At Winter Garden’s music-inspired café Pammies Sammies, the sandwiches and sounds come together in perfect harmony. 

At Pammie’s Sammies, rock ‘n’ roll is here to stay.

Yes, the Winter Garden hot spot is a café—but it’s a cafe with soul. Guitars and musical memorabilia adorn the walls. There’s a collection of classic vinyl to peruse and purchase. And the funky, eclectic locale is also home of Boyd Street Radio, the passion project of Thorp Thomas, husband of Pammie’s Sammies owner, Pam Thomas. The free station streams hits from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s all day, every day, and provides a chill musical backdrop to a delicious turkey club or French dip.

“It’s really all about music,” Pam says of her cafe. “My husband and I met playing music. We have pictures of us in a band up on the wall from 1979. Music is a huge part of who we are.”

In September, Pammie’s Sammies will mark its 15th anniversary; which is crazy, Pam says, “Because it feels like it’s been 15 minutes.” She loves everything about her cozy café—the unique menu, her amazing team, the music-inspired decor and, most of all, the community she has built.

“It’s a place that feels like you’re welcome no matter who you are,” Pam says. “The best thing on the menu is hospitality.”

Inspired flavors

The slogan for Pammie’s Sammies—“Feed the Soul, Craft with Love, Serve from the Heart”—is a reflection of the eatery’s goal to serve creative, thoughtfully-sourced food inspired by both classic family recipes and bold, trendy flavors.

The menu itself has a lot of the same items it featured 15 years ago, along with a revolving door of specialty eats. Burgers are popular, and Pam highlights the “Who’s Your Daddy?” option with pan-fried bologna, Thorp’s Cheese Dip, crushed Fritos and yellow mustard on a Cuban roll as one of her favorites. 

“My dad, he loved a bologna sandwich. Meat and bread,” Pam says, adding the name of the sandwich was inspired by The Zombies’ 1968 song, “Time of the Season.” “I name a lot of things after rock ‘n’ roll and music stuff. With this, I was noodling with a friend on the name and the lyrics, ‘Who’s your daddy? Is he rich like me?’ came on the radio … so there you go!”

Another Pammie’s Sammies original is the Spicy Chicken Quesadilla, featuring grilled chicken in a cilantro pesto with black beans, chipotle mayo, red onion and roasted red peppers, and the Three Little Pigs, which is house-smoked pulled pork, bacon, pit-smoked ham, jalapeño slaw and the house barbecue sauce on an herb-laced focaccia roll.

“The menu is all about unusual tastes and most of the recipes are mine,” Pam says. “Our tomato soup—that’s my daughter’s recipe. We play ‘Chopped’ a lot and make up different things.”

Newer items joining the Pammie’s Sammies menu include a turkey and Brie sandwich (technically a popular returning item from years ago) with mango chutney, Brie cheese and turkey, as well as the BL(fg)T a twist on the traditional bacon sammie, substituting fried green tomatoes for the juicy red.

“We’ll probably do a spicy or salsa mayo, just to make it a little more different than it already is,” Pam says.

Building community

Located along Boyd Street in Winter Garden, Pam says the business atmosphere in the downtown area is one of community, much like the feeling inside her own cafe. 

“Other restaurants in downtown Winter Garden, I don’t look at them as competition at all. We complement each other,” Pam says. “There’s so much that can be done to help each other. We just get better together.”

She finds that strength among her staff, too, though “staff” is a moniker she refuses to use, and instead refers to the Pammie’s Sammies employees as her “team.”

“It takes everybody. We’re a shoulder-to-shoulder environment,” Pam says. “You always hear you’re only as strong as your weakest link. We all help that link.”

With her positive and upbeat outlook and obvious love for Pammie’s Sammies and Boyd Street Radio, it’s no wonder that Pam has found a comfortable niche in downtown Winter Garden for all these years—and undoubtedly for years to come.

“I do love it. People will say it’s such a hard business, how the profit margins are zero-to-none and how so many people burn out. And that’s all true,” Pam says. “But this is a labor of love. That’s why I’m in it.”

Pammie’s Sammies
Winter Garden
(407) 730-3212
PammiesSammies.com