The revival of The Spicy Pickle last year was a welcome addition to downtown’s lunchtime dining options. It offers a wide range of salads, sandwiches, and panini, like the vegetarian Bastille with roasted portobello mushrooms and red peppers, mozzarella, red onion, tomato, spinach, and sun-dried tomato mayo on focaccia.

During weekday lunch, LoHi hotspot Old Major turns into Royal Rooster, serving an array of fried chicken sandwiches. The Korean Rooster sports kimchee and Kewpie mayo, while the Buffalo Rooster is slathered in blue cheese, ranch slaw, and housemade buffalo sauce.

Vinh Xuong’s banh mi sandwiches have a cult following, and with a new outpost in the recently opened Zeppelin Station, they’re sure to become even more popular. Crusty French bread is stuffed with meat (the BBQ pork with pate is a favorite) and then topped with housemade mayo, pickled carrots and daikon radish, cucumber, jalapeño, and cilantro.

Olive & Finch’s affordable and approachable menu is the reason both locations are always packed. The list of creative sandwich options offers a range of choices for every palate, like the Jamal, with blackened fish, citrus tartar sauce, capers, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, avocado, and roasted tomato on ciabatta.

D’Deli has been serving subs on Golden’s historic main thoroughfare for decades, featuring unique combinations and meats, including corned buffalo and smoked elk. The Gold Hill sandwich is made with roast beef, blue cheese aioli, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, beets, jicama, and spinach, while the Das Butterbrot combines pork tenderloin, ham, peanut butter, honey horseradish dijon, sauerkraut, applesauce, and bananas, made like a panini.

Snarf’s has several locations across the Front Range and beyond, with a menu of build-your-own sandwiches and deli standards such as roast beef and provolone or meatball parmesan. The Italian, piled with salami, pepperoni, capicola, mortadella, and provolone, plus all the fixings, is a wildly popular selection, but there’s also a ‘Not On The Menu’ list with inventive sandwiches such as the Farmer, with turkey, egg salad, and bacon.

Chef Justin Brunson’s lunch counter serves gourmet versions of deli favorites, from Reubens to chicken salad. While guests will find sammies like the pastrami (hot pastrami, Swiss cheese, coleslaw, and Thousand Island dressing on toasted rye) appealing, Masterpiece chefs also create a new special each day and post it on social media channels — the egg and caviar sandwich is just one example.

Far from downtown, one of Denver’s best sub shops is in a strip mall in Broomfield. Each of the subs served at Big Dog is — that’s right — named after a dog breed. The Great Dane (ham and cheese) and the St. Bernard (turkey and cheese) come piled in lettuce, red onion, sprouts, mushrooms, and pickles — sure to satisfy a deli sub craving.

Brider’s unique list of sandwiches includes enough variety for frequent repeat visits. The lamb and harrisa sandwich is coated in tangy tzatziki sauce, while the Cajun blue shrimp sandwich comes piled with avocado, herbed slaw, creole aioli, and lemon.

This Boulder mom-and-pop shop offers a menu of sandwiches that change daily (see the Facebook page for updates). The Bird features turkey, smoked cheddar, apples, aioli, tomato chutney, and spicy greens. Bonus: Cured puts together picnics that are ideal for a sunny afternoon by the Flatirons.