I’ve dropped by Addy’s Sandwich Bar now and then since 2010, from when I first got to know them as a food cart. I think that they opened in 2009, which is also the year they also made the Oregonian’s 2009 Top 10 Food Carts.
Since then, they’ve gone and grown up from that cart into a little brick and mortar shop located at 911 SW 10th Street… conveniently right by the central branch of the Multnomah County Library, which I still stop by to get real books to read. It’s all just the perfect walk – walk about 1 mile from my house to the library, return/retrieve more books, stop 1 block south at Addy’s to grab a baguette sandwich, walk the mile back and read while eating my sandwich and maybe a glass of wine.
Their storefront is bright, cheery, and still has the colors of black white and red that they brought from the food cart.
I know it’s easy to just download a book, but I still prefer being able to turn the pages of a physical book, so I’m at the library usually twice a month. I also think it’s important to support your local libraries because they offer an important service to the community as places to meet and making resources free/cheap to anyone and everyone. I have good memories of being dropped off at the library when I was a child with my siblings and we would be there for a couple hours, just reading and reading. Sometimes I would just wander down a book shelf aisle, reading the spines, and pick a book here or there to peruse- something you just can’t do virtually.
So sometimes as I’m eating my Addy’s sandwich, I may be reading a novel that involves food. I may be reading a mystery. I may be reading a book as I plan a trip to get me in the mood for that location, or something for my book club, or something for the plane that’s a fluffy light summer fun read (which I read all year round!). Since it’s free, there is no reason I can’t just pick anything and everything, there is no cost except the time to browse.
Similarly, I have really browsed through all of Addy’s sandwiches. They are perfect to eat one-handed while reading with the other, and would be perfect for picnics or hikes and road trips as well. They are always cutely swaddled so you can gently put them in your backpack to eat in the park like I do with a book, or take it on a hike or in your picnic basket.
The sandwiches I usually get are the ones on Little T Bakery mini baguette, which means they all about 8 inches long I think, and arrive swaddled and ready to eat (like this one with chickpea spread , pickles, and romaine)
They also have a handful of paninis though, as well as some on a kaiser roll, and a handful of salads and yogurt parfaits on top of that. They have a rotating soup and salad as well as breakfast sandwich option.
Example sandwich combinations:
- turkey + brie + cucumber + creme fraiche
- house cured ham + gruyere + butter
- country pate + cornichons + mustard
- tuna salad + hardboiled egg
- tomato tapenade + basil + mozzarella
- duck confit + cranberry relish + shredded cabbage
- cucumber + brie
- pesto chicken salad + red onions + romaine
- chickpea spread + pickles + romaine
- chocolate + sea salt + olive oil
As I said, I’ve had all of these sandwiches. My favorites are the turkey brie cucumber creme fraiche, the country pate with cornichons (which I will often add brie to, and which is also pictured below), and the duck confit with cranberry relish and shredded cabbage. Also, did you notice that chocolate sandwich?
When they opened up their brick and mortar, I rejoiced when I saw they added lots of drink options: two pressed juices (Red Juice with beets, grapefruit, ginger, lemon and carrots or Green Juice with kale, cucumber, lemon, parsley, jalapeno, celery and apple) and a handful of smoothies made with fruit, yogurt, and coconut water. Now if I want to not walk all the way back to my house and maybe read in the South Park Blocks, I can do that with a healthy tasty drink in hannd.
Make sure you also check the butcher block paper on the right side, which may list special sandwiches like this one I once got with brie, radish slices, mint parsley pesto on baguette. Simple, vegetarian, and delicious.
They use all high quality local ingredients- which they all list individually at their store and website. I highly recommend stopping by to grab a sandwich before a day trip to go hiking or to the coast or to snack on al fresco in the Park Blocks or Pioneer Square.
Addy’s is open 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday and 10am to 5pm Saturdays.
Have you been to Addys? What do you think about reading physical versus virtual books, and do you ever go to the library?
