Straw Stick & Brick

Straw Stick and Brick is a shining star in the otherwise culinary wasteland that is upper Georgia Avenue. The food is excellent and the staff friendly. I have never been dissatisfied with what I’ve ordered. One downside, however, is the wait time to get your food. It usually takes 20 — 25 minutes to get your order. While the wait is ultimately worth it, it shouldn’t take that long to make a sandwich. There is only one person making the sandwiches. Today there were approx 15 orders before mine. The person making the sandwiches looked like a one armed paper hanger. Meanwhile 3 people were in front taking more orders. I don’t want to be negative, because I really love this place, but I wish they would try to address this issue.

Outstanding. Delicious. A gem. Excellent customer service. What else can be said??? It’s amazing.

very nice décor and the staff was awesome. cured meats, cheese, and olive oils were scrumptious. the Philly cheesesteak and brisket sandwiches were ‘meh.’

Fantastic sandwich and butcher shop. Pastrami is prepared for a week and a half before being served and it made for a great sandwich. Meat board also highly recommended. The owner is great as well answering detailed questions about their process. Highly recommend and will return.

I just checked in out a couple days ago. This is the real deal. Looks, smells, and tastes like a real deli. Had one of the most delicious sandwiches I’ve had in my 20 years in the DC area. If they were located near any of the busiest metro stations they would be mobbed with customers.

Great deli and sandwich shop. Hot and cold sandwiches are delicious. Friendly customer service and orders are always ready on time. Personal favorite is the Philly cheesesteak but then pulled pork and turkey Reuben are also amazing. Some of the best potato salad and a great selection of specialty items in their market.

A warning to those with weak constitutions: this neighborhood is not DuPont. It’s not Adams Morgan, it’s not Woodley Park, it ain’t Silver Spring and it sure as hell isn’t Georgetown. GASP! If you can’t deal with that then sip your overpriced nonfat caramel lattes on the western side of Rock Creek park. Cause yeah, this neighborhood isn’t gentrified yet. Deal with it.
That warning out of the way:
Sandwiches are absolutely worth the drive– bread’s fresh, meat’s fresh, and the wait is worth it. Yes, there’s a wait, there’s like three people in the back and everything is made fresh to order. WORTH. IT. Nom on all the samples of olive oil and spread while you wait, and watch the world go by out the big window.
Other Unilocalers have reviewed the food in much more detail than I could go into, so I’ll just add another vote for GO!

Love this place! The meatball sub is the best but everything is delicious and they support local vendors! The service is amazing as well. This is definitely a top local small business.

The Bagels & Lox is pretty darn good! If you are not a fan of dill, though, I would see if you could forgo the dill cream cheese because the rest of the sandwich is very flavorful. The smoked salmon alone is great and you can buy it separately.
The shop has some unique (but expensive) products that I would be willing to try for an upscale meal at home. It also has a nice laid-​back atmosphere. If you are a cured meat and sausage aficionado, you will definitely be happy with the selection. It is nice that they provide some samples before you decide to shell out dough on some of the oils and breads.
Apparently, many of their items are made in house or locally, which is a plus in my book. I would come here to treat myself to some fancier meat products, but I may just be too «peasant» for this place to come here on a regular basis.

I don’t know. What do I say? Well first off it is in a straight up GHETTO neighborhood. I should say I am not from Kalorama or Chevy Chase. I live on H st NE. But this area is hood. Ok fine. I’m down. Let’s check it out. The storefront is super cute. Well done. Anyway I go on a Saturday. Filled with well to do mostly white folks. Service was slow as shit. Saturday afternoon. Super slow. Anyway. I order two sandwiches to go. The Fat James and the prosciutto panini. Pricey but ok. Looks high quality. Store had a lot of free sample. + 1. Panini was on point. No complaints. Fat James was a ham and cheese. Super tasty. But. The ham was super fatty. Like chew it in your mouth and spit it out fatty. Straight up grizzle. No bueno. Also ordered their housemade sodas. They were good. Super sweet tho. Long story short – all things considered not worth the drive, the ghettoness, or sadly, the quality, for the high prices. Not terrible. But not worth it overall.

Easily missed. It’s to the left of the firehouse and the name is simply written on the door.
This place is basically a snazzy deli. Not only are their sandwiches very fresh, but their flavor combinations ar3 above and beyond. I had the tuna salad and it was unlike any I’ve ever had. It was good… maybe a bit overwhelming with an herb flavor… but the bread and veggies were phenomenal. We also ordered the Italian sub. Premium ingredients again. The cheese was a bit overwhelming for the sandwich in my opinion. So as you can tell, I think the elements of their sandwiches could use tweaking.
We sampled some cheeses and olive oil while we waited. Yummm. There’s literally one table in this place so plan on taking it to-​go.

This place makes absolutely delicious sandwiches! I had the roast beef, and my husband had the pulled pork. Both were top notch! The service was very good as well; the woman patiently explained all their sandwiches to my indecisive husband haha. We’re about a 9 minute drive away, and we will definitely be back! Also, cute place and name– we ended up in a funny discussion about the 3 Little Pigs as we ate :-)

I really enjoyed this shop. I have been taking my daughter to school four blocks away and never knew this existed. As soon as I saw a review we stopped in. The place is quite charming. We ordered the muffuletta sandwich which was amazing. My daughter got the meatball sub which must have been good because I wasn’t offered a single bite.
Definitely going back. I want to try the charcuterie platter and I must have another muffuletta!

I was a little let down by SSB. Coming off the superlative Unilocal reviews, I assumed the smoked meats would be as amazing as Stachowski’s pastrami. The little table of Tasso ham bites to taste –very inviting. The shelf of assorted EVOO to taste — fun (although I didn’t actually like any of the samples.
On the counter person’s recommendation, we split a pulled pork and a brisket sandwich. We also split a «meat cone» — a small selection of charcuterie served in a paper cone along with cornichons and a few crackers. Everything was good, but … nothing was great. Neither the pulled pork nor the brisket had the compelling smoky flavor we had hoped for. Most of the flavor was mild and came from the sauce rather than the meat itself. The flavor of the charcuterie was also excessively mild. I thought the chorizo was actually a little odd.
I might drop in if I were in the neighborhood, but wouldn’t make a special trip.

Pros: One of, if not the best sandwich in town. Great selection of foods you womt find elsewhere.
Cons: Expensive, out of town.

I was introduced to this place by my barber who works two doors down from Straw Stick Brick. I was told one day while waiting for a haircut to try the tuna wrap sandwich next door. My barber Earl spoke very highly of SS&B’s customer service and food. Soon after receiving my haircut I decided to walk next door with him to see if they had anything else on the menu that would spark my interest. After looking at the menu I immediately noticed one thing listed on the menu that caught my eye… Gumbo. I love gumbo so I knew In my head that I had no choice but to order it with my tuna wrap. I must admit, I didn’t expect for the tuna wrap to be as great as it was coming from a place that specializes in smoke meat but it was definitely good and not filled with tons of mayo like many other places. After tasting the gumbo I came to the conclusion that someone definitely knows what they’re doing in the kitchen because many places do not make gumbo as dark as SS&B’s make theirs. It takes a lot of skill and practice to perfect making the roux for gumbo that dark before it reaches its burning point. The color of the gumbo could easily be compared to coffee. It was very flavorful with a slight bite. They also have a huge selection of what they truly specialize in which is smoke meats from sausages to salmon and even duck confit. I also had a pleasure to meet the beautiful owner Ms. Carolina. She was very attentive and was not bothered by the many questions I had. She is a true sweetheart!
Must Try:
Turkey Rueben
Gumbo (when offered)
Steak and cheese sandwich

Was looking for the summertime classic, a BLT. This place has an Awesome BLT. While it is quite pricey, you definitely get your money’s worth. The sandwich was huge. It was delicious and the bacon was crispy. Worth every penny.

Straw Stick & Brick (which used to be known as ‘Three Little Pigs Charcuterie & Salumi’) is a delicatessen located off of Georgia. Owned by Jason and Carolina Story, this place offers cold and hot sandwiches (pastrami, BBQ pulled pork, turkey reuben, BBQ brisket, etc.), cured meats (Spanish chorizo, duck prosciutto, hot sopressata, leaf lard, kielbasa, lomo embuchado, etc.), catering services, and even dinners & workshops that you can sign up for (!) (making fresh sausages, Charcuterie 101, butchery demos, etc.). I really like the fact that they also have housemade sodas with colorful bendy straws (honey lemon, lime ginger, and spring blossom (hibiscus)). I tried the Sloppy Joseph (local beef in a special tomato sauce on a warm jalapeño cheddar bun; the sloppy joe was a little more on the bland side and not as savory as I thought it would be); the Tuna Melt (the hubs was a fan of this; line-​caught tuna with sharp cheddar cheese and dill pickle slices, on a nice pumpernickel bread; the tuna was more on the herb-​y side, but extremely fresh; I liked the melted cheese and the pumpernickel bread); Bagels & Lox (SSBD gravlax, dill, cream cheese, and capers, on a toasted everything bage; the smoked lox was just amazingly fresh and wonderfully-​sliced; the cream cheese had a bit too much dill, but the overall bagel sandwich was pretty tasty); the Tuna Salad Sandwich (another one of my favorites, the line-​caught tuna with the dill mayo, preserved lemon, lettuce, red onion slices, and B&B pickles made this a very fresh-​tasting sandwich); Big Ron’s Chili (this was chunky adn thick, and filled with melty cheese and sour cream — this chili was quite delicious and very hearty: D; Potato Salad (this reminded me of the red-​skinned potato salad you get from Whole Foods); Creamy Coleslaw (the color was pinkish and it was more on the watery/​bland end); SSBD BBQ Baked Beans (pretty thick and the scent of the thick BBQ sauce was a bit overwhelming; there were chunks of steak throughout); an SSB Meat Board (that featured their famous cuts of cured meats and cheeses, such as the duck prosciutto and the Spanish chorizo, with hot mustard, sliced baguette, and hot cornichons). I tried each of their housemade sodas, but my favorite was the Spring Blossom, as this reminded me of a favorite drink from Puck’s Spago: D Very refreshing and not overly sweet, with a hint of flowery-​ness. They also had a wonderful spread of samplings, like the hot pepper jellies, olive oil, and even marshmallows: D Their little pantry were lined with jellies, spreads, oils, and such that you can also purchase. The staff here are super friendly and oh-​so-​nice (shout out to Mel, Carolina, and Jason!) :D If you’re looking for smoked meats and fresh made-​to-​order sandwiches in a cute little neighborhood deli shop, check SS&B out! :D
+Bagels & Lox bagel sandwich
+Tuna Salad Sandwich
+Big Ron’s Chili
+Spring Blossom housemade soda
+cold & hot sandwiches available
+cured meats galore
+dinners & workshop classes
+ask for Mel, Carolina and Jason: D
+some 2-​hour free parking off of Georgia

In short… I love this place.
When we moved back from Switzerland, my family and I were at a loss as to where we could get somewhat «proper» charcuterie back in the good old US of A. While we knew about Dean and Deluca, we left Switzerland to escape way overpriced food so it was not an option.
Yes there are a few deli type places where you can get some things but let’s be honest France, Italy and Switzerland kick are our asses when it comes to things like porcetta, ventricina and more than one option of prosciutto… and forgetaboutit when you start mentioning things like pata negra or proper pâté.
In came the recommendation of Straw, Stick and Brick and we have not looked back. Solid cured meats and while not an open air market in Lyon… this place is a well worth it stop on GA Ave. Additionally, their BLT should be illegal.

The gem in the area. It’s out of the way from the average 14^th street crowd, which is a plus. Sandwiches are solid and made fresh to order.
The best are the meat and cheese plates. Give them a budget and tell them the meats that you want and they can put an amazing plate together. Carolina and the rest of the staff are super friendly.