This new sandwich spot makes the case for lunch. Here’s what to order

When a new spot opens in town, we’re eager to check it out, let you know our initial impressions, share photos and dish about menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened – an occasion to sample a few items and satisfy curiosities (both yours and ours).

Some food rituals are easy to romanticize. There’s the satisfaction of a well-made coffee on a lazy Saturday morning or an ice-cold martini at the end of the week. We’ll wait hours for brunch or spend weeks trying to make a dinner reservation at the latest hot spot. But what about lunch? For many, it’s a meal of utility, something inhaled while hunched over a desk between meetings.

Paper Bag Sandwich Co., a small deli counter tucked into The Frederick in Uptown Phoenix, argues for giving lunch its due. 

Hunter Breshears, who owns Chewk’s Cookies, opened the sandwich shop next to his bakery in June. Paper Bag taps into the same nostalgia and simplicity that powers Chewk’s. 

“You’ve got good taste,” a mirrored sandwich board stationed outside the sandwichery reads. Inside, the small space centers around the sage green-tiled counter. A deli case holds meats, cheeses and bags of greens. Behind the cold case, a staffer slices Paper Bag’s house Tuscan flatbread, schiacciata.

Next to the counter, a niche holds a drink cooler and relics of the turn of the century, including a boxy TV, a VCR and tapes. On the other side of the counter is a bar looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows, filled with yellow metal stools for diners to eat their sandwiches. In the cooler half of the year, The Fred’s tree-lined courtyard would make for a charming picnic spot. We, like most other customers on a recent afternoon, took our sandwiches to go in a titular brown paper bag.

What to order at Paper Bag Sandwich Co.

Paper Bag’s taut menu includes five cold sandwiches, ranging from $14 to $18, and three options for kids, from $4.50 to $6. There’s a selection of Dirty Potato Chips and drinks. If you want to add a Chewk’s cookie to your meal, as we did, you’ll need to walk next door to get one. 

The kitchen moves quickly. We barely had that cookies-and-cookie-cream bake in hand before our order was ready, with our two sandwiches, the Hall Pass and Lunch Money, wrapped tightly in white butcher paper.

The latter is made up of roast beef, provolone, a horseradish crema, caramelized onions and arugula. It’s a classic, rich and savory combination that harkens to a handheld prime rib. The horseradish crema adds tang and a little heat, while caramelized onions echo the deep umami in the tender beef. The only issue with the choice of meat is that it has a fairly chewy casing, which sometimes makes it challenging to bite through the edges of the deli slices.

The Hall Pass comes loaded with turkey, whipped ricotta, arugula, hot honey and black pepper. The toppings are a trendy, smart combination of zesty-but-sweet and creamy, cooling flavors. The turkey acts as a savory canvas for those elements without competing for attention the way other cold cuts might. It’s a sandwich we’d make a trip back to the shop to order.

The restaurant’s house bread is the foundation of these sandwiches, and it’s solid. Schiacciata is similar to focaccia — it’s crisp on the outside but has a fluffy, bubbly interior. It also holds up the meats, cheeses, sauces and other toppings, even over time. Our remaining sandwich halves still had a pleasing crunch when we bit into them the next day.

Paper Bag’s sandwich selections don’t step too far outside of the lunch box, but the shop makes the most of its simplicity. You could try to emulate these sandwiches in your own kitchen, but you might spend an hour caramelizing onions or have to bust out your food processor to whip cheese. It’s those smart, cheffed-up toppings that make the difference and the friendly staff keeps things moving with a smile.

That attention to detail in the food and the shop makes Paper Bag Sandwich Co. worth taking your lunch break. 

Paper Bag Sandwich Co.

1215 E. Missouri Ave.