Eight Years In, Herb’n Twine is Serving Up the Most Coveted Sandwiches on the West Side and Still Doing It Their Way

The phone lines open at 11 a.m. sharp. If you’re lucky, you’ll get right through, but odds are better that callers will be met with a busy signal, be sent straight to voicemail, or have the call answered by a human being who immediately places you on hold. If and when you do make it through to the ordering phase, you might be added to a lengthy queue, or worse, receive the dreaded “sold out” reply.

If you think ordering concert tickets is an angst-ridden process, try securing a smoked turkey club from Herb’n Twine. Unlike most modern-day food businesses, which utilize online ordering and third-party apps, this eight-year-old Ohio City hoagie shop strongly encourages customers to place orders over the phone in advance. Sure, one can walk in unannounced, but you place your fate in your hands.

Herb’n Twine wasn’t always this busy. When Brendan Messina opened the shop in 2015, he was years ahead of neighbors like The Plum, Xinji Noodle Bar, Ohio City Provisions and Cent’s. Back then, it was just him, Jack Flaps and Platform holding down the fort on the wild western edge of Ohio City. Messina would have opened even earlier had he not spent nearly a year carving a quaint sandwich café out of the former Speak in Tongues space.

Messina describes those early years as a slow burn, when the shop was kept aloft by word-of-mouth endorsements for its chef-driven sandwiches. The smoked turkey club ($12) – a best seller from day one – hooked customers thanks to its near-perfect merger of house-smoked turkey, smokey gouda, bacon, spinach, marinated onions and sun-dried tomato mayo. Next in line is the Italian ($12.25), a timeless stack of thin-sliced deli meats, provolone, tomatoes, pickled peppers, shredded lettuce and roasted garlic mayo.

When he opened, Messina would bring in buns from Blackbird Baking in Lakewood. But when that bakeshop took its annual holiday break, the chef decided to start baking his own in-house. The daily process begins at 7 a.m. and results in 250 fresh-baked French rolls. They are soft yet sturdy enough to support the hefty fillings. When you hear or see the dreaded “sold out” notice it’s because all of the buns have left the building.

When Covid hit, Messina entertained the idea of selling the shop. He had an impossible time finding and keeping help and was no longer enjoying the work. After the mandatory shutdown, Herb’n Twine reopened as a carryout-only operation, eliminating the dozen or so seats in the small dining area. To Messina’s surprise, it was then that the shop began its meteoric rise to acclaim which has yet to subside.

“The pandemic, as much as it sucked, helped us a lot,” he explains. “We were one of only two spots open in this neighborhood for almost a year. We kind of blew up during that time.”

Those tables and stools are back, but not for dine-in use. The former dining area is now used exclusively as a waiting area for carryout customers.

In addition to the smoked turkey club and Italian, there are always chicken, beef, pork and veggie options. The shaved prime rib ($13) features warm, thin-sliced beef, caramelized onion and melty provolone, all doused with a delectable horseradish-laced sauce. Fried chicken fans can sink their teeth into the crispy chicken ($12), boneless schnitzels topped with slaw, shallot mayo and hot sauce. Regulars know to scope social media for specials like Italian beef, fried bologna and curried chicken salad, which run Thursdays through Saturdays.

Meals here are rounded out with cups of tomato bisque ($4) and a trio of fresh salads, like the chopped kale ($6) with tomato, red onion croutons and long shavings of good parm. Thick, creamy and garlicky Caesar dressing comes on the side. Dessert specials like chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-dipped pretzels and s’mores bars join bagged chips and sodas.

Messina says that he has been approached countless times by people hoping he’ll open additional Herb’n Twine shops in other neighborhoods. The chef, who previously worked at places like Saucy Bistro and Rockefeller’s, says that he does have aspirations of opening another restaurant, but it wouldn’t likely be a sandwich shop.

“I don’t think I’ll do another Herb’n Twine,” he says. “My original plan was to do this and then open a restaurant/bar, but this kind of took over everything. But I have been scouting locations for an actual bar and restaurant for the past year.”

Herb’n Twine
4309 Lorain Ave., Cleveland
216-465-9600
herbntwine.com

Subscribe to Cleveland Scene newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed