After graduating college, I began a career in Columbia, MD where my office was located. I was unfamiliar with the state so I moved near my office until I felt more comfortable. Little did I know, my job required frequent travel which allowed me to get comfortable rather quickly.

While on this local assignment in Columbia, I was also in the stressful process of purchasing my first home in Baltimore, MD.  After a long conversation with the lender, I walked into my current work location’s eating area and there was a platter of half sandwiches that were leftover from an earlier meeting.  Typically, they leave it out for employees to take one but considering that I was a visitor, I felt guilty for taking it.  But they looked so good and I was quite hungry, so I grabbed one, covered it with a paper towel, and scurried back to my desk hoping no one would notice. And they didn’t! Whew!  After consuming the half sandwich, I literally fell in love. I had to find out where this amazing sandwich came from.  A few days later, I finally asked and was told about a small place called Bon Fresco. 

Once I figured out the location, I decided to go and feel them out.  Who is in there making these delicious sandwiches? Was this a fluke or was this real? I typically prefer to call ahead to place my order so I don’t have to sit or stand waiting around in a restaurant with a sad hungry face while the people are preparing my food and other people are picking up their orders before mine.  But considering I didn’t know what the sandwich was called, I decided to visit. When I looked at the menu, I did not see the description of the sandwich I had tried before. Hoping it wasn’t a special or custom order, I decided to describe it to the cashier, and he pointed to a sign on the cash register of the London Broil Sandwich (roughly* $8.00).  It met the general profile so I decided to order it with a side of their potato salad (roughly* $2.00).  I waited for the 5-7 minutes for the preparation, and rushed back to work to enjoy my lunch.

*I say roughly because it has been a while and neither things are on a menu online. But they exist, I promise! I have the receipts!!!*

What makes this special is the love and attention to detail they incorporate into the sandwich.  Since I initially tried the leftovers, I had no idea that the sandwich is served warm. The bread is baked fresh in the store. Not warmed up like Subway! (Don’t even get me started on that place!) I mean, there are bags of flour stacked in the store, and they are pulling out beautifully baked sandwich rolls fresh from the oven!  Then they cut the fresh-baked bread in half to make a sandwich, apply the mayonnaise, and then stack cheese and the London broil slices.  It is then put into the broiler to toast the bread and melt the cheese.  Finally, a fresh bed of fresh greens and red onions are stacked on top of the sandwich.  They cut the sandwich in half and wrapped it in wax paper and it is just that simple.  I am not a fan of tomatoes so the fact that the sandwich does not include them is wonderful for me.

I have heard people rave about their curry chicken salad or sandwich but the general consensus about this place is that the ingredients are fresh and the food is amazing.  The restaurant has several tables and chairs that are always kept clean making it a nice place to enjoy a quick reasonably priced lunch, or take out. Items typically run under $10.00. They have many other sandwiches ($6.50), salads ($6.50-$8.50), platters ($6.95) and soups ($2.95-$3.95) that all look amazing and fresh but I continue to get the same sandwich.  Maybe I will try something else one day….

Below is the Seven Mac Score:

For a nice little sandwich spot in Columbia, MD, I highly recommend Bon Fresco as a place to go.  It is not fancy but its clean, comfortable, and child friendly. I know you will enjoy them as much as I did.  And remember: It’s a BIG world and we are going to eat our way through it!