Late one night last month, a friend brought up a mysterious food truck called Rando’s Sandos that allegedly didn’t have a menu. Instead, the friend claimed, one goes to its window, asks for a sandwich, and Rando’s hands over a surprise sandwich. You get what you get, no choice in the matter, according to my friend. That seemed like a wild concept and I wanted to try it, so the next day I set out to find Rando’s Sandos.
Turns out my friend’s story wasn’t exactly true. Rando’s has a menu, and one that’s pretty sorely needed in Detroit, as you could make the case that the region’s sandwich game is a bit lacking. We’re well-stocked with Jewish delis, corned beef parlors are proliferating, and the Italian sandwich shops are hard to beat, but the number of delis that trade in more than one genre are few.
Into that void steps Rando’s Sandos, a food truck with range in its rotating menu that on a recent visit offered sandwiches like a porchetta with chimichurri, deviled egg BLT, and a heart of palm “lobster roll.”
Perhaps the most superior was the porchetta, composed of pork loin wrapped in pork belly that’s slow cooked, and tender with a crisp exterior. That’s packaged between two thick slices of spongy house-made focaccia, and it’s all enhanced with a garlicky green chimichurri, an Argentine steak sauce typically also made with olive oil, red wine vinegar, onion, parsley, and/or oregano. The oily condiment worked well with the focaccia and pig.
Rando’s is run by three friends who have varying degrees of culinary experience, and two of whom are Miami expats — Alex Lengyl, who is the boss, and Alessandro Doino, who is the head chef. The latter previously owned a restaurant in Miami’s South Beach and grew up in the kitchen at his father’s Italian restaurant, Rosinella. Chris Goldstein, a conceptual artist of sorts who is best known in Detroit for… being Chris Goldstein, calls himself “the face” of Rando’s.
They got together after talking shit about other restaurants and constantly being disappointed with Detroit’s menus, Goldstein says, and Rando’s got its start this year at Movement Music Festival. A second event, the Michigan Glass Project glass blowing party, was a hit, though Goldstein acknowledges it helped that almost everyone there was high. We tried Rando’s at Brewery Faison in Detroit’s Islandview neighborhood.
The menu is simple — four sandwiches, all very reasonably priced. As of Randos last outing, no sides. Each of the three on Rando’s team contributes ideas and recipes, they’re in the process of developing relationships with local sources for ingredients, and they didn’t think up cutesy names for the sandwiches, which is very refreshing.
The only thing better than an egg salad sandwich is deviled egg salad paired with thick-cut bacon that Goldstien cooked low and slow for hours to give it a crisp texture. The salad was mixed with mayo, mustard, paprika, and McClure’s pickles, all of which was spread on a basic Texas toast that allows the rest of the sandwich to do its thing.
The shrimp roll is a bright flavored package made with gulf shrimp, mayo, cilantro, mint, lemon yellow bell pepper, and Old Bay on a crusty bolillo roll from Southwest Detroit’s E & L Supermercado — excellent. The heart of palm “lobster roll” had a similar vibe, but is a warm, vegan mashup of New England and Maine lobster roll styles. I can only guess what the hearts of palm are marinated in as they possess a bit of a lobster flavor, and they’re mixed with veganaise, Old Bay, nori crumbles, celery, and red onion, while the bolillo is hit with vegan butter. Rando’s always includes at least one veg option — a recent menu with a Philly cheese steak also included a mushroom Philly cheesesteak, for example.
Goldstein notes the truck includes a flat-top grill they have yet to utilize, which means burgers are an option, and Rando’s could go any number of directions as it finds its identity and expands its menu. Check their Instagram page (@randos.sandos) for updates on where they’re parked.
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