DINING: Select-A-Sammie

The hikers, bikers, canoeists, equestrians, hunters and motorcyclists that converge on Turner Bend have two things in common: They’ve been outside, and they’re hungry.

For nearly 31 years, the little store on Arkansas 23 has taken a simple approach to feeding all comers. Pick your bread, meat, cheese and toppings, and they’ll pile it on.

This is not the peanutbutter-on-bread version Mom used to put in your lunch box.

“We try to keep it simple but do it right,” says owner Brad Wimberly. “A regular customer is one who comes once every few months, so they don’t get tired of the choices, but our customers are the hungriest bunch I’ve ever seen.”

On a slow winter day, employees might only make eight or 10 sammies. At the peaks of floating and hunting seasons, and when music festivals crowd nearby Mulberry Mountain, “we’re making sandwiches literally nonstop from opening to close,” Wimberly says.

The deli creations were referred to as “almost famous” for years, although the new menu board in the store uses the “world class” designation.

“We liked ‘almost famous,’ but the guy who did the sign just put something different on there, so I guess we’re both now,” Wimberly says.

Most customers simply order at the counter. Drinks are available in coolers at the back of the store. Others phone in an order. One construction crew sent the junior member to the store with orders written in pencil on the side of a scrap of lumber.

There are no plates.

Choose from a wax-paper wrap, or zippered plastic baggie if you’re heading for the river.

“I’d guess more than a few have been eaten soggy,” Wimberly says.

Want something more on your personalized lunch? Just ask. An assortment of offmenu additions, including spicy mustard, jalapenos or ranch dressing, hide under the counter — and for less money than most fast-food restaurants (of which there are none within miles.)

There are lots of reasons to show up hungry at Turner Bend Store, but there’s no excuse for leaving that way.