Say hello to one of my favorite sandwich shops ever. The Olde World Cheese Shop rocks, and they know it. It’s setting is the Sherwood Forest Shopping Center on 56th Street, just south of Fowler avenue. With its name, you might expect a whole bunch of wacky expensive cheeses and some expensive bread, but this is not a cheese shop. This is a hardcore sandwich emporium.

The inside is quite quaint, with a crapload of baskets hanging from the ceiling, a wall of knickknacks and “gourmet food” (wine, crackers etc), and a counter at which to order (and grab some free homemade dip samples! All good). The staff is pretty awesome, and you will likely see the same people over and over again. A quick Google search results in quite a few comments about how the staff is bad, but I honestly have never had any problems with them. And even if they were total dicks, I would still go back. For the fooooood.

The shop has an awesome variety of unique sandwiches, many of which feature their delicious Norwegian Fjordland Cheese, a sort of mild Swiss. In keeping with the “Sherwood Forest” theme, many of the sandwiches boast delightful Robin Hood related names, such as the Friar Tuck or the Prince John. All of their meat is excellent, the cheese is choice, a whole bunch of great bread options, and their dressings are incredible (their Golden Dressing is king). But best of all is the variety – a roast beef with coleslaw and russian dressing on sourdough, an egg salad sandwich with ham on pumpernickel, a hot roast pork sandwich with spicy-sweet pepper jelly on an onion roll, or one of my favorites, The Tinkerbelle – “delightfully delicious roast beef, marinated mushrooms, crunchy bacon with savory garlic sauce on pumpernickel bread.” The sandwich makers clearly put a lot of thought into these bad boys. And each and every sandwich I’ve had from the shop is a winner. These people are artists. Oh, and they also allegedly have salads and pitas.

The most visually impressive, of course, is their SHERIFF OF NOTTINGHAM:

As they describe on their site, the sandwich is a “Five decker extravaganza! Roast beef, turkey, ham, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato and Russian dressing, piled high on five slices of pumpernickel bread.” Just reading those words makes me want to weep with delight or wet my pants with respect. It’s every bit as awesome as it sounds/looks. The meat is all so very tender and juicy, and their cheese is always great (though quite overpowered by the rest of the sandwich here), their bread is perfect and filling (so much!), and the dressing is excellent. And eating it makes you feel like a big man. All their sandwiches come with a tootsie roll – a nice touch, but it sort of negates the manliness.

My friend got a bowl some soup, which I neglected to photograph (and would never have thought to order myself), and it was INCREDIBLE. It was a homemade navy bean soup with ham bacon and collard greens, and it had a so-very-hearty southern taste. If they have this when you visit (you’d better visit), pick some up.

No more will I write about this wonderful place. Just go. Buy a sandwich for yourself. And just enjoy the fact that the Olde World Cheese Shop even exists.