Your Only Friend

The story

Your Only Friend — Washington DC Sandwich Bar with Bib Gourmand & Creative Cocktails

The Unification of a Sandwich Shop and Cocktail Bar

Your Only Friend calls itself a "sandwich bar"—the intentional fusion of a cocktail bar and a sandwich shop. The concept was born in 2020, when veterans Paul Taylor and Sherra Kurtz, drawing on a combined 35 years in hospitality, pivoted from fine dining to something more immediate: the humble sandwich. During the pandemic, they donated over 3,000 sandwiches to frontline workers and raised thousands for local causes, building a following one takeout order at a time. That pop-up energy is now brick-and-mortar, and in 2026 the restaurant earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand for good quality, good value cooking—a nod to the care packed into every $18 sandwich.

Sandwiches That Play with Nostalgia

The menu is a study in controlled chaos. The Chicky Pep No. 2 piles nonna-style fried chicken cutlet with pepperoni, Italian cheeses, garlic-anchovy Duke’s Mayo, and roasted long hots on a soft roll. The Spicy Panes con Pavo channels Salvadorian flavors: braised turkey, curtido, and Crystal Hot Sauce chili oil, served cold "like a leftover dream." Vegetarians are not an afterthought—the Caul Me Maybe features roasted cauliflower with Maggi, pickled daikon, and cilantro, while the Crispy & Juicy-style swaps in a hashbrown patty with charcoal carrots and Peruvian yellow sauce.

The cocktails are equally playful. The Clarified Orange Julius (vodka, Aperol, salted orange sugar) and the Carb’d Marg (mezcal, Smirnoff Ice, Mountain Dew) sound like inside jokes that work. The Clean Dirty Martini—vodka, sherry vermouth blend, clarified olive brine—is a bartender’s thoughtful take on a classic.

A Welcoming American Spot in Shaw

Located on 9th Street NW, the space is open Wednesday through Sunday, with the kitchen running until 10 pm most nights and the bar staying later. It’s the kind of place where the team still finishes a shift with a cider and the sentiment, "Let’s do it again tomorrow." The recognition from Michelin simply confirms what the regulars already know: this is a restaurant that treats a sandwich with the same precision as a cocktail, and both with genuine warmth.