San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
5 tasty sandwiches to eat right now.
From PB&J to grown-up grilled cheese
For Jeremiah Burns, peanut butter and jelly isn’t just a sandwich. It’s a time machine.
“It’s something we’ve eaten for 20, 30 years, whether it’s a midnight snack or in between a soccer game or something that your mom put in your lunchbox,” said Burns, who opened PB&J with Tay at The Yard in Olmos Park a year ago. “When you just say it, it makes you smile.”
That’s true of PB&J in particular, and true of sandwiches in general. Here are five restaurants in and around San Antonio putting that truth to work every day.
Full Belly Cafe and Bar
Full Belly reopened in Stone Oak last month after a sixmonth pandemic hiatus. That’s good for a lot of reasons, but one of the best reasons is a breakfast sandwich that showcases the work of veteran chefs and entrepreneurs Blade Haddock and James Moore.
In their hands, this drive-thru staple gets an artisan makeover, starting with a freshly baked brioche bun from pastry chef Deanna Lansing and finishing with spicy housemade sausage, a fried egg, cheese and a sweet tomato chutney that harnesses Full Belly’s mission as an American diner with a global outlook ($12.25 with homefries).
427 N. Loop 1604, Suite 202, Sonterra Village shopping center, 210-236-5374, fullbellysa.com. Dine-in and curbside available.
Photo I73MMG16 Hatch Cafe Bakery 1020a
Hatch Cafe & Bakery
The speed limit’s only 20 mph on the stretch of Bulverde Road that passes through old downtown Bulverde. Go any faster and you might miss Hatch Cafe & Bakery, a charming bungalow filled with plants and home decor that channels an antique-store vibe without all the dust and rust.
The busy cafe specializes in baked goods, soups and sandwiches on homemade bread from chef Catalina Ortiz Pesqueira. The ABLT adds avocado to a traditional bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich, then takes it to another level with garlic and herb mayo on a fresh croissant with layers like spun glass and a finish like polished gold ($12.99 with chips or fruit, cookie and a drink).
2360 Bulverde Road, Bulverde, 830-438-1200, hatchcafeandbakery.com. Dinein, curbside and third-party delivery available.
Lucy Cooper’s Ice House
As the pandemic convulsed through the restaurant industry, Braunda Moody Smith of Lucy Cooper’s Ice House might as well have wrapped a bandanna around her head and raised one strong arm for a “We Can Do It” poster against shutting down bars. Her own place serves some of the best bar food in San Antonio, but she still had to fight for the right to reopen her doors.
Her activism is your gain for cocktails like a bacon-infused old-fashioned or a slushy frozen Sazerac. But what makes Lucy Cooper’s special are things like the Boss Hawg sandwich, piled high with pulled pork, ham, bacon and smoked sausage slathered in Coca-Cola barbecue sauce. For $14, it includes lush mac and cheese with crumbled Cheez-Its and fries sprinkled with Lucy’s brown sugar-andspice Krack seasoning.
16080 San Pedro Ave., 210-462-1894, lucycoopers.com. Dine-in and takeout available.
Olmos Perk
Sure, Olmos Perk will pour you a cup of Katz’s pecan coffee or lay out a Blueberry Blossom muffin that dares you to call it gluten-free. It’s a coffee shop, and a good one. But it’s also a full-on sandwich shop, with five for breakfast and five for lunch, served all day by owners Erin Eaton and her husband, Tres Eaton.
The Caprese is served warm on toasted bread with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, herb pesto and zig-zags of sweet balsamic glaze ($8 with chips). Think of it as a grown-up grilled cheese.
5223 McCullough Ave., 210492-1104, Facebook:
@OlmosPerk. Dine-in and curbside available.
PB&J with Tay
PB&J with Tay at The Yard in Olmos Park bills itself as “San Antonio’s first peanut butter and jelly shop.” As they say on social media, weird flex but OK. But irony’s not on the menu here, just a dozen PB&J sandwiches heavy on the options, like marshmallow fluff, Nutella and a dozen kinds of jelly. And a cold glass of milk.
Jeremiah Burns named PB&J for his 3-year-old daughter Taylynn, who, as fate would have it, doesn’t care for PB&J. She’s a Nutella fan. I get it. But for me, the more the merrier, and the Kitchen Sink’s about as merry as it gets, a double-decker on Texas toast with peanut butter, Nutella, cream cheese, walnuts, strawberry-jalapeño jelly, bacon, banana and coconut flakes ($10.50 with chips).
Good stuff, but can you really make a restaurant work with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? To quote the Associated Press Stylebook: “PB&J is acceptable in all references.” Who am I to argue?
5335 McCullough Ave., 210-5188299, pbjwithtay.com. Dine-in, curbside and third-party delivery available.