The yellow place by the gas station

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By Randal Smathers

It’s an enduring mystery to me why so many New England sandwich shops open with a menu of hot Italian, turkey, roast beef and ham. It’s more of a mystery why so many seem to thrive when the big choices they offer are American or Swiss, lettuce or cabbage, onions or pickles.

That’s not to deprecate a good hot Italian, mind. Anyplace that starts with capicola and mortadella instead of “hot ham” and bologna is worth at least a second visit. But there’s so many more ways to stuff a loaf of bread that it seems like a waste not to experiment a little.

That’s what keeps bringing me back to the Vermont Sandwich Co. of Brandon, which is far, far better known as the yellow place next to the gas station.

For a small town, Brandon is blessed with good eateries, so I won’t say it’s the only place to go, but it’s a great lunch for the money: quick, simple, good food without being boring.

According to co-owner Fran Viko, their biggest seller is the Thanksgiving dinner sandwich. Its formal name is the Patriot: roast turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and mayo, on white. I actually prefer its cousin, the Pilgrim, which substitutes roast beef, bacon, lettuce and Cabot cheddar for the turkey, on a sub roll. This is the point in the column where every week I ask my cardiologist to avert his eyes. Thanks. And hey, it’s got lettuce, so it’s good for me.

For the record, the menu includes lots of things that are good for you, like hummus and tuna salad and sprouts and green salads and the like. I just like roast beef and cheddar. And bacon. And, mmmm, mayo. Did I mention the lettuce?

And I don’t think I’ve ever had roast beef and stuffing together before, anywhere. It’s a surprisingly good combination, and it sort of splits the difference if you can’t make up your mind between beef and turkey. The counterperson — the other owner, as it turned out, Tammy Walsh — had me picked out as a carnivore from the get-go, because when I hesitated over the chalkboard menu with its two-dozen-or-so options, she volunteered to help me sort it out by asking “turkey or roast beef?”

Those options include paninis, which Fran insisted on (she says the Cajun smoked turkey makes the best paninis) when they started the shop five years ago, modeled on one in Burlington and the obligatory wraps … even a bean and cheese burrito.

For the adventurous, there’s a lot to choose from (the Julius Caesar, for instance, comprising all the ingredients from a chicken caesar salad in a wrap), or the Fire & Smoke (another personal favorite of mine), with the Cajun turkey, bacon, roasted peppers, hot peppers, raw red onion, horseradish mayo and Cabot pepper jack cheese on a sub roll.

Footlong sandwiches run between $5.75 and around $8; chips, soft drinks, potato and pasta salads round out the options.

Making a decision is the second-hardest part to eating at the Vermont Sandwich Co. The hardest is finding the parking lot. Fran notes that you can actually park on the street, but most folks eventually find their way behind the Mobil station to the large parking lot, one shady corner of which is blocked off for a picnic table in the summertime. In April, it’s shading the last of the snowbank, but no matter. I don’t know if it’s the bright, sunny décor, the picnic tables front and back or the fact that we first found the place during the Brandon July 1 parade (they hand out watermelon slices), but I always associate it with summer.

Fran says they get by on lots of locals and regulars. I can see why, because it’s one of those places that’s easy to drive by — even though, at the bottom of the slalom hill that is Route 7 in downtown Brandon, if you’re doing over 25 mph you’re not only speeding, you’re nuts. But once you know it’s there, you make a point of stopping in.

On my most recent visit — a pit stop on a road trip to Burlington — the sandwich, as always, was top-notch: Fresh, soft-but-slightly chewy bread, lots of toppings, served to the table after ordering, pickle wedge on the side. And yes, it was a Pilgrim. One of these days I’ll try a salad, but first I have to get through a few more of the sandwiches …

Btw, thanks to everybody who suggested their favorite eateries. I’ll start eating my way down the list next week. And if you have a favorite out-of-the-way spot, drop me a line.

Herald Editor Randal Smathers writes on food and dining weekly. Contact randal.smathers@rutlandherald.com