Dupont Market in Northwest

Restaurant chains spend countless dollars on focus groups and marketing specialists to come up with trademarked things to call their wraps and panini. At this scrappy little market on S Street NW, Kevin Sheridan has resisted cute names, but some have bubbled up organically in the 14 years he has owned the place.

To wit: Debra's Special ($7.25), a fabulously pungent sandwich of fresh mozzarella, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomato pesto, got its name when a customer who had ordered it every day for six months brought family members into the store and declared, "This is my sandwich." How could Sheridan argue with that?

On the other hand, he had little control over the naming of El Umberto ($6.99), with turkey, Swiss cheese, avocado and alfalfa sprouts. It became known as such when a local real estate agent waited until Sheridan was out of town and then scribbled his name directly on the posted menu.

Obviously, Dupont Market's sandwiches inspire loyalty, and for good reason. Take the Italian ($5.99), a warm, spicy combination of pepperoni, capicola, salami and provolone on soft ciabatta. After a 15-minute trip back to our office, it was still giving off a little steam, and the oil from the mixed vegetables, spiked with pepperoncini, was soaking into that great bread, which Sheridan buys from Panorama Baking in Alexandria. This is a soul-satisfying lunch, the kind that you wouldn't go to the trouble to make yourself, so you appreciate it all the more.

We could say the same about every one of the seven sandwiches we tried among the 20-plus on the menu. The chicken salad ($6.50) has discernible pieces of tender light and dark meat, with a good hit of tarragon and a little celery, on soft wheat bread. The hummus and feta ($5.49), like Debra's Special, puts blander vegetarian sandwiches to shame. Even the item we expected to disappoint us, a chicken burrito ($6.75), didn't. We braced for a leathery tortilla when we saw it was whole wheat, but it was surprisingly soft, and the chicken, black beans, avocado, tomato, onion and pickled jalape¿os inside were nicely balanced.

Which is most popular, according to Sheridan? El Umberto is up there, but it's really no contest: "The Italian has paid my rent," he says.

As a show of appreciation, he will soon rename the Italian in honor of its long-standing place on his menu: It will become, simply, the Number Five. No trademark symbol required.

-- Joe Yonan

Dupont Market,1807 18th St. NW, 202-797-0222. Hours: weekdays, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; weekends, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.