Buy Everything From Corn Dogs to Fabric Softener at This New LoHi Deli

There are so many things happening inside Dimestore Delibar, a new eatery scheduled to open later this month at 1575 Boulder Street, that defining it using standard restaurant terminology becomes a little tricky. There are Mexican-style stained-glass windows above the bar; antiques and knickknacks, most of which are for sale, on every shelf; themed art that encompasses cowboys, dinosaurs, robots and spaceships (all in one piece!); a gleaming deli case filled with meats, cheeses and prepared foods; and a convenience-store corner selling hot sauce, fish sauce, Junior Mints, Pocky, fabric softener, premium instant ramen and other sundries.

But at its heart, Dimestore is easy to define: It's a sandwich shop. But not just any sandwich shop: The specialty of the house is a rolled focaccia sandwich called a "dimeroll." Chef/co-owner Tim Dotson more or less invented the configuration, taking spongy focaccia from Trompeau Bakery, toasting it on one side, and rolling it up around housemade pastrami, roast beef, pulled pork, meatloaf and other tempting ingredients.

Dotson and Chris Fuentes, the other half of the ownership team, took over the former home of Low Country Kitchen after the Southern eatery closed unexpectedly last February, and transformed it into a kitschy space with a ’70s vibe. Green and gold dominate the color scheme, with rich, dark woods adding an ambience somewhere between a well-appointed library and a basement rec room. The two did most of the work themselves, changing the entire layout from what felt awkward and poorly utilized when it was Low (and Vita before that) to flow nicely from the wedge-shaped bar near the entrance to the spacious dining room.

"It's pretty eclectic; we just wanted to have fun with it," Dotson says. "And everything but the tables and chairs is for sale."

Dotson was most recently the opening chef at the Family Jones Spirit House, and before that he spent several years with Troy Guard's TAG restaurant group. His creativity and experience extend well beyond sandwiches; on the small plates menu, you'll find a lamb gyro corn dog, chicken-fried duck confit, and a sardine plate touched with Vietnamese flavors. The chef also lived in Germany as a kid; the evidence is in his spaetzle with house-smoked ham and his German potato salad, Paulaner beers behind the bar and a selection of jarred mustards on the deli shelf.

At the bar, cocktails (including a few that will be served on draft) are kept to $10 or less, even those with multiple ingredients and housemade shrubs, tinctures and syrups. In keeping with the deli theme, there will also be Dimestore cream soda on tap.

The building was once known for its rooftop patio, and Dotson says it will reopen in the spring. He's planning to host theme nights with off-menu specials like burgers or tacos al pastor.

An exact date has not been set for the opening, but it could be sometime next week. Once that happens, Dimestore will be open from 4 p.m. to midnight every day but Tuesday, and closing at 10 p.m. on Sundays. Lunch will be added later this year.