It is a sad week, but also a joyous one for sandwich lovers in Victoria.
First, the bad news.
Victoria’s favourite sandwich pop-up, Hero Sandwich Bar announced this week that they will be doing just one more event before taking an indefinite hiatus from serving “fat stacks” on her iconic take on Hero subs.
Hero started when Julie, a self-proclaimed “sandwich mommy” realized there was nowhere in Victoria that served her favourite type of sandwich — a hero sub; loaded with cured meats, Italian cheeses, iceberg lettuce, shaved onions, balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil.
She held her monthly pop-up event out of Standard Pizza with the help of some friends and fellow sandwich-lovers and she sold out every time.
Hero usually launched an online pre-sale one week before the pop-up and in most cases, would be sold out of around 300 sandwiches in just three minutes.
Julie turned to Instagram this week to deliver the bad news along with announcing she has one last pop-up in her before shutting down Hero for now.
“I want to share some bittersweet news with you (I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry—are you buying this?!),” Julie wrote.
“Our next popup is on Monday, December 4th. It will be the 10th — and final — Hero popup.”
“It’s pretty surreal to announce I’m closing shop when in many ways I feel like I’ve only just begun,” she added.
Julie continued by saying that although she has thought about doing Hero full-time for a long while, she fears that her joy in making sandwiches would fade if it was an all day, every day job.
She also expressed that while the pop-ups are fun, they ultimately take a heavy toll on her mental and physical health.
“But this isn’t goodbye,” Julie wrote.
“This account will stay active and I hope to have more time to post fat stacks and share news about a fun project I’ve been working on 🙈 (yes, it’s food related!).”
“If you know me, you know that Hero means the world to me. It has been such a special experience — one that I will remember forever. And it’s all because of you,” she continued.
One silver lining is that in this farewell post and last pop-up announcement, Julie hinted that she is currently working on another food-related project for fun and she said she will be posting about that from her Hero account whenever she is ready.
Related:
- Hands off my Hero: This specialty sandwich shop has been leaving Victorians wanting more
- Tombo Eats: Adored Victoria chef opening downtown pop-up to tease his new restaurant
- 11 sando spots to hit in celebration of National Sandwich Day this week
Now some good news for sandwich-lovers.
There’s a new, yet not-so-unfamiliar face in the sandwich world of downtown Victoria. Tom Moore, who is one half of the minds that brought Victoria Crust Bakery, has an endeavour he is finally ready to tease us with.
Tombo Pop-Up is the temporary, limited menu version of Moore’s new restaurant, Tombo Eats, which is facing some setbacks due to permitting processes.
Tombo Eats won’t be able to open until early 2024 and will be in the old Agrius and Fol Epi space on Yates Street.
However, until then, the pop-up will be selling a handful of items that will one day be available in the full-on version of what Moore envisions Tombo to be.
Tombo Pop-Up is all set up in a space on Government Street, right at the mouth of Trounce Alley above Quazar’s Arcade.
They will serve four sandwiches, one of which is vegetarian, soups, salads and they’ll have a few beverage options as well for those looking for a sandwich at lunch in the downtown core.
One of those sandwiches… is going to be a hero sub.
Tombo Pop-Up will be open as of Friday, November 17th at 1219 Government Street and will be open from Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or until sold out.
