The Duchess sandwich shop has been a mainstay in Ellicott City for decades, serving up affordable sandwiches and milkshakes at reasonable prices. When the original owner passed away many customers thought that Duchess would not survive, but much to everyone’s delight it appears to be thriving. When you walk into duchess you’ll notice that the decor has changed slightly than what it originally was, it’s very sparse and open with no seating. It’s a singular counter for sandwiches and a separate counter for milkshakes/ice cream.
Taking your order is a sweet old lady who I presume is the previous owner’s wife, she takes you order and meticulously assembles it ingredient by ingredient. Now you cannot come into Duchess with the expectation that you’re going to be having some sort of hipster sandwich with all the various sandwich bells and whistles. This is a sandwich that is either wheat or white bread (and the quality is not exactly artisan) and then you have a limited option of meats (turkey, ham, bolgna, roast beef, salami, and liverwurst). It takes some creativity on your end to create the sandwich you want, if you want a Italian style cold-cut sandwich you need to order the right meats. Despite the limited options and the quality probably not being the BEST this place still always hits the spot. The milkshakes here are solid as well and hand-spun, I recommend the peanut butter milkshake.
You will be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t enjoy an affordable sandwich from Duchess, I don’t know what it is, but everyone (including me) loves this place. It definitely can’t compete with a place like Big Belly Deli in Sykesville when it comes to quality or overall deliciousness, but for what it is Duchess is still great.
Final Grade: B+
