North Vancouver Ave. isn't know for its dining options. There is a cart or two and maybe Lv's Restaurant, but if you want to eat you either head east to Williams or west to Mississippi. Hopefully that will change with the opening of Brass Tracks Sandwiches, which swung open their doors at 3535 N. Vancouver about a month back.
The shop's menu remians loyal to the Bunkification™ (yeah, I'm trademarking that) of the local sandwich market, which means high-quality ingredients, a handful of chips (they use local brand Tim's) tossed on a slab of butcher paper, and everything hovering around the $8 range. Brass Tacks has eight house selections—four made with animals parts, the other four totally vegan—plus daily specials and a build-your-own option.
For my initial visit I went with the Captain Nemo (since it's vegan it really should be called Captain Emo), which was an excellent vegan meatball sub served on firm, but chewy, Fleur De Lis bread. I've paid the Bye & Bye's mortgage a few times over just based on my loyalty to their version of this sandwich, but Brass Tacks' creation gets serious credit for hand-making white bean meatballs instead of the easier (I assume) TVP option. It's no "Harry Plopper and the Chamber of Meats" but even Ted Nugent would cram this thing in his gaping mouth hole. Nice to see some more options on this food-free section of town.
