EDIT: July 17, 2013 — 2:19AM

Here is a response I got:

Not all 400+ sandwiches are listed on any of the Ike’s menus, hence the erratic sequence of numbers. I bet if you walked into *any* Ike’s, even the non-Oakland ones, and asked for a Cespedes, you’d get a sandwich.

As I mentioned before. It’s not even on the website or their alternate menu (which is hard to find). How do you expect us to know about something if you don’t advertise it?

Here’s another explanation:

Not all 400+ sandwiches are listed on any of the Ike’s menus. The A’s (organization) have not returned my calls or emails. None of the players have been in and asked for a sandwich named after them. The Giants, Warriors, Sharks, SF Bulls, Earthquakes, 49ers all have which is how come they do.

If that’s the case, does that give you the right to insult them like that with the Facebook post?

And here’s the reason why they claim the sandwich already existed: because it’s actually named after someone else. Oh yeah, it’s also not listed on the Oakland menu, so how do we know it exists?

A Mark Cuban is a Cespedes. Much like a Pride of Castro is a Jim Plummer. Or a Rickey Henderson is a “Say Hey”. Or a MC Hammer is a Sanchez College Prep.

Who’s Jim Plummer?

They then give me this final response:

There’s a secret menu that isn’t going to be published. Though if you click the Salinas menu, the Cespedes is published there.
-misspellings and typos are common place on the internet. My bad for not checking my work.
-I did not insult any team nor player nor city. It **actually is hard** for me to choose whom should get a sandwich named after them when the team has a history of letting some of it’s most beloved players leave. I’m not clowning on anyone. Historically, this has been the case. Cespedes was chosen because I figured he had a 4 year deal and would be around for at least that.
-The A’s do not eat at Ike’s nor return my calls/emails. Every other pro team in the Bay does which is how come they have sandwiches. Tell your boy, Billy, to give me a call and we can work something out.

So there’s a secret menu that nobody knows about. The Cespedes sandwich isn’t listed in the city menu where it is being served. Misspellings happen, that I get. But misspelling Mark McGwire’s name on the website in a shop based in Oakland? That I don’t get. Then his poor choice of words, especially calling Billy Beane “my boy” really isn’t good for customer service and relations in resolving an issue.

At least after all that, they finally got it.

A public apology would be a good step in at least trying to do some positive damage control. We’ll see how this turns out. I’m still hesitant to go eat there again. At least until I see them use their words better and celebrate the A’s as their hometown team instead of insulting their shortcomings.

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ORIGINAL POST

Ike’s Lair is a branch off a sandwich shop based in San Francisco. We’ve known about their San Francisco roots (and their love for the Giants) and they expanded to Oakland last year. I was curious about them since I had never eaten in their San Francisco location before, so last year I went for a visit. For the most part, I enjoyed myself. The sandwiches were good. It was a little pricey, but I had a good meal.

This morning, they tweeted the above, which linked to this Facebook post with this message (and have received a lot of backlash for it):

Congrats to @ynscspds! Get the Cespedes: Ham, GodFather Sauce, Jalapenos, Jack Cheese.*
‪#‎ItsHardToNameSandwichesAfterAsPlayersWhenTheyLoseAlmostAllThereStarsToFreeAgency‬‪ #‎MattHollidayJersey‬ ‪#‎MarkMcGuireCardinalsJeresy‬ ‪#‎JasonGiambiJersey‬
*This sandwich has been on the menu since he was signed a season and a half ago.

Why would a shop based in Oakland tweet such a thing? And more importantly, why would they even attempt to lie and insult their customers? Here’s what’s wrong:

1. The hashtags are inaccurate since that’s a misconception of the team 10 years ago. But of course, if they don’t follow the A’s, they wouldn’t know that. And even if the A’s trade away talent due to finances, to insult the local team and their finances (while they’re winning) doesn’t seem smart.
2. Matt Holliday was traded, not gone through free agency.
3. They misspelled Mark McGwire. He too was traded.
4. Jason Giambi happened over 10 years ago.
5. “Their.”
6. “Jersey.”
7. And this one bothers me the most. They claimed they had the Yoenis Cespedes sandwich since he joined the A’s last spring. By that logic, then my visit to the place in October 2012 would mean the sandwich was on the menu. According to the photo I took, I don’t think so.

So this is what it has come down to. The place insults the team, the intelligence of the fans and the city of Oakland. I knew they were huge Giants fans, but that shouldn’t mean they would use that fandom to hurt their business. They can be Giants fans all they want, but don’t let that interfere with good business practice.

Why would they come and open a business in Oakland if they are going to do all of this? I don’t care that they are huge Giants fans. But to take that and use it in a public way to hurt the business isn’t smart. If you hate Oakland, the A’s and the customers, then what’s the point of opening up a business in Oakland?

I enjoyed my one experience there. But now that I know the truth about them, I don’t think I’m going back again. I just can’t support a business that doesn’t show respect.