Natural Selection

A jealously guarded sandwich secret

ambridge just might be one of the most opinionated places in America. But if there’s one thing locals can agree on, it’s that they're crazy for the sandwiches at Darwin’s Ltd. Though regulars consider the place a neighborhood secret, the lunchtime lines are a dead giveaway. This bohemian-style café offers baked goods, coffee and more than 30 loose teas, hearty takeout dinners, and fresh produce, but the stars are the sandwiches, made with a great selection of breads and an inventive combination of ingredients (many of them vegetarian friendly). They’re named after neighborhood streets, with daily specials, pre-made and sold by weight, which makes it possible to get a little of everything if you just can’t make up your mind. Our pick? The Clubber, served every Friday at the Mount Auburn location, with turkey, bacon, avocado, greens, barbecue sauce, and aioli. Moravek

Shhhh! Still having trouble finding the place? Just look for the enormous Busch beer sign over the door.

Shhhh! The bread selection includes baguette, seven-grain, French, whole wheat, rye, sourdough, bulkie roll, pumpernickel, ciabatta, rosemary-garlic, olive (on alternating days), and pepper jack (on weekends).

Shhhh! Some of Boston’s best egg salad,
served with avocado, lettuce, and tomato, is called the Chapman at the Mount Auburn location and the Sumner at the Cambridge Street store.

Shhh who knew

The first person in North America to whom Charles Darwin disclosed his controversial theories on evolution was Harvard botanist Asa Gray, who became his preeminent defender, while Harvard zoologist Louis Agassiz was the staunchest American critic of his seminal Origin of Species. "He growls over it much like a well cudgeled dog [and] is very much annoyed by it," Gray said of his Harvard colleague.