Over the past dozen years or so, the cafe space at the back end of Bend’s quaint Brooks Street Alley has seen numerous occupants.

The Downtowner, locally famous for its sandwiches, opened in 2005 and later morphed into The Summit, down the street and around the block. It was succeeded in 2009 and 2010 by Lola’s, another sandwich-and-salad spot that didn’t make it past the one-year mark.

In early 2011, Kanpai owner Justin Cook established Boken, an Asian fusion restaurant that was an instant hit. Over the next five years, Boken expanded into a pre-existing, adjacent martini bar space, changed its name to Dojo and became a favorite downtown Bend nightclub in addition to serving its popular small-plates and sushi menu.

After Dojo closed, the space stood vacant for several months until July, when its latest tenant opened its doors. Franchise owner Rich Taylor, a 20-year resident of Bend, established the first Oregon outpost of a casual California restaurant group

The Beach Hut Deli specializes in gourmet hot and cold sandwiches and salads. First opened in the Sacramento area in 1981, the group now has shops in Las Vegas, Reno and Bend, in addition to 37 in its home state.

California dreamin’

Since Dojo’s departure, the space has been thoroughly renovated, as it has with each of its ownership changes. Beach Hut brings a California surf theme to the spacious adjoining rooms, with posters and sheet music from classic movies and popular songs hanging on its walls and elsewhere amid light-wood design.

It combines a sports-bar appeal, as every table on its breezeway side has an individual television. More TVs are mounted elsewhere in the restaurant; indeed, the only place to escape football and playoff baseball is on the outside patio facing Brooks Street Plaza. With seating that surrounds central fire pits, this is a delightful place to enjoy a sandwich.

Patrons order from a long counter where they are warmly greeted and offered an Oregon beer from 15 taps.

The selection of sandwiches listed on the menu numbers more than three dozen. Nearly all are available in three sizes — regular, large and extra large. When I ordered a large, I ate half of my sandwich and saved the other half for later. I can barely imagine what extra large must look like.

The deli classics — turkey, ham, roast beef, pastrami, salami and tuna, all with a choice of six cheeses — are made with the works. That means tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, Greek peppers, dill pickles and a spread of mustard and mayonnaise.

The same fixings are offered with the choice of gourmet sandwiches, some cold, some hot. Many of them come with avocado, bacon and cream cheese. Indeed, bacon is a favorite ingredient at The Beach Hut. The Surfin’ Cow (named after a song by The Dead Milkmen) put all three of those adds with thickly layered roast beef on a roll from the Truckee (California) Sourdough Company, which provides bread for every franchise.

Wakie Bakie heart

My dining companion was delighted to know that Beach Hut begins serving breakfast sandwiches as soon as it opens at 10 a.m. Her “Wakie Bakie” on toasted garlic cheese bread featured two scrambled eggs with bacon, sausage, avocado, tomatoes and melted cheddar, along with a special Tapatio cream-cheese spread. Other breakfast sandwiches come on wheat bread or a croissant.

The High Tide is Beach Hut’s response to a Reuben. Chopped pastrami, ham and crumbled bacon are piled high with cheddar and pepper-jack cheeses and served on garlic cheese bread with the restaurant’s own Thousand Island dressing.

The Spicolli pays homage to Jeff Spicoli, a surfer-dude character played by Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn in the 1982 movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” While fans of that movie might recall that Penn ordered pizza delivery to teacher Ray Walston’s classroom, the sandwich features turkey. Sliced breast meat is topped with lettuce, bacon and melted cheddar, then served with buttermilk ranch dressing on a toasted roll.

While each of these sandwiches was tasty and reasonably priced, not one of them stood out enough to entice me to make Beach Hut my go-to place for sandwiches in downtown Bend.

It was a salad that most impressed me.

The Hawaiian, so named (I assume) because it included chunks of fresh pineapple, is made like all Beach Hut salads with a choice of fresh greens: iceberg or romaine lettuce, or spinach. I opted for a blend of romaine and baby spinach, and was rewarded with a delicious salad that included pulled pork with onions and melted pepper-jack cheese, topped with crumbled bacon and completed with barbecue sauce.

— John Gottberg Anderson can be reached at janderson@bendbulletin.com