Sandwhich Chapel Hill - Review of Sandwhich Chapel Hill

• Menu at Sandwhich is creative and food is made with extremely high-quality ingredients.
• There are lots of vegetarian selections at Sandwhich.
• There is outdoor seating available at Sandwhich.

• The sandwiches at Sandwhich are relatively expensive ($7.50-$9.50) and are far from huge.
• Drinks, side dishes and desserts at Sandwhich are also relatively expensive
• Sandwhich is only open for lunch

• Sandwhich is located in the Courtyard of Chapel Hill, at 431 W. Franklin St., (919) 929-2114.
• Sandwhich is open from 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Mon-Sat
• Parking at Sandwhich is very limited.
• There is also a municipal parking lot about a tenth of a mile east on Franklin St., and some on-street parking nearby.
• Sandwhich is trendy--think brushed stainless steel everything
• The indoor seating area is cramped, but you'll be shoulder to shoulder with one of the Triangle's hippest lunch crowds..

I visited Sandwhich at about 2:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, and it was completely packed. There was a line to order sandwiches that took 5-10 minutes to get through, and then a 10-15 minute wait for the food. Sandwich is not a "fast-food" place. However, if you have the time, the food is well worth the wait.

The tiny indoor seating area (an expansion looks to be in the works) was pretty noisy, and chairs were scarce, so I took advantage of the limited, yet lovely, outdoor seating in the courtyard.

I ordered an eggplant and goat cheese sandwich which was served warm and gooey, on a rather unremarkable focaccia. The sandwich was stuffed with loads of creamy goat cheese and a moderate quantity of sweet (not bitter) eggplant, peppers and dried tomatoes. It was served with a very appealing side dish of curried carrots which were beautifully chopped, and absolutely delicious. However, they were served in a rather disappointing way-- in a tiny plastic sample container like those they pass out at grocery stores. I would have loved to have more than a tablespoon of them, but I savored them anyway, eating them out of the cuplet with a toothpick, one at a time.

My dining companion ordered The Smoker, a delicious smoked beef sandwich that he was kind enough to let me sample. It's a simple sandwich: thin slices of house-smoked roast beef, coupled with cheddar cheese and a springy, tangy sourdough bread. The taste of the beef was similar to corned beef, but less salty and more "smoky". At $9.25, it is one of the most expensive sandwiches on the menu, but if you're looking for a really good beef sandwich, it will be money well-spent. The accompanying side dish of marinated olives complemented the sandwich well.

I'm looking forward to visiting Sandwhich again. I'm saving up so that I can splurge on two sandwiches next time!