Oxford Spa

Mean green lunch machine

by Sarah Lariviere

ON THE CHEAP

There is an avocado hanging over Oxford Street.

Like a hip, food-loving dad with some time on his hands, the Oxford Spa -- a funky update of a Cambridge corner store, with a fetching green avocado sign -- has a knack for making lunch. Daily specials and a grand variety of sandwiches made to order are, like the place itself, classics revived. Take the quiche specials: roasted veggie and cheddar ($5.25) features huge slices of portobello mushrooms and red peppers hovering so near the top that they demand to be picked out and eaten first. The buttery crust would please the most finicky pie fetishist. Butternut-squash soup ($2.95 a cup) is simple and warming. The "Reubenesque" sandwich ($5), with crunchy red cabbage instead of sauerkraut, lacks the goopiness of the original -- a healthy modification, though not especially Reuben-y. You can sit at one of a handful of tables, inside or out. Or you can do it like the locals: grab a free puppy treat and take your lunch -- and your dog -- to watch your clothes go round in the laundromat next door.

Oxford Spa, located at 102 Oxford Street, in Cambridge, is open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Sunday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (617) 661-6988.

---

The On the Cheap archive

---