The dining scene in Aspen is a collage of dissatisfaction. The average meal is pricey, a nice night out insanely expensive — and even then there’s no guarantee that you’ll be wowed by what you get. You can go “budget” with ethnic meals, but a mediocre fajita lunch will still run you about $25. And on the mountain, lunch for two — a bowl of chili, a quesadilla, and drinks — can ring up as $42 at the cashier’s stand.

So a $6 sandwich is a particularly good find. I was at first disappointed to see that the longstanding popcorn wagon across the street from the rather longer-standing Wheeler Opera House (since 1889) is now more like a lunch wagon, its formerly old-fashioned red exterior now a bland stamped aluminum. Worse, while the wagon and its adjacent fire pit used to be a late night hangout (open till 2 am), it now closes at 7!

After the initial bitterness died down, I noticed the sign advertising “Italian piadinas.” I thought this was a colossal typo of “panino,” till I was catching up on Food & Wine magazine back at the condo and found that it’s a legitimate kind of sandwich. So I thought I might as well give it a try - popcorn and hot dogs are apparently off the menu.

I really wanted to try the un-Italian “Jimmy the Greek” sandwich, but they were out of pork. So I got the Italiano instead: prosciutto, mozzarella and a salad’s worth of arugula in balsamic vinaigrette, wrapped in a flatbread freshly toasted on the griddle. Yum! It was one tasty sandwich — so much so that the next day, when I came back and they were still out of pork, I had it again.

I also stopped by Main Street Bakery for a snack one afternoon. It’s a rare outpost of unpretentiousness, where locals and out-of-towners hang out or grab baked goods to go. There’s a communal table or two, and one night I happened upon a Celtic jam session. The meals (breakfast and lunch) don’t seem that appealing, so I rarely eat there, but the small baked goods (scones, muffins, cookies, etc.) are pretty reliable.

This time, they had a couple plates of petits fours on the counter. These bite-sized cakes had an American twist: flavors like red velvet and carrot cake. Curious, I took a couple ($1 each). They were encased in white chocolate, and though I would have preferred a thinner shell, it preserved the moistness of the cake and icing. Could this be the follow-up to the cupcake craze?

The Popcorn Wagon
Mill Street at Cooper Avenue
Aspen

Main Street Bakery
201 E. Main Street, Aspen
(970) 925-6446