The Filling Station Deli & Sub Shop

My father and I found this gem (thanks to Unilocal) while on a road trip. Although The Filling Station is in the heart of Bryson City, it is still only a few minutes off the highway. We found a parking spot along the street in front of the restauarant.
I am constantly on the lookout for the perfect club sandwich. As far as I am concerned, this was the best club sandwich I have had so far in my life! In fact, I saved half of the sandwich so I would have a treat later on our road trip. Just look at my picture and tell me that does not look like one fantastic club sandwich! I believe my father got the cuban, but I was too entranced by my meal to pay attention to anything else.

Currently, the only 5 star rated restaurant in Bryson City, the Filling Station has pretty good rep, even with locals. At times the line is out the door (which is not hard to do as this sandwich shop/​deli is fairly small on the inside). There are only about 6 – 7 tabletops in the main dining area (plus a couple of first come first serve café tables outside). During our visit, the owner put our name on a wait list and gave us a guesstimate for a wait time/​return time. We were able to walk around for 15 minutes in town before returning and being seated right away.
The menu has everything from sandwiches, to foot long dogs to salads. I had heard lots about the Cuban but opted for the Corvair (a cheesesteak). I accidentally ordered the Filler Up for someone instead of the Premium (rare roast beef — and yes, all the sandwich names can get confusing) but they replaced it quickly without batting an eyelash. The Four Lane Club sandwich was pretty much awesome — who doesn’t love a turkey club with crispy bacon??? The Roast beef was great served on super chunky bread. I was a bit underwhelmed by the size of the cheesesteak for the price, but the flavor was good. It was the total opposite for the homemade fries. One basket was enough for the whole table to share. Yum! If we had had enough room for dessert, they make their own ice cream sandwiches with creative combinations using home made soft serve ice cream and cookies.
Loved the Christmas Ninja Turtle shirts the staff wore! I chatted a bit with the owner who is very personable, believes that success follows hard work and a great product, and is in the trenches with his staff running the place. Okay, next time I’ll listen to the Unilocal reviews more and get the Cuban… Definitely one of the top places to eat if you’re in town and don’t mind a wait!

Bryson City is hopping in the fall with the retirees coming to take in the changing of the leaves. Even with a small line it was only 15 min to get a table.
We had an Italian Turbo, a Philly, a cup of broccoli cheddar soup, and sweet potato fries.
The sandwiches were good, and served on what tasted like locally fresh made bread. The Italian was layered thick with meat. I could have enjoyed lettuce and tomato as well, but it didn’t come stock on the sandwich. It also had a zesty creamy sauce that gave good flavor with a little kick to the taste buds.
The very sweet tea was good. Strongly recommend cutting it with unsweet tea.
Ice cream sandwiches. The Lemon Bar is a lemon cake cake cookie with blueberry ice cream. It was my favorite. The Shotgun was a chocolate cookie with, I think, peanut butter ice cream, but we couldn’t tell. Cut one in half for more than enough for two people.
Super friendly staff was busy, but never missed taking care of our table. The food came out fast, though I would have preferred that the soup was served immediately since it was not part of a soup/​sandwich combo.

Well worth the drive from Sarasota Florida just to eat here… awesome food, service and people
Come on in !