photograph by samuel x. cicci
The deli counter at South Point Grocery provides quick and fresh sandwiches for hungry Downtowners.
From his vantage point behind the deli counter at the new South Point Grocery, Josh McLane recognizes that both time and money are valuable, especially for the worker bees buzzing around the Downtown area looking for a quick lunch. His ethos? Aim to have everyone in and out in five minutes. “Fast and hot, when it comes to our orders. I try to set this job up to be easy for my amazing team,” McLane says. “I’ll come in, do a lot of prep work, and make it really simple to create all the orders and send our customers on their way as fast as possible.”
McLane knows a thing or two about sandwiches. A veteran of kitchens like Fino’s from the Hill, Little Italy, and the Hi-Tone, he’s had plenty of experience whipping up his own creative takes on the classic lunchtime assembly. Now at the new grocery store in Downtown Memphis opened by Rick James and team in March, McLane continues to draw in large lunchtime crowds.
photograph by samuel x. cicci
Josh McLane
At eight dollars apiece, these sandwiches won’t require diners to tighten their belts — maybe the opposite. “It’s cheap monetarily, but not cheap quality-wise,” says McLane. “We work really hard to keep our price point down, especially considering we use Boar’s Head in a lot of our sandwiches. I don’t like to do what I call ‘Instagram food,’ where you’ve got too much protein piled up and things spilling out, telling people, ‘Wow, look at all this stuff on here.’ And then you have to charge a lot more. Instead, we’re focusing on the whole, all-around flavor, and making some really good sandwiches.”
“We’ve got a good relationship with Boar’s Head, so I’ll take a look at some ingredients that we have and whip up specials based on what’s there. We won’t have a set schedule for those. You’ll just have to pop in and see what we’re offering. But whatever it is, it will be good.” — Josh McLane
Many of South Point’s sandwiches were cooked up during McLane’s own late nights in the kitchen, whether he’s arriving home after a long day at work, or in need of a snack at the end of a slightly too fun night out. “There were lots of times I’d look in the fridge and put something together with ingredients I had on hand,” he says. In fact, his favorite menu item is the product of one such night, and a sandwich he’s been workshopping for a long time.
HEELS, named for McLane’s band, offers an intriguing mix of bacon, provolone, and … peanut butter. The nutty base incorporates hot sauce and other spices.
“You have to make sure you get the right balance,” says McLane. “I’ve tried this sandwich a lot of different ways, and the bacon provides just the right level of saltiness. But the initial peanut butter and jelly mix was a bit too sweet, so I started putting Frank’s RedHot sauce with the peanut butter. It gives it a little bit of a kick, but not so much where it’s too hot. And I combine that with a jalapeño strawberry jam. The ingredients really round each other out for sweet and salty, and maybe a tiny bit of spicy.”
If a peanut butter and bacon combo doesn’t strike your fancy, more traditional options are a classic club sandwich (roast beef, turkey, bacon, tomato, swiss, sriracha mayo, vinegar, and oil) or Rick’s Reuben, a favorite of owner James. But it’s worth coming back multiple times to sample the zanier options. My first choice, the Juan Popper, manages to capture the essence and texture of a jalapeño popper in sandwich form. The peppers are wrapped up neatly with cream cheese, cheddar, American cheese, and sriracha mayo inside a warm, toasted French roll. The soft bundle delivers a nice kick, but won’t have you calling the fire department. “Putting that mayo on just cools the whole thing down enough,” says McLane, “and rounds out the whole sandwich.”
The Juan Popper is one of several vegetarian options, something McLane was intentional about while constructing his menu. “My wife’s a vegetarian, and she got kind of tired of only getting mushroom and pepper sandwiches when we’d eat out,” says McLane. The Care Package was an item designed specifically for his wife, Cara, and layers olive tapenade with marinated mushrooms, tomato, swiss, provolone, fennel cream cheese, oil, and vinegar. It’s one of her personal favorites, says McLane, so it made its way onto the menu. “Almost half of our menu contains vegetarian options. Like the Care Package, I think they’re all sandwiches that will hopefully stand out for vegetarians.”
1 of 2
photograph by Addie James
Rick’s Reuben
Rick's Reuben, a favorite of South Point owner Rick James.
2 of 2
Addie James
Care Package
McLane designed the Care Package sandwich for his wife Cara; it's loaded with olive tapenade, marinated mushrooms, tomato, swiss, provolone, fennel cream cheese, oil, and vinegar.
So far, business has been booming. McLane works the shop three days a week and leaves it in the hands of his capable team the rest of the time. He’s mostly had a blank slate to come up with his ideas and wants to keep tapping into the creative side of his sandwich process to continue providing something new to customers.
“We’ve got a good relationship with Boar’s Head, so I’ll take a look at some ingredients that we have and whip up specials based on what’s there,” he says. “We won’t have a set schedule for those. You’ll just have to pop in and see what we’re offering. But whatever it is, it will be good.” We concur.
South Point Grocery is located at 136 Webster Ave. The sandwich counter is open 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. seven days a week.
