Gooneys Sandwichworks

I had never had an arepa before, but it seemed like a good hangover food item, so I went for it. Mine had avocado and chicken in it. At the time, it was delicious, but in hindsight, I think it could have used more flavour. Still, the blandness wasn’t too outrageous for my aching head and curdled guts, so it was a safe option. I think it was around $ 5.
The service was friendly and fast — can’t complain.
There’s always at least one creepy man sitting outside the restaurant on the sidewalk, though.

I came for the arepas! This Latin American cornmeal bun sandwich has been on my radar ever since I first came across the sandwich board advertising them, and we finally stopped in for some today.
First, the posted price in the window is for breakfast only (in case you’re only as observant as I am). I’m not sure if the price is posted anywhere but for for arepas and two drinks at lunch we rung in at $ 30.
That seems pricy for take-​out lunch — I had sticker shock. Here’s the explanation, though: I asked the guy behind the counter if one per person was enough and he said probably not. Unless you are very hungry, one should be enough. Especially if you get a side!
On the advice of a Venezuelan friend I ordered the chicken and avocado (reina pepiada) and in the advice of the guy behind the counter, pork (pernil). Let me repeat: way. too. much. food! One per person would have been enough and also reasonably priced.
The arepas were good, but could have used a little spice for my taste. (Of course, I say that about almost everything.) There’s tons of stuff behind the counter for sandwiches and salads, though, so in the future I’ll ask them to add a little something, but this time they didn’t give me any options. The salads and sandwiches I saw all looked great, and coming here instead of a standard sandwich place seems like a solid choice.
They carry alfajores, which I adore, but no price posted so I passed.

Salads are good in theory… but regardless of what topings you order they are sure to miss a few and then charge you for all of them. Very annoying.

Pretty good sandwiches and a great selection of ingredients from which you can ‘make’ your own salad. It’s quite wasteful how they make their salads though since they stuff all the ingredients into a bag to shake up before they dump it out into a plastic salad bowl for you. Prices are a bit high, which knocks their overall rating from 4 stars to 3, for me.

I usually eat at the 251 Laurier Avenue West location, but this review applies to both stores. This place is the cure for cookie-​cutter, chain sandwhich shops, like those that rhyme with Hubways.
They have a varied menu, especially their salads, reasonable prices, quick and courteous service, and the food is delicious too.