The pairing of sandwich and chips is almost a given in our modern day; sandwich and pickle is another trad match. However, what I want in a pairing walks the tight line of texture and ingredients. Perhaps it's because I'm a Libra, and we crave balance. I am deeply invested in a sandwich and a good chocolate chip cookie.
Both are easy enough to mess up. Is the bread too hard? You’re going to wind up with a mayo-coated tomato on your tits during lunch. Is there too much butter in the cookie? Smooshville.
Therefore, I have compiled my personal favorite list of places to score a phenomenal sandwich AND a scrumptious choco chip dessert. Keep in mind, there are MANY places that offer this particular combo—some have good sandwiches and a bad cookie, or vice versa. And, it’s highly likely that I missed your favorite, so please let me know where I can continue this personal carb quest.
The Baker’s Mark
This is the one. If you want both a killer sandwich and a cookie that puts your mom’s to shame, it’s at Baker’s Mark. Because while they're famous for baking their own bread, they also bake their cookies daily. My go-to order is the hot turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato on a Dutch crutch roll, with banana peppers, a cookie, and a Diet Coke.
The way the Italian dressing and melty provolone yield to the crispy-topped Dutch crunch? With the peppers adding a zhuzh of acid and spice?! Lordt. And that cookie? It’s full of chips, has a gooey center, and packs just the right chew, especially on the edges. Baker’s Mark does not do delivery, which frankly is a godsend for my afternoon productivity, because otherwise I’d get it at least once a week.
The Baker's Mark, 1126 SE Division; 307 NW 10th, thebakersmark.com
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DC Vegetarian
I told a coworker about my quest for all things sandwich and cookie, and she told me about DC Vegetarian. At first I was skeptical, but after a hulking cajun chicken po’boy (creole-seasoned soy curls) and what is THE BEST COOKIE ON THIS LIST, I am sold.
DC Veg's sandwiches are heaped with so much flavor you'll never miss the meat. But the cookies, baked in house, are fluffy, the size of a man’s hand, and oh-so-chewy. There’s sea salt to balance the sweetness. Somehow, they’re also vegan. This is a fact my lizard brain will never process, but a food my Pooh-bear stomach will always crave.
DC Vegetarian, 5026 SE Division, dcvegetarian.com
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Laurelhurst Market
The city’s finest steakhouse by night is one of its best sandwich shops by day. With options like a roast beef sandwich that’s made with its house-butchered, mushroom-rubbed round roast, or deli-sliced smoked turkey and bacon with house-picked zucchinis, Laurelhurst is artisanal AF. But they’re not precious about it—these are sandwiches after all. And, we’re allowing the addition of hazelnuts to this chocolate chip cookie, because they add a pleasant earthiness and crunch, unlike the much more commonly-added walnut.
Meet a friend for lunch and sit outside under the massive shelter they built during the pandemic, and DO NOT wave at a stranger who you think is someone you know but definitely isn’t—and then you just look like a total freak when you walk by to get water.
Laurelhurst Market, 3155 Burnside, laurelhurstmarket.com/lunch
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Dos Hermanos Bakery
The supplier of breads at some of the city’s finest restaurants, Dos Hermanos opened a cafe on Southeast Stark in December, and lunch lines for their chopped sandwiches are long.
There’s good reason: fillings are given the chopped salad treatment, sliced and diced by hand with a long curved knife, then served on baguette made specially for their sandwiches. Portions are almost laughably huge—a half sandwich is still the better part of a forearm in length and girth. The Bada Bing on sesame bread is my go-to order, with its rich Italian meats getting plenty of lettuce, tomato, and vinaigrette to balance them out. The cookie is a little more buttery than the GOATs on this list, causing it to flatten out, but it makes the list on the back of those epic chopped sammies.
Dos Hermanos Bakery, 1015 SE Stark, doshermanosbakery.com/cafe-menu
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Grand Central Bakery
Grand Central has been around for aaaageeesss, and it’s where you’re going to find the most solid—no surprises—sandwich and cookie in town. No fancy airs ‘round here, just a generous tuna melt or ham sandwich on their famous bread, and a Tollhouse-style chocolate chip cookie that has never once let me down. The cookie looks exactly like the emoji: a smattering of chips, not too big, and just the right amount of chewy. Sometimes the classics are all you need.
Grand Central Bakery, multiple locations, grandcentralbakery.com
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Dimo’s Apizza
Dimo’s is known for it’s pizza, but don’t skip their lunchtime-only grinders. There’s always an Italian option, and keep your eyes on Instagram for their rotating specials, like eggplant parm. It’s a cheesy, saucy, messy feast, and the big old sea salt chocolate chip cookie, baked there daily, is the perfect way to cap off the indulgence.
Dimo’s Apizza, 701 E Burnside, dimosapizza.com
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Snappy’s
I don’t really drink any more, but there is no finer hangover delivery than Snappy’s turkey club, curly fries, and sea-salt chocolate chip cookie. (My editor, the astute Suzette Smith, calls Snappy’s “pure sleep in a sandwich.”) The club sandwich delivers on its mission, with a fatty layer of turkey on bacon in a hoagie bun, and the curly fries are always still crisp and tasty, even after the journey in someone’s backseat. The cookie has chocolate chunks instead of chips, and, after both a whole sandwich and a big bag of fries, is mercifully a little smaller than some of the big bois on this list.
Snappy's, 609 SE Ankeny, makeitsnappys.com
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Potbelly Sandwich Shop
If you’re downtown, there are far worse choices than a turkey and bacon sandwich, that's been run through Potbelly’s little toaster business, with all the toppings, including those hot peppers. And the reason I add it to this most hallowed of lists is the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, which is always chewy, moist, and absolutely delicious. I’ve loved this cookie / sandwich longer than any other on this list, and I’d be a fraud if I didn’t include the combo that sparked my eternal passion.
Potbelly Sandwich Shop, multiple locations, potbelly.com
