The Sandwich Club
Hearing your order called at The Sandwich Club is akin to hearing the shouted responses of participants in an 80s trivia night. Sandwiches named “After School Special” and “The Mix Tape” are popular choices amongst a long list of delicious options with nostalgic names. Owners Alan Grande and Isaac Barton may take inspiration from the past, but the future is all theirs.
Grande and Barton, two friends who left their corporate jobs in Silicon Valley with a desire to be self-employed, knew they wanted to open a sandwich shop. They were less clear about where they wanted to open it. After looking at several cities, they decided upon Oklahoma City, a place that both family and friends had recommended as a city with a solid reputation for growing businesses and a local population inclined to support those businesses.
From this, their dream of opening The Sandwich Club was realized. Fresh veggies, high quality deli meats, and local breads from Big Sky Bread Company form the base of a number of 80s named combinations. If none of those strikes your fancy, you can also build-your- own creation from a wide variety of breads, meats, cheeses, and veggies, not to mention a supremely long list of spreads and sauces.
Now opened since June 2015, Barton and Grande are happy with their choice.
“The opportunity to work for yourself, for great customers, is a lot of fun,” said Barton. “We really enjoy the people and community here so much.”
Favorites include classic sandwiches like the “Electric Boogaloo” with thin slices of turkey, roast beef, crisp bacon, Swiss, avocado, and deli mustard and mayo. A unique hit with customers has been around Snake Plissken. Turkey, chicken, bacon, pepper jack cheese, cream cheese, jalapeños, red bell pepper, hot sauce, and chipotle mayo make this sandwich a satisfying combination of heat and creaminess with a little bit of crunch.
Vegetarians are covered as well with options such as the “Jessie’s Girl” that features cream cheese, avocado, crisp cucumbers, and hummus, or the “Man in Motion” with portobello mushrooms, goat cheese, red bell peppers, arugula, garlic, paprika, basil, and balsamic.
The 80s throwback theme was admittedly chosen just for fun.
“Alan and I are both children of the 80s and the nostalgia element was fun. I feel like we actually ended up at the beginning of this throwback trend,” Barton said. “Since we opened, retro 80s pubs have popped up here… and the success of programs like Stranger Things has made us feel like we guessed right, that people would enjoy this theme and we enjoy playing nothing but 80s music in our shop.”
Whether you’re a child of the 80s or not, finishing up a tasty brown bag sandwich here will leave you with the same comfort as a good John Hughes movie. Be sure to visit!
The Sandwich Club, 3703 North Western Avenue, Oklahoma City
