New York City Sub Shop

Published 4:00 am Friday, March 24, 2006

Location: 1042 NW Bond St., downtown Bend; 1375 SE Wilson Ave., east-side Bend; 946 SW Veterans Way, Redmond

Hours: Downtown Bend from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday; east-side Bend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday; Redmond from Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Price Range: $5.50 to $10.50

Alcoholic Beverages: None

Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard

Contact: 388-4498, downtown Bend; 330-0444, east-side Bend; 548-4400, Redmond

Don’t expect anything fancy at the New York City Sub Shop and you won’t be disappointed.

In fact, says co-owner Andrew Deenik, you’ll thank him later for offering a quality product without too many frills, choices or fawning service. ”We’re here to do one thing,” Deenik says. ”Make the subs, serve you, move on.”

This bare-bones business plan may not be the stuff Forbes magazine covers. But for company founder and co-owner Bruce Tlougan, it has been the foundation for a successful six-city chain of sandwich shops.

Tlougan opened his first shop in Jackson, Wyo., in 1984 with a pickup window where customers would wait outside for sandwiches, Deenik said.

”You couldn’t fit more than three customers in there at a time,” Deenik said, adding that workers would toss sandwiches out the window to patrons waiting in blizzards.

Fast-forward 20 years and you find New York City Sub Shops in Jackson, Hood River, Portland, The Dalles, Redmond and Bend.

All the shops offer the same basic sandwiches – meat and cheese on freshly made bread with grilled onions and peppers, if you would like. Chips, soda and cookies cost extra. There is also soup for winter.

It’s a method that harks back to the New York City mom-and-pop shop model.

”The New York way is focused, direct and no-frills,” Deenik said.

Downtown Bend manager Jin Gabriel says that things will remain the same, and that the owners are looking into the possibility of opening a new shop in Madras within the next year.

There are no fancy sandwich ingredients. There are no bread choices, just baked-fresh Italian-style white with a little olive oil.

Look for co-owners Deenik and Tlougan in the colorful murals that cover the walls of the shops. (Hint: Deenik and Tlougan share the same taste in facial hair.)

The murals, painted by Jackson artist Greta Gretzinger, contain all sorts of inside jokes. Hank Aaron – Tlougan’s favorite baseball player – was painted taking a swing at a flying avocado. In the sub shop patois, this means avocados and other ”sandwich nouveau” ingredients are outta here.

”We’re old-school,” Deenik said. ”We haven’t changed anything and we’re not going to.”

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