Whirlow’s Tossed and Grilled

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Great food selection, with a semi old skool cafeteria feel. The Italian turkey sandwich is a must try. I went during the day but it looks like they have a set up for a band to perform so visiting at night may be ideal. The atmosphere and vibe were nice for Stockton, along with the a great selection of craft brews so this place gets two thumbs up.

My wife and I stopped for lunch. We found the place dirty with sticky goo on the table and a bunch of teens that did seem to give a rats. We wanted fish and chips but our normal place changed their hours and were closed.
The fish and chips were frozen and had no flavor the sauces came out of a jar. This place is scary the turkey was setting under a heat lamp. I work in the food business and a heat lamp will not keep items at a safe temperature for extended time. This makes me wonder was other questionable practices are going on.
The food portion was large and the price reasonable.
None the less if the food is crap, the food is crap

UPDATE: They no longer take Pacific Cash here, which makes me sad because I usually paid with it and I no longer go as often because of it.
Also, new things I suggest trying: My current favorite sandwich is the turkey pesto sandwich. Turkey carved right off a fresh turkey? Sounds good to me :) Also, the sweet potato fries are just about the most delicious thing on the menu. They’re the perfect combination of soft and crunchy, served with a delicious dipping sauce that compliments the fries so well. My boyfriend’s favorite is the California steak sandwich! He gets every time we go here!
This location is kinda dying out… Most people go to the location on Miracle Mile because it’s bigger, has more entertainment (karaōke and live music), etc. This location is smaller and more secluded.

Good food, nice atmosphere, quick service, little pricey for a sandwich but has some great unique options that normal places don’t have so worth it

I really like that there is a place dedicated to doing salads well. The ingredients are high-​quality and fresh and the restaurant is comfortable. The freshly roasted meats — whole turkey, chicken, ham, etc. — add an excellent touch. The prices are a bit steep upon first inspection, but if you compare the size and quality of the fare to other restaurants I think they’re right in line.

I went here for my friend’s fundraiser, honestly, it was just mediocre. The food was okay, it was a bit overpriced for me. Definitely can get a better sandwich elsewhere, like Kinder’s.

Went for dinner and shared a sandwich and salad… was too much food! The sandwich was good, nothing too special about the salad, but I don’t remember what kind I got…
Seems like it would be a great place to pick up a quick lunch

I’m very conflicted about this place.
In a nutshell, very good food, appalling customer service.
First the food:
Had the ribs and tri tip. Surprisingly good meats, better than ive have at much more expensive establishments whose «claim to fame» is meats *cough* FAMOUS DAVES.
Not 5 star but very good for the price.
Service:
Surly, inattentive, discriminatory (?)
I wont bother going into detail, suffice to say, i’m a rational, polite person who has only the the most basic expectations for human courtesy.
If the owner is curious about the perpetrators, it was a skinny hispanic kid and an overweight white girl. I would look into their behavior. They might be the ones the other Unilocalers are also writing about.
I will return for the food but if i see either one of those two I will simply turn around and walk out.

Everything on the menu is amazing! Some of my favorites are the California Steak Sandwich, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Turkey Sandwich, the burgers, and the fries. They have impressive cookies and ‘homemade style’ casserole side dishes too… like mac and cheese and tamale pie.
The employees take pride in the food they prepare and the cleanliness of the establishment. They are friendly and good spirited. Very comfortable and well-​maintained restaurant.
The also offer a free drink with the purchase of 3 entrees, a free side with the purchase of 6 entrees, and a free entrée with the purchase of 9 entrees.

I was a lean on how I was going to rate this restaurant. I wasn’t sure if they were just decent or little off that day. So this is mainly off my observations. So here we go.
I came in on a Sunday, just before noon. As I came in, there were just an older couple that were just finishing up their meal. The counter is set up almost like an assembly line, to each step goes to the building up one’s meal. I grabbed a menu and just headed straight to the counter. It took just over a minute to get a greeting. My meal choice was the Blue Pepper Steak Sandwich and a side of sweet potato fries.
The Peppered Blue Cheese Steak Sandwich: Consists of Tri-​tip, blue cheese, lettuce, aioli garlic, tomato, onion, and choice of bread (Ciabatta, Sourdough, or Wheat). I held the onions from my sandwich. I was expecting a much softer texture from the tri-​tip. With all the items within the sandwich, all I can remember is the blue cheese. It seemed the blue seemed to be the main taste and wasn’t as cohesive with the rest of the ingredients. I like blue cheese obviously because the this was my meal choice, but it shouldn’t over power everything. The bread did even taste like sourdough, but more just a simple white bread.
The Sweet Potato Fries: Decent. Very crisp.
The restaurant picked up while I was eating my meal. I noticed that the staff seemed to be hit by the pressure. The staff couldn’t really seem get their team work together. One cook kept running back and forth. The patrons started develop a hefty line at the pay counter. Some patrons got served at their table and some were served at the counter. The service seemed really unorganized. All I can say about my meal is that it is just okay. My service was simply whatever.

Kind of like Jack’s Urban Eats in Sac but more expensive and not as good. I came in here one night with my family and there was no one else eating there. The service was good, the cashier and the cook were very friendly.
The food was just OK, kind of forgettable. Nothing was bad but not spectacular either. I got some kind of salmon sandwich. I probably wouldn’t go here again since there are so many other awesome options in the area for much cheaper. Meh.

I saw the locations in Miracle Mile and Lincoln Center and thought this was some sort of national chain. I was surprised to find out that they’re only in Stockton; given the «production value» of their signs, website, and interiors of the restaurants it really didn’t look local. That being said it sparked my interest and I ended up going to the Lincoln Center location for lunch.
SERVICE AND AMBIANCE:
I was greeted by friendly, mostly smiling servers and personally greeted by what looked either to be the owner or manager. I definitely felt welcome here. Food came out very quickly. I asked for to skip tomatoes and for my onions to be grilled and both were done without question.
The interior is very clean and rather spacious. No complaints here.
FOOD AND PRICES:
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich (grilled onions, ciabatta): Very tasty. I don’t know of a lot of places in Stockton that you can order a pulled pork sandwich, but the one here is beautifully done. The pork is at just the right texture, cooked perfectly, and it packs strong BBQ flavor. The greens and cheese compliment the sandwich well in texture and flavor. I’m not an expert on breads, but ciabatta is a little too chewy for me and didn’t contrast well with the extremely tender pork inside.
Garlic Fries: Regular french fries with garlic and shredded parmeasan cheese on top. The fries were crunchy but otherwise nothing special.
Custom-​built salad: I got to try some of my friend’s. Watching it prepared was actually fun; the guy has the bowl and gives you options from what greens they use to what and how much of each ingredient you want to add. The salad wasn’t all that special though, and the chicken added on top was quite dry. The feta cheese was given in large-​ish cubes and should really be crumbled a little more.
It all came out to $ 25, including an imported beer. High for Stockton given the portions, but normal for Lincoln Center.
IN CONCLUSION:
Whirlow’s was pretty good, but I wasn’t left thinking of my next return. The BBQ pulled pork sandwich is worth trying for sure. I think this place would be more successful if it were in a more walkable town; places like this (and yogurt shops) appear to thrive more on convenience for a walker, rather than someone leaving home to go eat. That being said, if I had a job in the area I’d probably go once in a while for lunch.

CHECK THE PRODUCE!!!
If you decide to order a salad here do yourself a favor and order it with the dressing on the side. Reason? Then you can really see the brown pieces of lettuce, water logged cucumbers, and bad broccoli… When they «hand toss» your salad with dressing it masks all these things. i have tried to give this place a chance on numerous occassions and every single time i am let down. Come on! Really!!! You cant keep fresh produce on site!!! im better off spending the same as i would on their salads, on produce at podestos and making meself me own salad!!!

Went here for the first time today, and was very pleased with the experience. Had dinner with my wife and mother and we all enjoyed ourselves. I had the portabello mushroom sandwich, garlic fries and dr pepper and it was incredibly tasty. The service was friendly and they were incredibly nice and helpful as we let them know this was our first time.
Looking forward to returning soon and sampling more from the menu. Oh and though the desert menu is lacking don’t dare leave without eating on of their cookies. They are simply AMAZING. wife insisted on grabbing a snicker doodle for the road and as usual she was right on the money. Magically delicious. Can’t wait to go back for me.

A strange setup and all… The burgers were very very good. I am not quite sure how they grilled them sooo quick, but they were good! The fries too.
The staff were a couple of jokers, but all and all, i’d go back for their burgers.
The turkey looked pretty good too.

Came to this spot earlier for some take out & thank goodness they do have take out because we all know that when you’re in a rush but want good quality non fast food it’s hard to find at times.
I got the BBQ bacon cheeseburger and a side of sweet potato fries. I was very surprised how quick they made the food and I knew this because you can see them make your burgers. Even though it was more quick than my last visit they still managed to stay on point! The fries were hot and delicious! I would have to say they have my favorite sweet potato fries in town with their special dipping sauce which is super super crack! I even put some on my burger. The burger was delicious as well, meet cooked well, not burned or under cooked. Their bacon on a burger is different from many places that do have bacon on burgers, they put on the bacon chunks instead of bacon strips.
This place is great for take out as well as sit down!
Side note your fries may get soggy if you’re going quite a distance if you get take out since they send them in a styrofoam platter. I kept it a little open but they cool quicker but sure is better than soggy fries! If I could I would give this spot a 4.5.

I got the prime rib sandwich on ciabatta bread. It was pretty tasty. I ate half at the restaurant and brought half with me to the library afterwards. I meant to save it for dinner, but the box sitting next to me was too tempting, that it never made it to dinner.
The prime rib was a little dry, but the bread itself was really good. I would eat here again, but it’s not high on my places to go again. The atmosphere of the restaurant was a little dead, and it just didn’t have any funk or uniqueness to it that I typically like in a restaurant.

I had a make-​your-​own kinda salad. The greens were crisp and the other ingredients were fresh as well. The carved turkey that I topped my salad with was dehydrated (sitting under the pretty lights — one star down) but the unidentifiable (but good) Asian citrus dressing made up for that.
Service was prompt and courteous, I took off another star for the gnats and flies that I was swatting away from my salad (hey you sucka, did’ya pay for my salad — if not scram!), which was disconcerting.
I don’t know that I’d go out of my way to eat here but if I’m in the area and hungry, I’ll just hope that flies will have moved to Alaska.

I really really like Whirlow’s.
BUT… after eating lunch today, I gave it much thought. The food quality is outstanding. The fresh vegetables are crisp, I love how the salads are tossed to perfection… however…
I hate that cafeteria feel. You order when you walk in, you can watch the staff prepare your food right in front of you. And then you tell the cashier what you’ve ordered, what you’d like to drink… run and get a table, but make sure you stop at the napkin/​condiment station. You have to pick up your silverware, napkins, pepper, sweetener, etc.
The prices are NOT out of control… but I’d rather have to NOT make 4 trips back and forth to the counter and condiment center.
Minus ½ star for that cafeteria concept and minus another ½ star for my wilting lettuce… oh and the snotty girl behind the counter when I asked her for a side of mayonnaise. I still can’t believe what she said to me… ‘you mean MAYO?’
WTF?