Pammie’s Sammies opens in Dr. P. Phillips YMCA

DR. PHILLIPS  At the Dr. P. Phillips YMCA, getting in your post-workout sandwich, coffee or muffin just became a little more convenient.

Pammie’s Sammies now has a new location in the cafe area at the Y, and the shop is ready to serve everything from sandwiches, soups and salads to flatbreads, cookies and quiche.

Pammie’s Sammies takes the place of Axum Market Cafe and is located adjacent to the Y’s lobby area.

Pam Thomas, owner of Pammie’s Sammies, decided to close her original location in Dr. Phillips in late January so she could move operations to the Y. 

“Moving is always a challenge, but we’re real excited about being here,” she said. “It’s a good partnership for us, a good fit and great opportunity. We have had tremendous response. We want to emphasize that it is open to the public. 

“We have the beautiful patio outside, and we also can handle small conferences and meetings, lunch-and-learns, and we have a nice conference room right there,” she said.

Thomas has been a foodie from a young age and always was interested in trying new things and combining flavors. She attended and taught culinary school and began catering, and later, she opened the original Pammie’s Sammies in Dr. Phillips.

“There’s a lot of options,” Thomas said of the menu. “Any sandwiches can be done as a salad and vice versa. We believe in finding really good bread, so our breads are really fresh and really good. We’ve always said the three stars in our logo stand for thoughtfully sourced, earth friendly and tastefully adventurous.”

New to the menu are muffins, an idea inspired by both kitchen manager Yolanda Johnson and Thomas’s aunt. As Thomas was going through old cookbooks recently, she opened one and a stack of 20 pages of yellowed copier paper fell out — it was all of her aunt’s muffin recipes. Since then, Thomas has been working through each recipe to make sure they work.

Additionally, Pammie’s Sammies will not be offering any fried foods on the menu as part of a healthy-lifestyle effort the Y promotes. It also will have vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

“We want to have things you can’t get anywhere else that are simple and good for you,” she said. “We practice portion control, and we’ll have smoothies. We have this Nitron cold-draft machine for cold-brewed coffee. … It (the coffee) won’t hurt your stomach, it’s body friendly, and you definitely get a pop out of it.”