TANAKA Gresham opened in the ever-growing Alta Civic Neighborhood. 

Nothing brings people together better than a little flour, water, yeast and salt.

At least that is a Gresham sandwich shop’s philosophy. And after enjoying one of their signature offerings, born from a family recipe perfected over seven decades in Tokyo, it’s hard not to agree.

TANAKA Gresham

What: Japanese-style sandwich shop

Where: 1493 N.W. Civic Dr.

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sat.-Thu.; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday

Menu: tanakakatsusando.com

TANAKA Gresham, 1493 N.W. Civic Dr., opened last year. The restaurant has a bevy of katsu sandwich options, served on milk bread — pork, chicken, shrimp, burger, fish and tofu, all with spicy variants.

There are the special sandwiches, including a smoked pulled pork and the TANAKA Dip, which has ribeye katsu and au jus; katsu nuggets; salads and a soup of the day; curry rice bowls; fries and kale slaw; and brunch offerings like a breakfast sandwich and miso scramble platter.

There are also pastries, like cream-filled donuts and miso chocolate cookies.

Since 2008, the trio of Portland-area restaurant’s sister location in Tokyo, Kushikatsu Tanaka, has served a popular Osaka dish called “kushikatsu” — deep fried skewered meats and vegetables, with their famous katsu sauce on the side.

That sauce has lovingly been crafted over 70 years, a secret Tanaka family recipe that has led the restaurant to earn countless accolades and rabid fans.

Regionally the restaurants, beginning 14 years ago with TANAKA PDX, on Southwest 12th Avenue, continue to build upon that foundation. Though the local trio (the third is in Tigard) don’t serve kushikatsu, they do bring that same artisanal flair. Oh, and the delectable sauce.

The Gresham location is part of the burgeoning Civic Neighborhood, north of Gresham Station Shopping Center and along the MAX Blue Line. With hundreds of apartments built in the past half decade, and more planned at the former Kmart parking lot, it is quickly becoming not only a population center, but a business destination.