Avenue B Grocery
4403 Avenue B, 453-3921Monday-Saturday, 8am-6pm
The historic Hyde Park neighborhood is home to Austin’s oldest surviving grocery where Ross Mason’s turn-of-the-century store harkens back to the days when there was a little mom-and-pop shop in every neighborhood, and kids bought bubble gum and baseball cards with the change left over from a quart of milk. The small kitchen in back serves popular, signature sandwiches layered with cheeses, meats, and vegetables, and sides of daily homemade soups and fresh salads.
Garden Spot Deli & Catering
9415 Burnet Rd., 835-1985Fax order, 835-1907
Monday-Friday, 9am-2:30pm (deli)
Catering daily
The lunch menu at this busy North Austin eatery features an inviting selection of hearty specialty sandwiches, hot subs, wraps, jumbo spuds, and salads, alone or in a variety of combinations. Ask about daily lunch specials, and don’t overlook the dessert offerings. These hard-working folks are also available for catering seven days a week.
Jo’s Hot Coffee Good Food
1300 S. Congress, 444-3800Tuesday-Sunday, 7am-9pm; Monday, 7am-6pm
This unique little joint is the coffee shop of the renovated Hotel San José offering the best outdoor dining and people watching in the whole 78704 ZIP code, hands down. Chef/owner Lou Lambert keeps delicious goods coming from the Liberty Pie commissary kitchen a few blocks up the street. We love the sweet and tangy pulled-pork sandwiches with a bag of Zapp’s Cajun Crawtaters, and the selection of baked goods is a perfect midday nibble. Cappucino, espresso, lattes, and sodas.
The Kitchen Door
3742 Far West, 794-11002504 Lake Austin Blvd., 236-9200
Monday-Friday, 8am-7pm; Saturday, 8am-6pm
This 25-year-old Austin institution offers a convenient outlet in Northwest Hills and another just off MoPac that’s easy for folks in Rollingwood and West Lake as well as the longtime Tarrytown clientele. While their casseroles and desserts are highly regarded, it’s well known that the Kitchen Door’s hefty hot and cold sandwiches made on homemade bread are first-rate. The stellar meat loaf sandwich at the Lake Austin location is so famous it’s been mentioned in Esquire, and the staff at the original Far West outlet boasts that their signature chicken salad sandwich is the very best in town. It’s not braggin’ if it’s true!
NeWorlDeli
4101 Guadalupe, 451-7170Monday-Friday, 7am-7pm; Saturday, 8am-5pm; Sunday, 9am-4pm
The eclectic sandwich menu draws us back here time after time. Cold sandwiches on honey wheat, white, Jewish rye, or a French roll, soups, and salads to mix and match, plus Thai and veggie wraps. Heartier appetites can go for hot meatball, sausage, meat loaf, or eggplant parmigiana sandwiches stuffed in a toasted French roll, or corned beef, pastrami, or a traditional Reuben hot off the grill on tangy Jewish rye. The house specialty, however, is the “deliciously messy” triple-decker Sloppy Joe made with your choice of turkey, ham, or roast beef with Swiss cheese, dynamite cole slaw, and Russian dressing. Now serving breakfast seven days a week.
The Little Deli
7101-A Woodrow, 467-7402Monday-Friday, 10am-4pm
The Crestview shopping center is the beating heart of a healthy north-central neighborhood, and the Little Deli is certainly one of the reasons why. With cheerful counter service and the very best roast beef sandwich in the city, this friendly little eatery is a magnet for true sandwich lovers. In addition to daily blue plate specials, they offer soul-satisfying renditions of Mom-style standards such as egg salad, BLTs, and perfect deviled eggs, plus an overstuffed vegetable sandwich that will please even the most discerning vegan palate.
FoodHeads
616 W. 34th, 420-8400Monday-Friday, 7:30am-3:30pm; Saturdays, 8:30am till there’s no more lunch to serve
For 10 years, the fresh, handmade sandwiches of Chip and Candi Wendt have stocked the shelves of local groceries. These real “sandwich artists” now show their work on 34th Street, providing takeout, delivery, and catering services at FoodHeads. Mornings consist of cappuccino, espresso, pastries, and breakfast tacos. By lunchtime, you can choose from a staggering array of sandwiches, soups, salads, and side dishes, all made with the finest quality meats, cheeses, and condiments on an assortment of breads baked fresh daily by New World Bakery. Now open on Saturday.
This article appears in November 15 • 2002.