The mural at Snarf’s in Lakewood stretches from the ordering counter to the pick-up counter. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
People attending the pre-opening event for Snarf’s Sandwiches filled the Lakewood Shopping Center parking lot as well as inside the storefront near Liberty Burger on Monday.
Snarf’s didn’t officially open until Tuesday, Feb. 3, but the community was invited to come out and try the sandwiches, soups and salads for free and a day early. (Donations to North Texas Food Bank were encouraged in lieu of paying for food.)
Inside, Snarf’s definitely looks like a sandwich shop. The menu is printed on large black boards that are hung on the right wall when you walk in, and there are separate counters to order and to pick up food. There’s a rack of bagged chips, a self-serve drink station and a handful of tables inside.
Use of color — red, blue and green walls — makes Snarf’s visually striking. A tiled mural stretching from the ordering counter to the pick-up counter is also interesting to look at.
The chalkboard-like menu at Snarf’s is a typical feature in sandwich shops. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
When I walked into the sandwich shop, I turned to Snarf’s marketing coordinator Jeff Simpson and asked what the must-have menu item is. His answer was two-fold.
“Our Italian is the big fan favorite, for sure. That’s put us on the map,” Simpson said. “But then we’ve got some really cool recipes. Our Not On The Menu has some awesome ones, like our Mother Clucker ($15.20 for 7-inch) — it’s rotisserie chicken with honey on it. We’ve got things that are so wild and so crazy and so delicious, and we’ve got things like the BLT. We take something so basic and still make it out of this world. You just can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.”
I took his advice and ordered the 5-inch Italian ($7.95). It’s made with salami, pepperoni, capicola, mortadella and provolone, plus the usual lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, seasoning and oil. The ingredient that I wasn’t expecting was the giardiniera peppers, which made the sandwich quite spicy (at least, to my sensitive taste buds). Another standout feature was the toasted bread (available in wheat, white and gluten-free), which added a crispy texture.
Behold, Snarf’s Italian Sandwich. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
I heard of the soft opening from Snarf’s Sandwiches Director of Marketing Helen Wood, but the event wasn’t just for journalists. When I arrived for my 6:30 p.m. time slot, I noticed multiple families with children attended. One person I met came out after seeing a post about the event on Facebook while another got wind of it from word of mouth.
Simpson said reservations for these pre-opening events in the restaurant chain’s home state of Colorado fill up within minutes. Though the sandwich shop is a new presence in Dallas, he still described the response in Lakewood as “unbelievable.”
“It’s cool that we’re in a new market and everything like that, getting to explore some new clientele and everything, but this neighborhood has just been so awesome,” Simpson said. “A lot of people have been posting on Facebook, like, ‘Get over there — they’re doing free sandwiches.’ And so we’ve been welcoming a lot of people from the neighborhood. And everyone is just so friendly.”
Snarf’s employees take orders during the pre-opening event. Photo by Madelyn Edwards.
There was a hint that neighbors would show up in droves since buzz and anticipation for the Lakewood location was drummed up after Snarf’s shops opened in Far North Dallas and near Love Field, Simpson said.
”Our owner Jimmy (Seidel) had looked at a couple different spots right off the hop,” he said. “I know this one was highly spoken about. They were excited about the families, family aspect, how many schools were nearby. We love getting involved with charitable organizations, things like that. We’ll do charity days for schools, so we are just excited about that aspect of being able to be involved in so many things like that.”
You can order from Snarf’s in Lakewood here.
