Counter Attack: Sandwiches

Beaverton Sub Station

12448 SW Broadway St., 641-7827, beavertonsubstation.com.

Beaverton Sub Station does the working-class Midwestern sub at a level otherwise unknown—with golden-shelled Beaverton Bakery rolls, a turkey sandwich pretty damned close to the Platonic ideal, and so much meat in its Italian it turns the bread a little pink.

Bunk Sandwiches

2017 NE Alberta St., 211 SW 6th Ave., 621 SE Morrison St., 1028 SE Water Ave., 128 NE Russell St.; 328-2865; bunksandwiches.com.

Only the pork belly Cubano could carry the weight of five locations. It looks simple on the menu, but the taste is an explosion. There's nothing quite like watching an indie band at Bunk Bar with 50 other people, all with pork grease drizzled down their hoodies.

Devil's Dill

1711 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 236-8067, devilsdill.com.

All Devil's Dill needs to be essential is its five-spice pulled pork sandwich, a beautiful balance of sweetness and underlying complexity, covered in a earthy, acidic sesame slaw. But it's also open after bar close, and it delivers.

Meat Cheese Bread

1406 SE Stark St., 234-1700, meatcheesebread.com.

This small shop's dozen or so sandwiches exploit a limitless knowledge of their signature ingredients. A rejiggering of flank steak salad in sandwich form, the Park Kitchen sandwich relies on a precise liquidity of blue-cheese mayo, while the bacon and brie uses thick savory chunks of Nueske's sainted, smoked pig flesh to balance the creamier underpinnings.

Lardo and Shut Up and Eat

Lardo: 1205 SW Washington St., 1212 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 4090 N Williams Ave.,

241-2490, lardosandwiches.com.

Shut: 3848 SE Gladstone St., 719-6449, shutupandeatpdx.com.

These unrelated shops both began as Italian-focused sandwich carts with great meatballs, and both have expanded like crazy—Lardo across the city, and Shut Up and Eat across its own block. Pick up the signature Broad St. Bomber philly at Shut Up and Eat's huge space—unless you get a steak-and-egg sammy for breakfast. At Lardo, go for the rotating chefwich from an area fine-dining chef, or the tasty, gigantic, pork meatball banh mi with that awesome Sriracha mayo.

Kenny and Zuke's Bagelworks

2376 NW Thurman St., 954-1737, kennyandzukes.com.

Ken Gordon's pastrami is the best sandwich meat in town, period. It's brined for a week and smoked for 10 hours to make wonderful 'wiches. The other meats—turkey, turkey pastrami, etc.—are fine, but you want to go for the pastrami on rye at either the Bagelworks in Northwest or the main location downtown.

Willamette Week