written by Julie Lee
Does anything truly satisfy a savage craving more than a hearty sandwich, piled sky high with three food groups, mounted between thick slices of the fourth?*
Bunk Sandwiches
One day in 2008, two dudes decided Portland needed a gourmet-ish sandwich option. Seven years later, Bunk is a budding enterprise with three owners and five locations. Bunk is to the sando what McMenamins is to historical renovation—world domination, one pork belly cubano at a time.
Bunk Downtown: 211 SW 6th Ave.
Bunk Morrison: 621 SE Morrison St.
Bunk Bar Water: 1028 SE Water Ave.
Bunk Bar Wonder: 128 NE Russell St
Bunk Alberta: 2017 NE Alberta St.
Tilt
Best known for burgers, the hand-carved sandwiches at Tilt are as jaw-droppingly huge and just as tasty as anything you can imagine a sandwich to be. The Union Club is large enough to feed a small family or a defensive lineman, and the bar is oft overlooked as a cool hang, with a couple of flat screens, a roaring fire, and a ping pong table.
Pearl District: 1355 NW Everett St. Suite 120
East Burnside Bridge: 230 E. Burnside St.
Swan Island: 3449 N. Anchor St. Suite 200
Lardo
Speaking of world domination (see Bunk, above) Lardo is another skyrocketing conglomerate of sandwich shops, with multiple locations on three ends of the city. With addictive add-ons such as house kimchi, roasted poblanos, and olive tapenade, Lardo elevates the game for Portland’s gastronomes.
Portland West: 1205 SW Washington St.
Portland East: 1212 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland North: 4090 N. Williams Ave.
Big Ass Sandwiches
Yours would live up to the name if you ate one of these every day, though you may want to do just that after trying one bite of the Gutbomb, with double meat and double bechamel cheese sauce heaped on a ciabatta roll and loaded with French fries on the sandwich.
5663 NE Glisan | bigasssandwiches.com
Trader Vic’s
Wait…that iconic Portland institution known for a killer Mai Tai also serves up a great sammie? Yep! Trader Vic’s, famous for its curated décor and 200-year-old Chinese wood-fired oven slow roasts meats and presents it with culturally creative condiments such as Thai ginger slaw, and sweet potato and soy aioli. The pulled pork sandwich with Maui onion frites is a favorite of owner Clayton Hering. Ours, too!
1203 NW Glisan St. | tradervicspdx.com
*Why do the new guys get all the love? Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen, we still love you, too, especially that pastrami reuben you’ve been serving up for eight years.
