By: Jackie Varriano | October 03 2011
Posted in Eugene - Find It - Eugene

John Patrick Downey-McCarthy stands proud next to his VW kitchen. Photos by: Jackie Varriano

Halloween 2009 an idea was born to serve hot, delicious sandwiches from a decked-out VW bus. “When we first started, our plan was to set up in multiple places at different times of the day. We were going to be up late, like until three, and hang out,” says John Patrick Downey-McCarthy, owner of Devour, a mobile food truck and café in Eugene.

“We quickly found out that if you can’t be at one spot all the time, there’s really no point in being there.” Two years later, Devour has grown to include a second VW bus, and a café in Springfield. Their business model has changed a bit, but their sandwiches have stayed just as devour-able as day one.

Bright and airy, the Cafe offers a fixed spot for loyal customers to enjoy Devour's tasty sandwiches, soups, and chips.

As the wheels of the Devour trucks started turning, delivering sandwiches across the city, Downey-McCarthy quickly found that in a city like Eugene, “If you are relying on people passing by, it just doesn’t work. But, if you can go somewhere that has a group of people and they know you are going to be there, and you are their lunch for that day, it’s much more dependable. It’s really important to have some dependable business.” 

During its time roaming the city, Devour had found quite a few corporate clients like Life Technologies and Advanced Cabinets that loved seeing them once a week – the captive audience they needed. Now the two busses have a full roster of clients -- between three and four per weekday -- that they visit on a weekly basis. In addition, they are out at Sundance Natural Foods Friday afternoons, and at Ninkasi Brewing and Lavelle Vineyards Friday nights to meet demand from the general public.

A perfectly toasted Grilled Chicken sandwich.

Each week, Downey-McCarthy and his partner in crime Eric Pitkin create three sandwiches, a number that amounts to 115 sandwiches per year. Sandwiches featured are usually two meat options and one vegetarian, in addition to a soup and house-made truffled potato chips. But with a limited menu, it’s harder to please everyone. “There are some people that love tofu and there are some that hate tofu, so you don’t want to do a tofu sandwich every week because some people dig it and other people don’t...” says Downey-McCarthy. They’ve also learned that it’s important to have variety within the three sandwiches. “You don’t want to have both a ham sandwich and pulled pork.”

In addition to the rotating menu, they deliver sandwiches wholesale to PERK Espresso, Global Delights Coffee Shop, and the Eugene Coffee Company. 

Goals for the future include getting cover for the VW’s, possibly moving the café further into downtown Springfield, expanding on their wholesale clients, and deepening their catering offerings.

In the meantime, grab a tasty grilled sandwich at their Springfield café, located on the corner of Olympic and 28th, open Monday to Friday from 11am to 3pm, or track them down via Facebook. 

Jackie Varriano is a Eugene-based writer in love with Devour’s truffled chips. Keep up with her at seejackwrite.tumblr.com.

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