Salad Sandwich

Sunshine Cafe, 11 W. Preston St., (410) 783-0230. Open for lunch Mondays through Fridays, dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays. No credit cards. No-smoking area: yes. Wheelchair accessible: no.The Sunshine Cafe -- in concept -- is the kind of restaurant Baltimore needs. A menu that relies on fresh ingredients. Dishes that have style, like black pepper fettuccine served with a spicy tomato, basil and walnut pesto. Prices that are reasonable, with the most expensive dish costing $8.50. Several vegetarian sandwiches and entrees, but also chicken and fish.

CROSS KEYS DELI Village Food Center in Cross Keys Village. Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. (410) 323-8330. Fax: (410) 323-6502. One of the most popular traditions at the Cross Keys Deli is the fried chicken platter. For the past 19 years, the Deli's generous helpings of chicken, Western fries and cole slaw have enlivened my last-minute picnics and Friday night collapses.These days, a chicken platter goes for $3.99 for the chicken breast and $3.89 for the chicken leg. The deli also offers delicious side dishes of macaroni and cheese and escalloped apples, each large serving is $1.89.

2330 Smith Ave. (corner of Smith and Old Pimlico Road). Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays; 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. (410) 653-5333. Uptown Eats is the perfect neighborhood place for people like me -- a person of the single persuasion who loves the idea that fast food can mean more than a hamburger, fries and cola.Two of my favorites are the chunky white albacore tuna salad sandwich and the homemade all-breast chicken salad sandwich.

MT. VERNON CAFE 5716 York Road. Open Mondays to Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; lunch served after 11 a.m.; limited breakfast menu. Phone (410) 323-1995. FAX (410) 323-2085.Looking for a lunch-time escape? Somewhere quiet and friendly with a nice choice of tasty food?You might want to try the Mt. Vernon Cafe, which is miles from Mount Vernon in the Govans-Belvedere Square strip of York Road. It's sort of an unlikely place for a cafe and carry-out, but worth your time to stop there.The Mt. Vernon Cafe is bright and sparkling with a black-and-white checkered floor and a dozen or so white tables, if you want to eat in. The menu is basic with the usual hot and cold sandwiches -- ham, roast beef, turkey, egg salad, among them -- a few salads and desserts.

When a kitchen has great bread to offer, it doesn't need much else. The Stone Mill Bakery cafe doesn't have a whole lot else, but what it does have is worthy of the bread it's served with.Before I go any further, let me warn you not to rush off to the Stone Mill if what I say sounds good to you. Stick this review in a drawer. Then in a few weeks or months when you come across it again, drop in at the tiny Mount Washington cafe. The narrow room holds only six tables for two and has only one or two people working behind the counter, so a sudden influx of customers could be disastrous.

Festival at Bel Air, Bel Air. Hours: Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. Call (410) 569-0600.This is what I call convenience: a deli and liquor store at the same location. Meats, cheeses and party platters are also available. Some gourmet food items such as flavored coffees and fancy preserves are also sold.Personal-size pizzas are ready for take-out for just $2.79. Frozen Italian specialties from Velleggia's, the well-known Little Italy restaurant, are also sold.

Perring Parkway and Satyr Hill Road. Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays to Sundays. Call (410) 661-8210. Travelers who stop at Pete's, where a sign hawks steamed crabs year round, might be surprised to find the carryout offers a variety of options, including subs, hot and cold sandwiches, pizza and spaghetti.While the menu lists fresh crab meat, rawand steamed shrimp, oysters and soft crabs, it's a good idea to call ahead if you want fresh seafood. We arrived too late in the day recently for steamed crabs, although they were available on an earlier occasion at $17 a dozen for medium and $22 for large.

MORTON'S 10 W. Eager St. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays; 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays; closed Sundays. Call 625-2040. Although this gourmet food and wine shop has provided the Mount Vernon neighborhood with an assortment of delicious carryout for six years, it seems particularly kind to those of us who consume lots of chicken and turkey.Morton's Jamaican chicken salad sandwich ($4.50) is prepared with red and green peppers, red onions, lime juice and soy sauce.

Something says seafoodHASSLINGER'S538 Cranbrook Road, Cockeysville. Open Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Phone: 628-7577.Something about this place makes you think seafood. The huge marlin on the wall? Codfish cakes, oysters, crabmeat, etc., peeking from the counters? The carry-out menu with drawings of ocean waves and smiling fish? The nautical motif of the posted menu? Hmmm, that could explain it. At any rate, this is not the place to sing out: "How's the meatloaf today?"