Butcher, Baker, Meet Sandwich Maker: New Sammies at The Local General Store

At a shop that’s part-bakery, part-butcher, it seems like sandwiches would have been available from Day 1. But Jason Chow and Harley Tunac have had plenty to do since graduating from farmers markets and pop-ups to open The Local General Store’s first brick-and-mortar in May. That’s not to say sammies weren’t in the plans, though.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Aaron Biolos, a recent addition to the team, is behind the shop’s recent introduction of towering sandwiches. At least 90% of each is made from ingredients crafted in-house. I rejoiced the moment I saw the news.

SEE ALSO: Hana Kitchens Incubates New Culinary Community

You might recall Biolos’s farmers market stall, WeirDoughs, where he prepared loaded focaccia breads and sandwiches, expertly layered with meat (often from Local General Store) and veggies. When I wrote about him in February 2022, he was popping up at Hana Kitchens, where he baked his bread in the same ovens then used by Tunac.

Back to the Local General Store sandwiches: There are two options every day from Thursday to Monday—one available at 8 a.m. for breakfast and one for lunch, starting at 11 a.m. Local General is one of the few places that take breakfast sandwiches seriously, and with the help of Biolos’s sandwich genius, can turn them into an art form.

Cross-section. Photo: Thomas Obungen

The first one I try is on one of Tunac’s impossibly flaky croissants. Biolos puts a half-inch stack of house-made pastrami, Havarti cheese, herby egg souffle, wilted Southern-style Ma‘o greens and a schmear of aioli to sauce it up. The deli meats often change day to day, and the bread could be a milk bun, but the price stays the same at $12.

Breakfast croissant sandwich. Photo: Thomas Obungen

It’s big enough to share because if you choose to take on the whole shebang, you might just end up going right back to bed. It helps that Local General now offers Honolulu Coffee, hot and iced, so you don’t need to make two stops to complete your breakfast run.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

At lunchtime, sandwiches get even larger. By larger, I mean taller: On pillowy focaccia bread, they have excellent scrunch factor so you can bite them without unhinging your jaw. Last week’s sandwich had layers of house-made roast beef, balsamic-marinated eggplant, sautéed spigarello, Ma‘o greens and aioli. The toppings soak into the soft bread and make for a complete meal. These sandwiches hover around $20.

The daily sandwich also changes slightly throughout the week. Sometimes, it’s a different veggie or deli meat that’s loaded on, but like the breakfast option, the formula stays the same. To know what’s on offer for the week ahead, subscribe to Local General’s weekly email newsletter for the the sandwich menu.

SEE ALSO: The Local General Store Brings Meats and Sweets Under One Roof

Much like the shop’s close-knit and symbiotic collection of neighbors on the corner of Wai‘alae and 9th avenues, it’s safe to say these sammies are greater than the sum of their parts.

Open Thursday to Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 3458 Wai‘alae Ave., (808) 777-2431, thelocalgeneralstorehi.com, @thelocalgeneralstorehi