Right on the corner of 8th AVE NW and 70th Street NW is a lovely deli by the name of Take 5 Urban Market. This little Ballard gem is easy to pass up, as it looks like a corner store at first glance. But take a step inside, and your nostrils will be filled with the aroma of delicious food just waiting to meet your lips.
Take 5 is owned by Dick and Rhonda Aspen, a friendly couple with a mission to serve the Ballard area delicious home cooked meals. There are a few different chefs at Take 5 and all of them do a wonderful job preparing home made comfort-style foods. The menu consist of sandwiches, soups, salads, meatloaf, and macaroni and cheese.
They serve a few different hot sandwiches and the ‘Deli Classic’ which is just as it sounds, a basic cold-cut sandwich where you can pick the meat, cheese, and bread. The hot sandwiches there, each $7.95, are the Take Five Reuben, a Meatloaf Burger, Pulled BBQ chicken, and a Grilled Vegetarian Sandwich. The Take 5 Reuben has perfectly cooked corned beef, Swiss cheese, and spicy mayonnaise on buttery, grilled rye bread. What makes this Reuben really different is that they put their own homemade coleslaw on it instead of Sauerkraut. The meatloaf burger has a thick slice of their homemade meatloaf with melted cheese, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, grilled onion, pickle, lettuce, and tomato. This is not your ordinary meatloaf! It has a wonderful depth of flavor, it is salty and a little bit sweet with just the right amount of moisture in it. The meatloaf burger is served on a Pallone roll. The pulled chicken has a generous amount of succulent barbecued chicken topped with coleslaw and served on a toasted bun. The Vegetarian sandwich has grilled eggplant and red onion with roasted red peppers, sun dried tomato aioli, coleslaw, and provolone cheese on buttery grilled bread.
The two soups that they serve here every day are the chili and the tomato- carrot bisque. The chili has ground beef, cannelini, kidney, and black beans with corn in a rich tomato-chili broth that brings. salty, sweet and, spicy together in perfect harmony. The tomato carrot bisque is the perfect rainy day soup. It is a slightly sweeter version of the traditional tomato soup, served with sour cream and dill on top. It goes perfectly with the grilled cheese sandwich or a nice, hot slab of their macaroni and cheese.
The salads that they have there are Caesar salad and spinach salad. The Caesar salad is traditional with house-made Caesar dressing, romaine lettuce, garlic croutons, and Parmesan cheese. The spinach salad has fresh spinach tossed with house-made sherry-shallot vinaigrette, fresh pears, craisins, candied walnuts, and blue cheese. This spinach salad is a perfect light lunch for those hot summer days.
Take 5 also has a few specials every day. They have a daily sandwich special, a dinner special, and a soup special on most days. The dinner special is 11.95 and is different every day. Don’t feel like cooking? Call in an order for one of these perfectly sized dinners, guaranteed to warm your belly.
So next time you are craving a tasty home-made comforting meal, stop into Take 5. Their friendly service and delicious food is sure to brighten your day.
