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Sandwich shop open for business
BY MARGO OXENDINE • STAFF WRITER
 | | Jackie, left, and Gale Robinson are meeting and feeding their neighbors at the Healing Springs Sandwich Shop, Deli & Grocery. An open house is planned for this Saturday, Oct. 13, from noon until 4 p.m. (Recorder photo by Margo Oxendine) |
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HEALING SPRINGS - It's lunchtime on Monday, and the Healing Springs Sandwich Shop is busy, busy. It's all Gale Robinson and his wife, Jackie, can do to keep up with the steady stream of customers.
That's a good thing, Gale notes with a smile.
Jackie is bustling about the kitchen, slicing tomatoes, frying bologna, placing ham and provolone cheese onto honey wheat bread, wrapping and then bagging it with chips and a pickle.
By 12:30 this Monday, the Robinsons have served 23 customers. And more are pulling into the driveway.
It is no surprise Monday was the busiest yet for the Robinsons. Lunch is a difficult thing to find in Bath County on Mondays. But now, there's another choice, the Healing Springs Sandwich Shop, Deli and Grocery.
A deli? A grocery?
Yep. The Robinsons might not have everything you need, but they surely have the necessities. Bread, milk, eggs, yogurt, pancake mix and syrup, honey and jelly, macaroni and cheese, cake and muffin mixes, canned fruit and vegetables, soup - and all those little things you run out of - shampoo, deodorant, soap, paper products, disposable razors. If customers request some special something, the Robinsons will do their best to stock it. "Just remember, though, we're not a discount store," Jackie jokes.
 | | Ronald Wampler, left, and Wayne Hooker enjoy their lunch on the porch of the new Healing Springs Sandwich Shop. The shop is open daily from 11 until 6, and Saturdays from noon until 4 p.m. (Recorder photo by Margo Oxendine) |
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The Robinsons opened the doors of their remodeled home near the Healing Springs Baptist Church late last month. Since then, neighbors have begun walking from their homes to pick up a few necessities, grab a sandwich, soda and chips, and sit and chat a spell. Now, working folk are discovering this is a great place to run by and grab one of Jackie's special "sack lunches." And they're telling friends and co-workers.
"This is the only place in town where you can get a fried bologna sandwich," one pleased customer noted. "And it's real darned good!"
Jackie actually slices the beef bologna, fries it, and then puts it on bread with cheese, then pops it on the grill.
The menu is basic right now: made-to-order sandwiches, cold, toasted or grilled, with your choice of deli meat, cheese and bread, lettuce, tomato, chips, pickle; a daily special on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and a variety of hot sandwiches, including a hard-tofind in-Bath reuben. There are homemade soups (two to choose from daily), salads, and a daily dessert special like lemon cake or chocolate chip muffin. As the Robinsons get to know their customers and their wants, expect the menu to expand.
While the Robinsons opened shop with little fanfare, that will all change this Saturday, when they hold an open house. Gale, who used to run a Mexican restaurant out West, will take the opportunity to introduce one special sandwich Jackie calls a "foldover" - a wrap that doesn't unwrap all over your shirt. There will be food from noon until 4 p.m., fun all day long, and music by the Healing Springs band "Wish" from 2 until 4. "Wish" - neighbor Donnie Williams and friends - will play country tunes, and there's a rumor that other musicians might show up and join in the toe tapping.
Call-ahead orders are welcome, (540) 839-8690, and the shop is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from noon until 4 p.m.
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