Kansas City’s Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches with ‘Dutch Crunch’ bread is expanding

West Plaza’s Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches is expanding.

It plans to open a four-month pop-up in the Plexpod Westport Commons, at 300 E. 39th St., Tuesday. If it is successful, the eatery will stay longer.

“We are very conservative when it comes to taking risks,” said Jake Wilson, partner with Julian Garcia. “If the waters here are good we will fish them until we fish them out.”

Friends since first grade, they served Bay Boy sandwiches with Dutch Crunch bread as a pop-up at Johnny Jo’s Pizzeria in the West Plaza, before going out on their own nearby at 4706 Holly St. five years ago. They also are expanding to an upper level at the Holly Street shop and plan to open that area soon.

“We’re going to have seating upstairs and have Chingu Coffee there and at the Plexpod space,” Wilson said.

The Bay Boy menu

Cold sandwiches include the Bay Boy (with Molinari salami, Bay Boy’s garlic sauce and hot pepper sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, red onions and a choice of cheese); Crown Town Club (with Boar’s Head smoked turkey, ham, hickory thick-cut smoked bacon, green leaf lettuce, tomato and red onion with chipotle mayo); and the Wiz (with thick bacon, bananas, Nutella and peanut butter).

Hot sandwiches include the El Jefe (their version of a Cubano), and the KimCheese (three cheeses, mushrooms and chipotle mayo) described as a “hot mess that will leave you quite satisfied.”

Featured sandwiches include the veggie club, and Peaches & Scream (with honey smoked turkey, fontina cheese, peach jam, candied jalapeno, Food Life Joy microgreens and a spicy butter Dutch Crunch roll).

Dutch Crunch bread is popular in San Francisco (Garcia’s hometown) and gets its name from a similar bread found in the Netherlands. It is described as crunchy on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.

This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 10:36 AM.