punky's

tried this place today for lunch.  punky's is a typical quick stop sandwich and drinks style place. plenty of parking, and a nice little areainsidewith booths for eating. the menu has some interesting choices - mostly hot or cold sandwiches/subs. the also offer burgers and fried sides. plenty of chips, snacks, and drinks. a surprise to me: they offer daily homemade "comfort" food. such as chicken alfredo, turkey and stuffing, chicken pot pie, tuna casserole, etc. you can get a generous portion in a take home container. the comfort food, imo, really makes this place different and worth a look.  (also spotted some pre-cut homemade desserts, though not much of it was left in the display cooler.....) i brought home a shaved steak sub, and a container of the homemade chicken and broccoli alfredo. both were delicious. prices - reasonable for portland, not too high but not cheap either.  negatives to be aware of: theinsideof the store looks rather rundown. nothing fancy. and many shelves (primarily the snacks area) were empty. and while they do have a enormous selection of drinks in the wall cooler, the drinks i purchased were not very cold. one other thing: be aware the store hours are unusual on the weekends. they close at 4 on saturdays; closed entirely on sundays. these last few negatives bring down my overall rating for punky's...  but still a place worth trying.

falafel: what a nice surprise!.insidethis brick wall facade rimmed by fluorescent deli signs is an unexpectedly bright and friendly shop. loads of choice: sandwiches, subs, roll-ups, burritos, casseroles, chowders, pasta, pizza, salad, etc.

do yourself a favor and try the falafel pita. fresh veggies, tzatziki, hot and crunchy falafels, and is that...fried eggplant?! not sure if that's always in there, but even without it, yum. worth stepping inside.