The Glass Onion's menu reads like a takeoff on the Beatles' greatest hits:
Sandwiches include My Michelle (smoked turkey); the No Yoko (egg white omelette sandwich); I Wanna Hold Your Ham (ham); and Hard Egg Night (ham and Cheddar omelette sandwich). You can also order a Strawberry Field, which is custard-style vanilla yogurt over granola.
Even the name of the upscale Tucson sandwich shop comes from the Beatles. "Glass Onion" is a song on "The White Album."
"What can I say? I'm a child of the '60s," said owner Jennifer McDonald, who opened Glass Onion on June 23 at 1990 W. River Road, in the restaurant space once occupied by Coffee Exchange.
McDonald, 45, moved to Tucson six years ago after a baker's dozen years owning a deli in Massachusetts. She's a veteran of several Tucson-area sandwich shops, including the deli at Dickman's on the Northwest Side, which she managed for 2 1/2 years.
People are also reading…
Her idea was to create a gourmet sandwich and coffee shop with a hip attitude. She installed funky art, hired young baristas and cooks and created a smiling, peace-sign-waving green onion mascot who wears dark sunglasses and wraps his leafy head in a tie-dyed bandanna.
"Most people have to go to Fourth Avenue to get that vibe. We have it here," McDonald said a few days ago, interrupting herself to instruct a staffer on the finer points of espresso. "I know I am the place to be."
Sandwiches average $6-$8, and her menu is informed by her native Massachusetts, then given a Southwestern kick. The Lonely Hearts Club, for example, pairs Hatch Valley green chiles and Willcox tomatoes with Boar's Head smoked turkey and Genoa salami, "sobbing in our own Dijon mayo on toasted organic sourdough," McDonald explained.
The bread comes from Downtown's Small Planet Bakery, and she gets real crab meat from Dickman's for her Friday special crab sandwich. The Willcox tomatoes are central to her Albacore Rigby tuna sandwich, given a regional accent with avocado and Glass Onion's own Lennon pepper mayo.
The coffee is from Chandler's Riviera Roasters, which roasts it and ships it via FedEx the next day.
The Glass Onion is open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. There will be live music from 7 to 9 p.m. Fridays. Details: 293-6050.
