‘Subbing’ for 20 years

Phil’s 1500 sandwich shop celebrates 20 years

By Christian Gaston

The Forest Grove News-Times, Dec 17, 2009

Phil Carow sported a pair of pants straight out of 1989 a week ago when he celebrated his store’s 20th anniversary by reducing his prices to 1989 levels.

Chase Allgood / News-Times

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Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name.

Or at least they know your sandwich.

And if Phil Carow knows one thing, it’s sandwiches.

Carow’s been making them for 20 years at his shop, Phil’s 1500, in Forest Grove’s Ballad Towne Square.

Carow opened the shop because he couldn’t find a decent sandwich in town, and now, after years of sandwiches — 750,000 — there’s plenty of people who know Carow… as Phil.

“I can’t go to Safeway without knowing like 20 people,” Carow said. But he admits he’s better at the sandwiches than the names. “I know I should know your name’s ‘blank,’ but you’re a turkey-swiss on white.”

A spry 52, Carow said he gets to the shop at 7 every morning to prep for the day: making soup, chopping lettuce and stocking the ingredients. Fresh-baked bread from Hillsboro’s Perfection Bakery arrives each day.

Carow said it’s tricky figuring out how much bread to order: too little, and he has to run to the grocery for bread that’s not as good; too much, and he winds up throwing it out.

And he says the recession has hit him in the pocketbook, with fewer customers coming in.

But last Friday during the late lunch hour, Phil’s was hopping with kids popping in for veggie subs and workers taking phoned-in to-go orders.

Carow knew what Kathy Herinckx wanted as soon as she walked in the door.

“Tuna, Kathy?” Carow said.

Sure enough.

Herinckx said she comes in two to three times a week.

“It’s always good, I know what I’m going to get, and it’s fast,” Herinckx said.

Walking into Phil’s 1500, you’d think it’s older than 20 years. The shop has a lived-in vibe, with photos of customers (some who have passed away, some who have since grown up) lining the walls.

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