Get Down to Brass Tacks
Founded in 2011 in Portland’s Boise Neighborhood, Brass Tacks Sandwiches was a woman-operated shop that believed in making food from scratch. Ami and her crew offered a range of housemade vegan and gluten-free options alongside responsibly-sourced meats, sourcing produce locally whenever possible — and growing plenty in their own garden.
From award-winning housemade pickles to incredible local beers and housemade sodas, every detail reflected a commitment to quality and community. The shop served North Portland for over a decade, weathering challenges with the support of sandwich lovers old and new.
“We’re proud of what we’ve all been able to accomplish.”
Scratch cooking has always been the heartbeat of this little North Portland shop. Every element on the menu, from slow-roasted vegetables to carefully crafted spreads, is made in-house with patience and intention. There are no shortcuts, no premade fillers, just the kind of food that tastes like someone actually cared about making it. That commitment extends across the entire board — housemade pickles that earned their own loyal following, sauces built from the ground up, and bread sourced with the same thoughtfulness that goes into everything else. It is honest food, made by hand, every single day.
Sustainability here is not a buzzword or a marketing angle. It is woven into the way the kitchen thinks about sourcing, seasonality, and waste. Produce comes from local farms whenever the season allows, and the shop’s own garden has long supplied greens, herbs, and vegetables that travel only a few dozen feet before landing on the cutting board. Meats are chosen with an eye toward responsible practices, and vegan and gluten-free offerings are crafted with just as much creativity and care as everything else. Eating well and eating responsibly simply belong together.
Portland’s Boise neighborhood provided the backdrop for more than a decade of sandwich-making, and the relationship between the shop and its community ran deep. Regulars became friends, friends became regulars, and the counter became a place where people genuinely connected. Through rainy winters and golden summers, the shop stayed steady — a reliable little anchor on Vancouver Avenue where the food was consistent, the welcome was warm, and the puns were always optional but rarely resisted. That kind of neighborhood fixture is rare and worth celebrating.
The menu never tried to be everything to everyone, but it managed to feel that way anyway. Hearty meat-based sandwiches sat comfortably alongside vibrant vegan creations, and gluten-free bread meant nobody had to sit out the meal. The philosophy was simple: make food that is genuinely good, then make sure as many people as possible can enjoy it. That inclusive approach, paired with a rotating selection of local beers and housemade beverages, turned a quick lunch into something that felt a little more special without ever feeling fussy.
Running a small food business through the harrowing stages of a pandemic tested every assumption about what it means to serve a community. The shop weathered those challenging years thanks to the loyalty of sandwich lovers who kept showing up, ordering delivery by bike, and refusing to let a good thing disappear. It was heartbreaking, inspiring, and beautiful in equal measure — a reminder that food businesses are held together not just by recipes and revenue, but by the people who believe in them when times get tough.
There is a playful spirit that runs through everything, captured in the shop’s signature phrase: maybe a sandwich will help. It is a small piece of wisdom, half joke and half genuine truth, that acknowledges the modest but real power of a good meal to shift the mood of a day. Rainy afternoons, rough mornings, celebratory lunches — the answer was often the same. That lightheartedness, paired with genuinely serious cooking, created a tone that felt uniquely right for a little shop that never took itself too seriously.
After more than a decade of peeling vegetables, braving heat waves, and stacking countless sandwiches, the shop eventually closed its doors with a sense of gratitude rather than tragedy. The legacy lives on in the recipes people remember, the pickles they still talk about, and the quiet example of what a woman-operated, community-minded food business can look like. It was never about empire-building — just about making really good sandwiches in a neighborhood that appreciated them, and doing it long enough to matter.
Closing October 9, 2021
After over 10 years in North Portland, Brass Tacks Sandwiches closed its doors for good on October 9, 2021. The decision came not from hardship — the shop had braved a decade of ups and downs, including the most harrowing early stages of the pandemic — but from a readiness to move on to something new.
Ami and the crew expressed deep gratitude to the community that sustained them: “We owe that all to our community, to sandwich lovers old and new who’ve stuck with us through times that have been challenging, heartbreaking, inspiring, and beautiful.”
New projects were already in motion. The team was hard at work getting Mate Party — their housemade soda — ready to be sold around town and beyond. Whispers of a new adult drinking establishment were also growing louder.
What We Served
Brass Tacks was known for sandwiches built from scratch with care. The menu featured responsibly-sourced meats alongside a robust selection of housemade vegan and gluten-free options — something for everyone.
No sandwich was complete without the shop’s award-winning housemade pickles. The beverage lineup included carefully chosen local beers, housemade Cold Brew, and Mate Party soda — a signature drink that was poised to outlive the shop itself.
“I’m Only Happy When It Rains”
Brass Tacks ran a daily happy hour from 2 pm to close, offering $1.00 off all house beverages — including Mate Party soda, housemade Cold Brew, and any beer or beverage on tap. And because this was Portland, there was a twist: whenever it was raining outside, happy hour prices extended all day long.
Snow and fog didn’t count. Hail and freezing rain did. The policy was simple: if the weather widget said rain, the deal was on — and if it stopped while you were in line, the discount still stood.
Where to Find Us — Then
Brass Tacks Sandwiches was located at 3535 N Vancouver Ave, Portland, OR 97227 in the heart of North Portland. The phone number was 503.309.4412.
During spring and summer, the shop kept these hours: Monday through Saturday 11 am to 8 pm, and Sunday 11 am to 4 pm.
