If you love sandwiches, you’d better set your alarm for Sunday at noon — that’s when @haveagoodsandwich, the most exciting thing going in the local sandwich game, posts its menu for the week.
Joe Morski, a longtime restaurant guy who’s currently a back server at Elske, has been creating tidy little boxed meals — comprised of a sandwich, homemade Russet potato chips, and a baked treat — since July. Though he and his wife, Cheryl Hinman (who works at Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits, where the couple met on the job), aspire to run a diner one day, a home-based sandwich biz was a surprise first step. When a little experimental bread baking in the couple’s Avondale apartment left him with a surplus of fluffy white Pullman loaf, Morski whipped up a dozen BLTs and did what any enterprising baker would do: sold those bad boys via Instagram.
Four months later, Have a Good Sandwich, which has over 750 followers, has become a serious side hustle for Morski. He’s quadrupled his weekly output, and while he still operates from his kitchen, he’s brought on his talented pal Emery Ebarle, the sous chef at Kikkō (the omakase arm of our best new bar pick), to help with planning and execution. Morski purchases many ingredients from Elske’s suppliers, effectively turning out a taste of fine dining for a $12 to $15 suggested donation.
He posts the menu each Sunday, and the first few dozen to slide into Have a Good Sandwich’s DMs secure a taste of what he’s dreamt up for the week. Then, on Tuesday or Wednesday, you can either pick up your meal at his place, or he’ll deliver it, which he’s done for fans from Bronzeville to Edgewater, for a small fee.
When it comes to the sandwich, the only constant is Morski’s now-signature Wonder Bread–esque loaf. One week he stuffed it with cold cuts and bacon for a double-decker club; another, he toasted and paired it with beef patties, grilled onions, and Swiss for one hell of a patty melt. Last week, it held a delicious combo of marinated eggplant, garlicky muhammara (a Middle Eastern red pepper spread), and whipped feta.
To complete the meal, Hinman bakes either crisp oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or rich dark chocolate brownies. A graphic designer by trade, she also created the playful red logotype emblazoned on the box. The whole shebang is done with such TLC that it may elicit warm-fuzzy memories of a brown bag lunch packed by Mom — but one bite will remind you why this meal is worth your entire allowance.