These are days when I’m willing to fudge on a $10 Deal by a couple of bucks because, be real, it can be hard to find a good vegetable plate for that. But this week my faith in the power of the dollar was boosted with a hearty lunch for less than $10 and a bonus lunch for, get this: $5.

South Point Grocery is worth going to, period. I often swing by when I’m at the office and need to pick up a few things, but the truth is, I could do a large part of my grocery shopping there, leave feeling good, not stressed, and spend only a little more than I would in a big East Memphis store that wouldn’t have half of what I want.

(And no, Superlo, I am not talking to you. You know I love you.)

$10 Deal: Hearty weekday lunches at Bayou Bar & Grill

On Tuesday, my friend and colleague Natalie (she of the occasional off-mic remark in our Sound Bites podcast) decided to grab Josh McLane’s sandwiches from the store, so we placed an order for a Juan Popper, for her, and The Grinder, for me. The were $8 apiece and hearty sandwiches served on what they call a French roll but long, like a sub or hoagie roll, just not quite as fat and bready.

Juan Popper was a very cheesy sandwich made of cream cheese-stuffed jalapeño peppers, known as poppers, and not a thing wrong with it. But when I tasted hers and she tasted mine, we both said the same thing: “Meat just tastes so good.”

It does. You can have many very good reasons for not eating it, but I’m betting taste is low on that list.

The Grinder was a flavor bomb: A layer of capicola and salami went down first, followed by pesto (which could be called “summer is here”), tomato, banana peppers, provolone, oil and vinegar. And oh my, what a perfect riff on an Italian sub. Well, it is an Italian sub, but it takes liberties and I’ve never known good pesto to hurt anything.

At $16 for two sandwiches, we decided to splurge and go $1 over with a prepared key lime tart from Dough Rye Mi Bakery. So look, the key lime filling was top notch — tart and creamy, speckled with bits of lime zest for extra flavor and tiny rosettes of whipped cream around the edges. But the crust was possibly even better. Maybe not, but certainly equally as good, buttery and crumbly, made with Biscoff cookies.

South Point brings full-service grocery shopping back to Downtown

It was $5, so we spent $21 on lunch for two, before tax (we already had bottled water with us). We could’ve hit $10 on the money and had the key lime tart if we’d forgone the $8 sandwiches in favor of a more modest but perfectly solid grilled ham and cheese. It was a special on Tuesday, but apparently it’s a special almost every day, so if you want a simple sandwich with a stunning dessert, go that route. Or if you want to spend $5 for lunch, just get the sandwich.

Or the tart. I won’t judge you.

There are 10 $8 sandwiches, including Rick’s Reuben, The Crackpot (a sandwich made from Mississippi pot roast that is next on my list), The Heel (a fancied-up bacon, homemade preserves and peanut butter mashup that I’ll leave to Chris Herrington to try), and numerous grab-and-go salads, hummus bowls, pre-made sandwiches and so on.

Pro tip: Check out the beer selection while you’re there, because chances are good you’ll find something you want to take home, and browse through the wine while you wait, too. There are bargains to be had.

South Point Grocery, 136 Webster, is open 8 a.m.-9 p.m. daily; the sandwiches are prepared 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; call 901-672-8225 or visit southpointgrocery.com.