Man Food: The X-Tudo Sandwich at Modelo Bakery and Coffee House
All photos by Katie Barszcz for Boston magazine
It’s glutinous, way over-the-top and a complete mess, but there’s just something about the X-tudo sandwich at Modelo Bakery and Coffee House in Magoun Square that is appealing. A case full of breads and sweets is the first thing you see and smell upon arrival, but it’s the array of sandwiches—most of which revolve around a burger—that requires your attention. Sure, you could order a burger with a piece of chicken on top of it, but I figured I’d scale it back with the humble sounding bacon burger with egg and vegetables. This sandwich is anything but modest, however, and for $6.31 you could probably feed a small family.
The bun, almost synthetic looking in appearance, reminds me of Play-Doh from a visual standpoint and is a unique and funny little bread offering. A thin layer of cheap beef, carefully arranged into a tightly packed disc, is covered with a ridiculous amount of toppings, including but not limited to: iceberg lettuce, fried potato strings, ham, bacon, an omelette, corn, and cheese. Of course it’s excessive. A fried egg sitting on a burger is too much, but it’s lovely at the same time. An entire omelette is even more absurd, but it still manages to be completely satiating. Each bite yields a fun surprise of ingredients; sometimes it’s beef, sometimes it’s a bit of egg, sometimes it’s a crunchy piece of potato or corn. The melted cheese rings true throughout, which makes the sandwich more closely resemble a fully-loaded omelette than a burger. The X-tudo is a one of a kind roller coaster of shame, each bite as regrettable as the next, yet somehow I couldn’t put it down.
There are a lot of different versions of excessive meals around town, many of which revolve around the sandwich. And there’s a lot of bang for your buck with this all encompassing meal. The combination of eggs and beef give it a brunch flair, while the fried potato strings, ham and corn veer it into the unknown altogether. If nothing else it’s as unique as it gets, substantially sinful, and it pleases me in the most primitive of ways. It satisfies. In the end isn’t that what it’s all about?
508 Medford St., Somerville, 617-625-2868, ModeloBakery.com
