Siri Smith
Staff Writer
Memorial Day is just around the corner, and the weather is due to be sunny (fingers crossed). Don’t simply spend your sunny Monday off from school inside, procrastinating on homework (I know you are, it’s okay). Spend it outside at parks like Cal Anderson, Volunteer, Discovery or Ravenna. And while you’re there, why not make it a picnic? Here are just a few local sandwich shops to explore while you’re out and about this weekend. Slather on the mayo (or rather, watch someone else do it) and soak up the sun all on your day off from school.
Homegrown
Homegrown is an organic fast-casual restaurant with shops all over Seattle, including Capitol Hill. Sprouting Farm, a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified organic farm in Woodinville, supplies all of the Homegrown stores—a fact that the local company proudly boasts. Because of their commitment to providing customers to organic, local food, their menu changes seasonally, but it always offers everything from healthy-and-full-of-vegetables sandwiches to stuff-your-face-with-meat sandwiches.
A popular vegetarian sandwich for spring is the hummus and roasted red pepper. They also serve classics like caprese, BLT and roast beef sandwiches. And if you’re not tired of Beecher’s cheese after eating at the Bistro all year, their ham and cheese sandwich features the local cheese company’s flagship cheese. Grab your sandwich to-go from any of the many locations that are popping up. Stay in Seattle and hang out in Seattle Center or Cal Anderson Park. Or make the trek out to the Eastside and hang out in Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island or Marina Park in Kirkland.
Baguette Box
It is hard to resist Baguette Box. But maybe that’s just me, because I have a terrible weakness for any company that uses an animal in their main logo. (A dog with a baguette in its mouth, come on! How can you not want to step inside?) But all animal logos aside, Baguette Box has got a pretty stellar menu.
The sandwiches range from lemongrass steak to eggplant and feta cheese to tofu and avocado. Plus they offer nine other delectable flavors—and that’s just the hot sandwiches. Baguette Box also has cool sandwiches and paninis. Bonus: you can even skip the line and order online.
Rain Shadow Meats
It’s practically raining meat at Rain Shadow Meats, a local animal butchery in Capitol Hill’s Melrose Market. Rain Shadow Meats boasts a long list of sandwiches of all kinds. (But all of them have meat. Sorry, vegetarians.)
Beef and pork are popular in the sandwiches, but there are a few with chicken and one “lambwich,” as they call it. Most sandwiches range around $12. Pair one of the sandwiches or salads with a famous Seattle Seltzer Co. celery soda.
Biscuit Bitch
Writing about Biscuit Bitch is the only time I can get away with swearing in the school newspaper, but that’s not the only reason I like it. They’re easy to get to (with locations in Queen Anne and Pike Place), they’re decently priced (score for my wallet!) and they also have a Nutella, banana and whipped cream biscuit (score for my taste buds!), aka the Nutty Bitch.
If Nutella isn’t your style (I’m judging you if it isn’t), Biscuit Bitch has a lot of other bitch—I mean biscuit—options. The Straight-Up Bitch, which features the sausage gravy (or mushroom gravy for vegetarians), is the most popular biscuit. Spice things up with the Smokin’ Hot Bitch—no pun intended—featuring gravy, cheese, a hot link and jalapenos. Go local with the Smokin’ Hot “Seattle” Bitch, which subs the jalapeno for cream cheese
and onion.
Pegasus Pizza
When my boyfriend asked to be taken to a beach in Seattle, my first thought was Alki Beach. There are a string of restaurants lining the sandy beach, but the best one has to be Pegasus Pizza. No, pizzas are not sandwiches—but the primarily-pizza joint has sandwiches, too. And a nearly as wide selection of them as they have pizzas.
The “super sub” features not one, not two, but three meats: Canadian-style bacon, salami and pepperoni. They also have a sausage sub, chicken pesto and a meatball sub. But if meat is not your style, Pegasus also has a veggie sub with mushrooms, olives, onions, green peppers and tomatoes. Nibble or chow down on your sandwich while looking out at the great Alki view, and then go walk down the beach and enjoy some bonfires.
HoneyHole Sandwiches
On Capitol Hill since 1999, HoneyHole features cleverly-named sandwiches with meats that are roasted, smoked and grilled on a daily basis.
The Dude sandwich (or the El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) features flank steak, provolone, onions, tomato relish, hot mustard and—to tie the room together—a demi baguette.
If you’re not into meat, HoneyHole also offers a vegetarian BLT—with an option of veganaise. Oh, rejoice! Pair your sandwich with any soda (HoneyHole has a huge variety), from San Pelligrino sparkling water to Dry Soda’s Wild Lime soda.
Siri may be reached at [email protected]
