If you're downtown and trying to avoid the hassle and cost of a sit-down restaurant, you can drop by Baggby's Gourmet Sandwiches. Located on the Downtown Mall and conveniently next to the parking garage on Fifth Street N.E, Baggby's offers a range of sandwiches for the lunchtime crowd.
Baggby's caters exclusively to early afternoon diners. In fact, it isn't open after 4 p.m. on weekdays and 3 p.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays, it doesn't open at all. Nevertheless, it's an alternative to the more expensive and slower restaurants on the Downtown Mall.
You should expect to pay no more than $7 or $8 for a full meal, including a drink. Add in the fact that you don't leave a tip and the frugal-but-hungry college student can get a decent amount of food for a minimal expense.
Of course, you shouldn't expect more than you're paying for. This isn't the Ritz. Efficiency is the name of the game.
The server behind the counter takes down your order on the same paper bag your food comes out in. You can expect your sandwich to take five or 10 minutes to make during high traffic times, which, during the lunch rush, can be pretty busy.
We generally describe the atmosphere and the service at this point in the article, but the fact that Baggby's is a deli makes these factors less important than the quality of the food and the price. Nevertheless, a cursory description could be useful.
Although you do get your order in a to-go bag, you can just as easily stick around and eat in the restaurant. There are plenty of tables inside Baggby's. But it can get crowded at times if there are people standing in line or hanging around the counter waiting for their orders.
On nicer days, you can take your sandwich outside and eat at one of the tables on the Downtown Mall. Unfortunately, the impending winter weather makes this a less viable option in the coming months.
The interior of this deli is unremarkable. The decorations are simple and forgettable, but it doesn't really matter. It's a sandwich shop; if that sort of thing bugs you, then you probably shouldn't be here.
If you've been to littlejohn's, you'll be met with the same type of setting. The menu is laid out on blackboards behind the area where the staff actually prepares your food.
Although the menu itself is diverse, the food here isn't anything special. So don't get your hopes up. We recommend keeping it simple since sandwiches start to get a little squirrelly when you add too many bizarre ingredients.
To a certain extent, Baggby's suffers from the Hardware Store Disease, or HSD, the inexplicable desire to put inappropriate toppings on sandwiches. A lot of the sandwiches seem contrived, as if there was some room needed to be filled.
Some of the ingredient combinations are weird and harmless, but others should be banned from sandwiches altogether. Avocados belong in guacamole dishes, sprouts belong in rabbit cages and olives belong in Greece where they can do no damage to the American dining public.
With that extended disclaimer, there are a lot of options to choose from. The Remarkable ($4.89) consists of turkey, cream cheese, mayo, bacon, sprouts and avocado. If you're bold, go ahead and try it.
Likewise we recommend you avoid the California ($4.79), a pile of cream cheese, mayo, American and Swiss cheeses, cucumber, sprouts and lettuce.
The Sundown is a pedestrian choice. At $4.89, you get turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce in a sandwich. It might be passable if it was heated, but it's served cold. The Club Sandwich ($4.99) pales in comparison to other clubs. We recommend you try something that every other restaurant in the world doesn't serve.
There are also a variety of hot-grilled sandwiches available. The Albuquerque ($5.49) has grilled turkey, barbecue sauce, peppers, onions and Swiss cheese. The Cheese Steak Sandwich ($5.49) isn't fit for human consumption, nor is the meatball sub ($5.49).
If you don't like the sandwiches on the menu -- and we didn't -- you can "Bagg your own sandwich." You can combine any number of ingredients to taste, choosing from the standard deli options of turkey, roast beef, ham, egg salad, tuna salad and a variety of other sandwich standards.
From sub rolls to sourdough to Italian and marble rye, an assortment of breads are used in the different sandwiches. You can choose from any available toppings, including pepperonis, mushrooms, jalapeno peppers, coleslaw, bacon and a number of less desirable extras.
The best thing you can walk away with is dessert. Each sandwich comes with a tiny chocolate chip cookie. Our advice is to buy one of the bigger ones ($1.09) because it's that good. Other selections include brownies, rice krispies treats and frozen yogurt.
Overall, Baggby's fails as a sandwich eatery. You're far better off going to littlejohn's or Take It Away. Both offer a better location for the University student and food that might actually satisfy you.
Thanksgiving and home-cooking loom in the distance; but until then, you're going to have to continue to wade your way through Charlottesville's plethora of mediocre restaurants.
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