First, Naked City Sandwich Shop moved away, relocating from its tiny shop next door to Dino’s to Moon Doggie’s on the westside. Then, the Strip Sandwich Shop on Las Vegas Boulevard burned down. Among the many gaps in Downtown’s dining offerings, a simple, good, straight-up sandwich shop was a particularly glaring one.

In late May, the niche was filled. Simpo Sandwich opened on Charleston Boulevard near Third Street, a perfect location to feed Arts District wanderers and hungry Downtown businesspeople. Owner Anthony Hughes, a 30-year local, noticed that “we don’t have anything around this area we can eat that’s healthy,” so he peppered the Simpo menu with fresh garden salads, turkey and tuna wraps, and tasty vegetarian sandwiches like the crunchy crudite, with jicama, carrot, bell pepper, celery and cucumber.

The traditional and specialty sandwiches bring the familiar flavors, like a meaty club with loads of turkey and bacon, and the pastrami Reuben with sauerkraut on marbled rye. The most popular sandwich is dubbed the Tuscan Italiano, salami and mortadella with mozzarella on a cushiony ciabatta with house made pesto aioli and Italian dressing. “That one really packs a helluva flavor,” Hughes says. “We have some regular customers that come in and eat that sandwich almost every day.”

Simpo Sandwich strives to be a community-oriented small business, not just a quick and tasty lunch stop. Hughes says the joint has started hosting spoken word poetry gatherings at no charge, and he hopes to expand with more neighborhood-friendly events. “We are not here only to cater to the businesses in the area,” he says. “Most importantly, we are here to cater to the neighborhood around us.”