The Market Place Deli in Bankers Hill on Fifth Ave. and Maple is a great place to grab a hot sandwich and have a picnic in Balboa Park without having to prepare anything yourself.
The best part is its location, sitting directly across the street from the west side of Balboa Park making it the perfect place to grab a bite to take across the street where you can eat in the grass under the beautiful San Diego skies.
Growing up as a child and attending public school I can’t exaggerate how many sandwiches I have pulled out of brown paper bags.
After eating a lifetime of PB and J, and turkey and ham sandwiches it would be so easy to get burnt out on them but Market Place provides a refreshing take and this did not turn out to be so.
The Market Place can take simple ingredients like turkey, bacon, avocado, sprouts, tomato, mustard and mayonnaise with some melted swiss cheese and put them between two pieces of toasted sourdough bread and make a great tasting sandwich that just gets better each time you have it.
The Market Place is not unique in the sense that it is a deli that sells fresh baked pizza pies, salads and sandwiches, but it is unique in that their takes on these common dishes defy a natural tendency to grow old and boring.
Something as simple as a sandwich can be easy to get tired but the Market Place is doing something right. It’s as if their sandwiches can medically treat someone who is clinically suffering from a severe dread of the ordinary.
The roast beef bobby sub with roasted bell peppers and roast beef and melted swiss is so very simple that it is hard to pin point what the Market Place is doing that Subway seems to have such a hard time mimicking. If you try one you will know what I am talking about.
The Benny special is hot pastrami with provolone cheese on a bread roll loaded with all the works and is offered in cities all across the U.S.
Not enough?  The Market Place is a deli but also a convenience store which means if you need lunch but are also low on toothpaste or coffee it can be very convenient.
They also have a great selection on wine, one of the best in my opinion and the prices are very reasonable. Just make sure you get back home before you decide to uncork your vino and are not still in the park, though it would seem only natural in France, in San Diego it is illegal… unfortunately.