Choice City Butcher and Deli

104 W. Olive St., Fort Collins, CO

Most of my meals in Fort Collins were taken with relatives and I ate very well but I had done some research in case I had time to grab a meal or two on my own.  Not surprisingly I found Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai but also an Afghan kabob place, Ethiopian and Nepalese.  Not bad for a college town the size of Fort Collins known mostly for it's craft brewing scene.

As interesting as those sounded at the top of my list of places to try was Choice City Butcher and Deli, right downtown.  And at the top of the menu for me.....

the Colorado Corned Buffalo Reuben, one of five Reuben variations they offer, dressed with sauerkraut, homemade Thousand Island dressing, and Swiss cheese, grilled on rye bread.  This is the half order and was a perfect size for me; a whole order has more meat on it.

I had arrived almost an hour early for lunch, the result of my never having adjusted the clock on the dashboard, but the wait was worth it (well, when I realized the delay was my fault and not just very slow service).  The Reuben is one of the greatest culinary inventions of all time and this was a very good version and one of the best treatments of buffalo I can ever remember having.  The bright and fresh homemade Thousand Island dressing upended a couple of decades of disdain on my part for that style of dressing. A kosher dill pickle spear, a classic accompaniment, added to the enjoyment; the Lemon Dill Cole Slaw was just okay.

Choice City Butcher and Deli