The Sunrise Cafe' Sandwich Shop — Restaurant in Carlisle

Probably my favorite Sandwich Shop in America. Hi, I'm Jared and my partner and I travel quite a bit for work. We have a great client in the Carlisle area, who suggested we have lunch here at The Sunrise Cafe. So glad he brought us here.

This spot is in a historic house in the downtown district, and the owner makes what just has to be the most delicious, balanced and perfect sandwiches I have ever eaten. I have eaten them all over the country including the hot spots like Miami, NYC, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas etc... nope. This little spot in Carlisle is the best one of them all.

Every little detail of each sandwich here is thoughtful and compliments the other. The staff is helpful and pleasant, and the owner herself seems to magically appear and greet guests before disappearing back into her impeccable kitchen. She has an alpha chick gusto that remains me of a modern day Rosie the riveter. All very good vibes here.

Probably the most incredible thing I have noticed in my visits here is the cleanliness of the kitchen. On my most recent visit I saw the door to it was wide open as we exited. I could not help put peer inside, and to my dismay the kitchen was spotless. Every counter was clean, every bottle was facing the same direction, everything was nearly arranged on the shelves. This was not just clean, this was surgical. Exact. You would think she was getting he place ready to be on HGTV or be inspected by Gordon Ramsay or something.

Nope. Just another day at work for Sunrise Cafe.

Trust me folks, no normal human has a kitchen this precise or this clean. Only someone with massive discipline and consistency would operate this way. This is exactly the kind of chef who would create the best sandwiches you have ever eaten in your life.

I live in Texas, so I may only have a chance to eat here once every couple of years, but if you are reading this and considering going in there because you re in the area: stop reading. This is the one. You found it. Go...

Took a very long time to receive our order and the order ended up being incorrect. The food itself was good and the person working the register was polite and apologetic about the long wait time. Seemed like there were a lot of regular customers coming in and out (some of whom ordered at the counter after us and then received their food before us). Also slightly confusing signs saying no outside food or drink is allowed but then also saying they don't have specialty drinks and if you would like one you should get it elsewhere and bring it with you. I assume part of the trouble of my visit was because I went on a Sunday morning, and the food itself was not bad. So, overall my experience was 2 stars. I am not excited to go back but would be willing to give it another chance on a different day if a friend really wanted me to.

EDIT: Changing my review to 1 star based on the rude response received from the owner. I leave honest reviews on Google based purely on my experiences. Several owners have responded to my reviews improving my experience, or inviting me to come back and try again and, in doing so, has improved my experience with their business. This one has done the opposite and instead, because I had a bad experience and shared it with others, essentially said I shouldn't ever return to potentially have...

The food was underwhelming, lacked flavor, and slow to arrive for a simple egg sandwich. Furthermore, the help was very matter of fact about not having recycling stating "no, we don't recycle and, no, we can't do anything about it."

Edit: Reply from the owner kinda sums up the vibe I got from going there - basically "if you don't like it, go somewhere else" as opposed to taking the feedback and trying to improve to appeal to a broader base. And "slow to arrive for a simple egg sandwich" was based upon a 20 minute wait for an egg sandwich (yes it was vegetarian and yes it was underwhelming) when there was only 1 other table sat there. Also pretty rude to implythat I don't understand the difference between vegetarian and vegan. I wasn't saying that you didn't have vegetarian offerings but rather that I wouldn't recommend them to a vegetarian. Your response only further affirms to me and to those reading this review that your establishment is not welcoming. I had you at 2 stars because it was an honest review. Your response has just made my experience even worse and I'm dropping the review to a 1 star...