vietnamese Tacos, that I have ever seen. And in fact, they give an excellent description (that I'm going to have to go back and copy) of what exactly goes in the wrap. Something to do with pickled carrots, radishes, sweet pork, cilantro, and a sweet chili dressing. The only thing that detracted from the wrap, was the fact that they add -- unnecessarily -- croutons to the whole thing. Now that I have the list of ingredients, I just need to locate steamed bread and BOOM! I've got a delicious Vietnamese taco recipe!

I will definitely be getting this again. As sad as I am to see the Oriental retired, I am super happy for its replacement.

L&T was also known for giving out their amazing rolls with each plate lunch that you got. You had the choice between white or wheat (I always got the wheat) and they would put it in a to go container or on a plate. They've gotten rid of the rolls *sad face*, but, they've also gotten rid of the plates and containers, and opted for butcher-like paper that makes it much easier to transport the wrap. Also, in substitution for the rolls, they wrapped a pineapple spear up with my wrap....which was delicious and was a great replacement for the roll.