San Jose’s Sourdough Eatery celebrates the art of the sandwich

In a sense, the dense, eclectic interior of San Jose’s The Sourdough Eatery sandwich shop echoes the very style of sandwich it serves: stacked high with lots of layers.

The 47-year-old sandwich shop on First Street — tucked in between office complexes and tech giants — is not subtle. The dim hallways and main room of the more than century-old brick building are filled with portraits and landscapes painted by owner Barbara Lenhart, who opened the shop with her late husband Michael Lenhart in 1978.

“Once I’ve got it and I hold it,” said Lenhart, peering out at the tchotchkes, paintings and mementoes that cover every inch of the shop.

Across from Lenhart’s register was another longtime fixture, the shop’s only employee, Gelacio Sanchez, who began working in the sandwich shop 30 years ago.