Lunch for One: Olive's Vegetarian Sandwich

[Photo: Kathy YL Chan]

Every Thursday morning, I wake up with a now-familiar sort of giddy excitement in my stomach—because every Thursday, Olive's in Soho features the same vegetarian sandwich special. And this sandwich, utterly meatless, is delicious beyond words.

Perhaps it's the spicy chipotle mayo smothered on the top and bottom slices of 7-grain bread; or the fact that the sandwich is packed tight with the creamiest, always fresh avocado; or maybe it's the duo of Vermont sharp cheddar and fresh, juicy tomatoes. But really, I think it's the combination of all of that plus crunchy sprouts and paper thin red onions. It's clean, light and so fresh: a simple, though immensely satisfying combination I could eat daily. I've been known to buy three of these sandwiches on some Thursdays and eat one at lunch, the second for dinner, and the third for Friday morning breakfast. Yes, their avocado sandwich is that awesome.

The sandwich is best enjoyed as part of the daily combo, which comes with half a sandwich, cookie, and iced tea or lemonade for $8.50. For the sandwich portion, you can opt between the daily special (our beloved avocado sandwich in this case), the Olive's Hero, or the reliable (if not quite boring) fresh mozzarella on semolina bread with roasted red peppers and basil oil. I can never decide between the tea or lemonade, so I naturally opt for the best of both worlds and have an Arnold Palmer. It's a little harder when it comes to the cookie just because there are so many options: oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip, ginger, peanut butter or oatmeal-pecan.

I usually pick ginger, perfectly balanced between sweet and spicy, a thin cookie on the chewy side. The oatmeal-pecan pictured above is a solid bet, similar to the ginger in texture, with the crunch of toasty, chopped pecans in each bite. Note: A whole avocado sandwich alone is $9 if you don't need the drink and cookie, but somehow lunch doesn't feel the complete without the latter two.

Olive's

120 Prince Street, New York NY 10012 (map) 212-941-0111
olivesnyc.com

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