Bona Fide Sandwich Co. is nestled on a street full of restaurants in Hillsborough, yet has managed to make a name for itself in the year and a half it’s been in town. What makes Bona Fide different from all the other food Churton Street has to offer?

“Really the biggest thing we’ve heard from a number of people is they seem to think we filled a void that Hillsborough has always had,” said Christopher Jones, Bona Fide Sandwich Co.’s general manager, “which is sort of your romantic idea of a local sandwich shop.”

The menu includes multitudes of signature sandwiches, poke bowls (a Hawaiian dish), power bowls (full of grains, vegetables and more), salads and sides. They also have craft-made sodas on tap. Many are made in-house, and include flavors such as black currant and mango.

That’s a lot of options for a sandwich shop. When asked why, Jones said co-owners Dean James and Matt Fox felt strongly about it.

“They’ve been to a number of sandwich shops around the country, and while you may be able to get a salad, that seems like it’s an afterthought, and our whole thing is we wanted our (poke and power) bowls to be just as thought out and delicious as any sandwich we’re making.”

He said Bona Fide Sandwich Co. staff wanted to hold every new item to a certain criteria before they added it to the menu.

“We want to make sure that we’re all really excited about it that we feel like we’ve improved upon a thing as much as we can that we’re happy with what’s going out on the wall,” Jones said. “The back of our kitchen is actually set up with the idea of being kind of like a sandwich laboratory where we get to experiment and try out different things. That’s been wonderful to have that sort of creative liberty.”

The menu on the wall of their shop showcases that creativity. Each sandwich offers a completely different combination of flavors and ingredients. Bona Fide Sandwich Co. also has fun naming the food; the Justin Timbermelt, Werewolves of London and More Cowbell, for example.

“We try to find some characteristic about the sandwich that is either unique to a notable historical or public figure, or even like a place,” Jones said. “We do a lot of music references, a lot of movie references.”

The Italian Hero is piled high with salami, mortadella, capicola, prosciutto, provolone, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, arugula, marinated roma tomatoes, red onions and herb oil. If there is an ingredient you don’t like on your sandwich, the employees can offer suggestions for a good substitution to please even the pickiest eaters.

The items on the menu are crafted using ingredients from local businesses and farms such as Dancing Pines Farm, Weaver Street Food House, Imagine That Gluten Free, and more. Jones said many suppliers are 15 to 20 miles away.

“We’ve been very fortunate to be in this area,” he said. “They have such a surplus of good quality, local farms to work with.”

Jones said he believes the location downtown helps make Bona Fide Sandwich Co. a part of the community.

“Given that sandwiches have traditionally been a self-contained meal that can be mobile that was one of the hopes was that people who live here, and also people that come here to visit, on say, the weekends, or maybe that are in on business could have something quick and delicious and wholesome.”

Though their sandwiches can be eaten on the go, Bona Fide Sandwich Co. turned their upstairs office space into a dining area. Classic rock plays, and posters advertising old concerts adorn the walls. The tables themselves add to the ambience of the restaurant; when a cedar tree fell on co-owner Matt Fox’s farm, they used the wood to hand build the tables.

Bona Fide Sandwich Co. goes the extra mile to get to know its customers. Jones said the staff writes each order down by hand and asks for each customer’s name. He said they do this to get to know people and promote the feeling that the food was made personally for each customer.

“That goes a long way with people,” he said, “especially in such a hustle and bustle world.”

 

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