Cheap eats: Wolf & Co.

The grilled Tuscan features pecorino romano, red onion, and white bean hummus with bitter greens on country bread at Wolf & Co. Bistro. (Credit: Cara Owsley | Metromix)

Located in the short-lived Flippin’ Jimmy’s space on Fifth Street in Covington, a new gourmet sandwich lunch spot doesn’t have much of a social media presence yet or an awning announcing their name.

Hopefully word-of-mouth recommendations will keep Wolf & Co. afloat, because they’re a neighborhood bright spot among rather prosaic lunch options.

The mood: We arrived on a late morning weekday hungry for some sandwiches and soup. It seemed like some of the local businesses have caught onto this place, as there were about five other people either dining in or getting carryout.

The small and sunny dining room is sparsely decorated with mirrors hanging on the wall, a painting of two elks with locked antlers, a black and white photo of Bob Dylan and paintings of horses, but ironically, no wolf pictures were to be found. About six tables with high black chairs were scattered around the room, with potted herbs atop the tables.

The food: They currently offer six types of sandwiches, all served on local Shadeau Bakery breads: ham and smoked gouda, a Reuben, a vegetarian Tuscan, a vegetarian caprese made with homemade pesto, a chicken salad wrap and grilled white cheddar.

The sandwiches are accompanied with ridged potato chips and a small mixed green salad, and for an extra buck, you can add the soup du jour or chili. For less than $8, it’s a great deal of food. After poring over the chalkboard menu, we ordered at the counter.

I decided on the grilled cheddar ($6.49) and Adam got the ham sandwich ($6.99) with a cup of lobster bisque soup ($1). We took our seats and the soup was brought out quickly. It was creamy and satisfying, and it came with a slice of French bread for dipping.

While we downed the soup and waited for more food, we were tortured by the sounds of Top 40. Our sandwiches arrived on a nice platter and were carefully divided with the sandwich on one side, the chips in the middle and the salad at the end. The food and the presentation was a step up from the usual.

My sandwich was melted with a mild cheese and contained green apple slices between two slices of cinnamon raisin bread. I’m not a fan of that kind of bread but the sweetness mixed with the cheese pretty well. Adam’s sandwich also came on cinnamon bread, which was his only complaint about the entire meal. He felt multi-grain bread would’ve worked better with the flavors.

The drinks: They only served bottled Coke products and coffee, so I got a 20 oz. Diet Coke ($1.50) and Adam ordered water cooler water (free) that they placed in a nice glass tumbler.

The damage: $17.03 (including tax).

The verdict: Their attention to details and offerings of fresh and interesting sandwiches make them one of the best neighborhood additions in ages.