Buried between a trendy clothing store and a weird hippie emporium on Fourth Avenue lies a cozy college bar with a less-than-appetizing name.

Bison Witches, the Tucson-born restaurant and bar, has become a landmark of sorts for Fourth Avenue dwellers and University of Arizona students alike.

Bison’s inexpensive sandwiches and nightly drink specials attract swarms of Tucsonans and out-of-towners from morning to night. The secret? The restaurant’s name is rumored among its employees to hold subliminal advertising: does Bison Witches… sound like "Buy Sandwiches" to you?

If you ask most, Bison Witches doesn’t need hidden messages to get you to buy the food. In fact, they don’t even have a sign visible from the street that proclaims their existence; just a small neon window sign that can only be seen when standing near the front door.

Their famed sandwiches are what do all the talking.

"The Wildcat", a favorite sandwich presumably named after its biggest fans, is built of thin slices of roast beef and smoked turkey on thick-sliced bread - white, wheat, or dark rye baked fresh on location every day - crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The beef and turkey are smothered in melted smoked gouda cheese and shredded lettuce and is topped with Bison’s special, pleasantly tangy Russian honey mustard.

The "Cally," another Bison classic, is piled with thinly sliced turkey breast, avocado slices, and alfalfa sprouts, served on a toasted croissant with cream cheese and mayonnaise. The flaky croissant combined with the cool avocado, cream cheese and fresh sprouts make this Bison-wich one of the most popular during Tucson’s hot summers.

A whole sandwich, which is the equivalent of two sandwiches from any other restaurant, can be ordered by the halves and paired with one of five bread-bowl soups for $7­­. See what I mean about ideal college dining?

My personal favorite, the Cream of Potato Bacon soup, nicely compliments the "Wildcat". Thick chunks of potato in a cheesy cream with flavorful bits of bacon are housed in a crispy bowl made of white bread. The edible bowl is usually too much to devour after a sandwich, hearty soup and the necessary Shiner Hefeweizen brew.

Another Bison soup is the Wisconsin Cheese, a creamy cheddar cheese broth, which has a smooth consistency and a sharp tang. Bits of bacon add lingering flavor. I am never one to charge something as too cheesy, but this soup was a little much for me and too heavy to pair with the light "Cally" sandwich.

A much better pair for the "Cally," or any other sandwich on the menu, is the Cream of Broccoli soup– the cheesiness of which can not be protested. The creamy cheese and spice broth is perfectly thick and the broccoli pieces are large, abundant and firm - not squishy like the ones my mother had to force-feed to me along with Brussels sprouts and steamed cauliflower. I ordered extra cheese on top, which melted and strung itself among the broccoli for a perfect texture.

For the hungrier, a whole sandwich and bread-bowl soup combo is $7 on special every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

As for vegetarian visitors, Bison doesn’t have much to offer. A magnificent grilled cheese sandwich, a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a veggie sandwich are among the only offerings. The "Veggie" is served on white, wheat or rye bread and is stuffed with shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onions, green peppers, artichoke hearts, black olives, avocado slices, alfalfa sprouts, cheddar, provolone, cream cheese and mayonnaise.

A major college hangout and full-service bar until 2 a.m. each day, Bison Witches would not be complete without its satisfying selection of eight draught beers and over 60 bottled beers, including local brews like Nimbus’ Monkeyshine.

With no more than fifteen tables inside the restaurant, getting seated right away after nine or ten on a packed Thursday, Friday or Saturday night is nearly impossible. Luckily, the all-female-under-thirty-years-old serving staff and the grungy male bartenders (leather pants optional) are pretty quick, so the wait is rarely more than twenty minutes.

At Bison Witches, you can grab a drink with friends, shoot the breeze with the college-age employees, watch the Wildcats beat the Sun Devils (or vice versa) and enjoy a gourmet sandwich and soup for less than $15. That is unless the Sun Devils beat the Wildcats and the beer count hikes up the bill.