Roll over fast food! Quick food at Roly Poly

11/20/2003
Lisa Ann Johnson - staff writer

The days of fried fast food are over for this college student. Believe me, I'm not crying over spilt grease since I tried a great alternative for a good, quick meal.

Roly Poly Sandwiches in Sherwood makes great tasting, unique hand rolled sandwiches. There are over 50 kinds to choose from with fresh ingredients, and customers are welcome to chose what they want in their roll.

Let me make you hungry before I tell you their prices are the same as any fast food joint in town.

My favorite roll is the California Turkey, or number 10. It has turkey breast, BLT, sprouts, avocado, cheddar cheese, mango chutney, scallions, sprouts and ranch dressing. Now, I am not from California, and my hair color isn't really blonde, but this roll and a little hair dye makes this drizzly NW weather disappear until I've got sunshine.
These sandwiches are actually called rolls because all the ingredients are rolled into a tortilla.

Everybody knows about Jared's Subway sandwich diet, but what you may not know is that bread in sub sandwiches add a lot of unwanted carbs. Bread is not a dieter's friend. If my thighs could protest, they would.
If you are like me. you've also wrinkled your nose when the sub sandwich guy asks what kind of cheese do you want, white or yellow.

White or yellow? Yeah, those little triangles are processed cheese. Another big no-no.

You won't find that at Roly Poly. All their cheeses are cut every day from a brick. You can even order brie on your roll for a French experience.
Nothing at Roly Poly is processed. They take extra care to let their customers know what they are eating, as well as posting the nutritional value.

Compared to the nutritional chart at Subway, apples for apples, Roly Poly beats them. The reason is that Subway doesn't add in the fat grams and extra calories from their plastic cheese or squeezed on mayo.

Guess what else? They have juices instead of soda. Well, they have soda, too, but take a break from the caffeine and try a Blackberry Nectar Fizz. And get some baked chips instead of fries for a change. You deserve it.

There are many different tastes for all different types of people. Whether you like Italian, Cuban, Santa Fe, Tuscan or even Delhi slices, Roly Poly has it.

I would love to see someone go through the McDonald's drive-through and ask for roast pork. While the "medium-wage-McDonald's-worker (called MWMW for short) microwaves a McRib made of processed mystery meat, Mark or Georgia Finsley could have made you a BarBQ Pork Melt with real bacon.

That's right, Mark and Georgia Finsley own and operate Roly Poly in Sherwood. Though it is a franchise with 200 stores around the country, there are only 4 stores in Oregon.

So, where is Roly Poly? It is right across from Starbucks in the Safeway strip mall off 99W. In rush hour traffic, it took me ten minutes to drive on 99W toward Portland before I turned left onto Roy Rodgers Rd., which let me take an immediate left into the parking lot.

Feel free to call in an order for a study night at the dorm, at 503-625-9105. Or fax it at 503-625-9271. For more info, look up www.rolypolyusa.com