Antique Sandwich Co.

If you’re ever in the waterside Point Defiance neighborhood in Tacoma, you’re guaranteed to spot an old red warehouse with two gigantic mermaid murals on the side and face of the building. This is the Antique Sandwich Co. a casual and slightly quirky family-owned eatery located just a few short minutes away from the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

What makes it special? Delicious baked goods, vintage hippie atmosphere, and of course, sandwiches. The Antique Sandwich Co. is known for keeping high fructose corn syrup and excess sugar out of the food. It is not a health food restaurant, but it happens to serve healthy food.

What to eat at Antique Sandwich Co.

Every item is handmade in house; sandwiches come on homemade whole wheat or rye bread with a standard choice of lettuce, sprouts, and tomatoes. The meatloaf sandwich on rye, a customer favorite, is hearty and flavorful. The bread is airy and a little chewy, the meatloaf slices thick and beefy, and the sprouts, lettuce, and tomato crunchy and fresh. Each meal comes with a fresh side salad or potato chips. The other specials? A random assortment: colorful veggie quiche, gooey turkey enchiladas with homemade green salsa, glistening blueberry peach pie, and creamy milkshakes in an array of flavors.

An old mid-century bar takes up one side of the 42-year-old restaurant, holding the food prep area, self serve coffee station, baked goods display, and register. Posters and flyers promoting local events line the entire bar front. Tapestries and old photos separated by the decades line the walls, and the place sports a haphazard assortment of eccentric antiques for which it is named. The long warehouse layout allows for a quiet reader to post up in back with a cup of coffee, and at the same time children can stay entertained in a small play area on an underused small stage mid-restaurant.

Germophobes might feel the urge to disinfect the jumbled place, but I wouldn’t change a thing about this charming, community-based gem with a ton of character and a relaxed, homey atmosphere.