This Small-Town Idaho Sandwich Shop Serves Up Subs And Sweets With Old-Fashioned Charm
Lava fields and sagebrush roll for miles across eastern Idaho before a hillside splashed with painted numbers tells you a town is close. Most drivers see a gas stop and a few quiet blocks, then keep rolling toward the next national monument.
The smart ones park near a plain little storefront where the bread is homemade and the sandwiches come out big enough to split. It turned out to be the kind of lunch you plan the next road trip around.
Sandwiches Where Three Highways Meet
Three U.S. highways, 20, 26, and 93, meet in Arco, a Butte County town of fewer than 1,000 people sitting out on Idaho’s Snake River Plain. Traffic heading to Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, or north toward Salmon rolls straight through, and plenty of it slows down right here.
1870 Subs and Sweets is a small, family-owned deli right in town, serving made-to-order subs, pizza, salads, and a counter full of desserts and milkshakes. From the sidewalk it could pass for just another storefront, until you notice road-trippers, work crews, and neighbors walking out with boxed-up leftover halves.
The menu runs from classic turkey and ham to barbecue beef, pastrami and Swiss, salami and Swiss, and Italian sausage. Pizzas come in flavors like meat lover’s and Hawaiian, while the sweet side covers brownies, cupcakes, ice cream, and shakes in a long list of flavors.
Arco itself stays quiet. Farms, ranches, and the Idaho National Laboratory shape daily life, and high desert stretches out in every direction.
Against that wide backdrop, homemade bread and a cold shake feel like finding a creek on a long, dusty hike.
Root Hog, Atomic Light
Root Hog. That rough-and-ready name belonged to this corner of the Snake River Plain before the town settled on Arco in the late 1870s.
The deli’s name appears to tip its hat to that pioneer decade, a nod to how long travelers have been pausing here for a meal and a breather.
A much bigger headline arrived on July 17, 1955. That day Arco became the first community in the world lit entirely by electricity from nuclear power, fed by the BORAX-III reactor at the testing station now called the Idaho National Laboratory.
The lights ran on atomic power for about an hour, and the Atomic City nickname stuck.
The building carries a quieter story. Folks who grew up in Arco can recall when a man named Mr. Boyer let kids fix their bike tires in this very space, long before anyone sliced provolone here.
Swapping tire patches for asiago rolls is the kind of small-town change that sparks happy memories instead of grumbling. Old-timers get to eat a favorite sandwich in a room they already knew by heart, and newcomers get a little piece of Arco history with their lunch.
Crust Before Anything Else
Crusty on the outside and soft in the middle, the homemade bread is what first-time visitors bring up once they are back in the car. Some call it thick and crusty without being hard, while others describe it as light and fluffy, which suggests it lands right between chewy and tender.
Asiago is one of the choices, and it pairs nicely with turkey and provolone. A sub stands or falls on its roll, since a flimsy one turns soggy by the third bite and a rock-hard one scrapes the roof of your mouth.
Next comes the house secret sauce. It is basically a spiced oil and vinegar, splashed over the meat and veggies so every bite tastes a little brighter without drowning the bread.
Toppings are balanced instead of piled on at random, and every order gets built the way you ask. Skip the onions, add extra lettuce, or trade one cheese for another, and nobody behind the counter blinks.
After an hour of sagebrush and lava rock rolling past the windshield, a fresh roll like that makes the Snake River Plain feel a whole lot friendlier.
Eight Inches Feeds Two
Eight inches sounds modest until the sandwich actually hits the table. Plenty of first-timers eye the 12-inch, expecting chain-store portions, then feel grateful they ordered smaller.
Subs come in 6, 8, and 12-inch sizes, and the middle one can easily feed two people. Diners regularly wrap up a leftover half for the drive, and a 6-inch can stretch into two small meals on the road to Yellowstone.
Generosity shows up in the fillings. Ham and turkey get stacked higher than most folks have ever seen on a sub, and the roast beef, turkey pastrami, and turkey bacon versions arrive loaded with extras.
The Italian assorted sub stands out as a favorite, earning comparisons to the big-city delis of Chicago and New York. Barbecue beef makes a hearty change of pace, and there is a meatball sub plus an all-cheese option for anyone skipping meat.
Price-wise, a sub here runs close to what a chain charges. The real difference is how much sandwich you carry out the door, and how long it keeps you full while the miles of open Idaho highway roll by.
Knots, Pies, And Salad Bowls
Garlic knots with a dilly twist are the side order worth remembering. They pack plenty of garlic flavor and disappear quickly when a whole road-trip crew is reaching across the table.
Pizza is the other big draw, with choices like meat lover’s, Hawaiian, and barbecue chicken. Pies are made hot and fresh, so plan on a longer wait during a busy lunch rush.
An honest heads-up: the pizza gets a more mixed reaction than the subs. Some visitors love it and leave with great leftovers, while others find a pie uneven, so first-timers may want to start with a sandwich and save pizza for round two.
Salads hold their own too. The Cobb comes out huge, with big chunks of chicken and bacon, and a Caesar sits on the menu for lighter eaters.
Chicken bacon wraps have earned their own fans among folks who want something easier to hold.
The menu board covers a lot of ground, and it can feel a bit crowded at first glance. Ask the staff to point you toward their favorites, and ordering gets simple fast, even for the most undecided eater in the group.
Butterfinger In A Cup
Butterfinger, blended into a thick milkshake, is one very good reason to ignore any plans about skipping dessert. The shake lineup runs long, with a ton of flavors to pick from, so choosing just one can take longer than ordering the sandwich.
The sweets half of the name is not just decoration. Freshly made brownies sit ready for anyone who wants a chewy square of chocolate, and cupcakes show up for travelers craving frosting after a long drive.
Plain ice cream is available too, which makes the shop a handy stop for families with little ones who just want a scoop. Splitting one big sandwich and grabbing two shakes is a pretty smart trade on a hot afternoon.
Summer on the Snake River Plain can get dry and toasty, with heat shimmering off the highway and the dark lava fields. A cold shake in the cup holder turns the next stretch of Idaho road into something to look forward to.
Want a treat for later? A brownie wrapped for the road travels well to a picnic table near Craters of the Moon.
Friendly Faces Behind The Counter
Old-school is the best way to describe the room. The space feels cozy and unfussy, the kind of place where you can slow down for a meal instead of gulping it in the truck.
Cleanliness comes up again and again, from the tables to the counter, and the staff are the friendly heart of the operation. Motorcycle riders headed for Yellowstone have left with sandwiches plus a quick lesson about Arco from the crew behind the counter.
As a family-owned business, it draws a steady local crowd too. Workers at Craters of the Moon National Monument rely on it for both lunch and dinner, which says plenty about how well the food holds up over repeat visits.
Families will find enough choices to please picky kids, especially once shakes and cupcakes enter the picture. Retirees on an unhurried Idaho loop get a calm, comfortable stop, and solo travelers can settle in without feeling rushed.
Service stays quick on a normal day. When the room fills up, orders can take closer to 15 minutes, so the smart move is to relax and enjoy the break from the road.
Planning The Arco Stop
Find the shop at 119 N Idaho St in Arco, right along the routes that funnel travelers through Butte County. Highways 20, 26, and 93 all bring you close, so it slots easily into a drive between Idaho Falls, Craters of the Moon, and the Salmon country up north.
Doors open late morning and close in the early evening most days of the week, with one day off. Schedules in small Idaho towns can shift, so check before driving out, especially on holiday weekends.
Costs stay friendly for a family budget. A sub runs about what a chain charges, while pizzas sit higher, so the sandwich remains the best value on the board.
Timing tip: arrive a bit before the noon rush if you are on a tight schedule to reach the lava tubes. A leftover half makes an easy dinner later, so ordering the bigger size is rarely a mistake.
Arco will never be a big city, and that is part of its appeal. A crusty roll, a stacked Italian sub, and a Butterfinger shake in a town of under 1,000 people make a fine reason to take your foot off the gas.
