R U?: Most of the time when people talk about New York-style deli sandwiches, they’re referring to a sandwich that’s nothing but a pound of meat and cheese stuffed between two thin, dry slices of bread. On the other hand, New Jerseyite Ray Hareb, who opened Lay-Z Shopper in downtown Athens in 2007, knows how to compose an excellent sandwich. His convenience store has been slicing Boar’s Head meats and cheeses to order and assembling them into to-go sandwiches from lunch to very late at night for eight years now, and when The Volstead closed down next door, he decided to spin off the fresh-food part of his operation into its own thing.

R.U. Hungry (351 E. Clayton St., 706-548-6000) is basically the same as Lay-Z Shopper, but with a wider variety of eats and no poker chips or “smoking accessories.” The frills are essentially nonexistent. Little has been done to the interior. Part of the menu (personal pizzas) is currently covered with a piece of cardboard. There are some UGA signs slapped up on the greenish walls, and the logo, a weird-looking smiley face that manages to smile even as it raises its eyebrows and sticks out its tongue, clutches a knife in one disembodied hand and a fork in the other. If you cast an eye into the back kitchen, which seems to be used mostly for storage but is perfectly visible to diners, you may entertain yourself by estimating just how many giant jars of mayonnaise you see (19).

This lack of emphasis may sound similar to the approach of Eddie’s Calzones, just down the block, which has a similar focus on late-night eats, but the food compensates for the spare atmosphere, and the policy of high-fives in exchange for tips creates camaraderie. The cold sandwiches (both specialty and build-your-own) are the same as before, with no loss in quality. Now there are hot ones, too. The “fat” category, which includes sandwiches incorporating chicken fingers, french fries, mozzarella sticks, fried eggs, hamburger patties, jalapeños and more, may seem like a good idea when alcohol is clouding your judgment, but its sandwiches aren’t as good as the ones just listed under “hot.”

The cheesesteak is simple and direct, with well-cooked onions and peppers. Better still is the Fwopper, made with navel pastrami, pepper jack and banana peppers, which adds some zing to what could just be salt and fat. The California cheeseburger is bested by many in town, but at $3.50 for a small, nicely assembled burger, it achieves its modest ambitions. A veggie sub is only $4.99, and you can also get a veggie burger, a falafel sandwich, a hummus sandwich or a spinach pie, fine concessions to non-meat-eaters.

Not only is the restaurant a fine option for 2 a.m., but it is speedy, friendly, well priced and tasty during the daylight hours as well. R.U. Hungry is open 10 a.m.–4 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10 a.m.–5 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

GRAVY: Kiki’s Bakeshop, in Watkinsville, may have had to close its restaurant spin-off, but it’s still supplying buns for the eatery that replaced it, Traveling Hobo Café (20 Greensboro Hwy., 706-310-4323). Opened by some folks who aren’t new to the restaurant business—they owned a similar place in Savannah—Traveling Hobo focuses on burgers and is still a bit of a work in progress. There’s a big train theme in the decor, as well as a popcorn machine next to the cash register where you place your order and several flat-screen TVs tuned to one ESPN or another. The kitchen is small, as is the staff, and the dining room full, so do not expect your food to arrive exactly pronto.

When it does, though, it will be tasty and clearly cooked to order. Burgers come in mushroom, bison, beef and lamb varieties, with a wide variety of toppings. The summer BBQ burger, for example, features bacon, coleslaw and BBQ sauce, and makes a strong case for itself as a new standard. The lamb burger is cooked just right and comes with feta, red onion and tzatziki sauce. You can upgrade your side to a salad or to well-executed onion rings, but veering away from the restaurant’s excellent fries (thick-cut spirals, which can be paired with brown gravy) is a bit of a mistake.

Portions are large, and the menu is not what you could call healthy on the whole, but it does include a big section of salads, including a fine “South Western” that piles on corn, black beans, avocado, cheddar, tomatoes, grilled chicken and tortilla strips. The fried fish sandwich is huge and well cooked but fairly minimalist. There are kids’ meals, new specials on the chalkboard and a mini-fridge stocked with Red Bull, as well as an $8 hot dog that comes with too many toppings to list. Traveling Hobo Café is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and serves no booze. It seems prone to running out of some menu items, so have a backup plan in mind.