Weekend Sandwich Roundup

Brown Bag Deli

This is a great little show put on by the same people who do Barnaby's, and is just the place to get lunch on a Sunday when you're ready for the day but too lazy to make your own sandwich. The key to the Brown Bag experience is simplicity – walk up to the counter, pick up a signature menu-on-a-brown-paper-bag, and fill it out, checking the items you want on your sandwich. All the choices are yours; there are no predesigned sandwiches. The list of ingredients is not expansive, but solid.

Things not to miss: The jalapeño bread, the horseradish white cheddar, and the roast beef. Things that are okay but could be better: The chicken salad is a bit bland, but then again, that's just the nature of chicken salad. The lettuce is shredded, which we don't like, but fortunately it is of the non-iceberg-dark-green-and-tasty variety, so we'll let it slide.

The price the sandwiches go at – $4.50 – leaves little reason to set foot in a Subway.

Kraftsmen Baking

Kraftsmen Baking has a different pedigree – Scott Tycer of Aries and Gravitas – and it shows. The sandwiches here are intricately designed and feature unusual, bordering on pretentious ingredients not usually found between slices of bread such as brie, arugula, caper, and apple slices. Their main focus, of course, is the bread, with options like pain biologique and honey wheat pain de mie baguette.

For all this, their best sandwich is probably their simplest – the Krafts'men club. The Krafts'men garden – featuring avocado, sprouts, and roasted red peppers – is a great vegetarian option and is just plain good besides. (Houstonist is a sucker for any sandwich with avocado.) The turkey and brie sandwich is interesting, but there are better choices on the menu.

The sandwiches here are as expected a bit more expensive – $6.75 – but considering the ingredients, not unreasonable. It's biggest advantage is that it's open until 7:00, late enough for an early dinner.

Brown Bag Deli
2036 Westheimer (and other locations)

Kraftsmen Baking
4100c Montrose

Photo: flickr user existentialism