Waldo’s General Store sits on busy Route 1 in Falmouth, and looks utilitarian at best.

It has a big parking lot with gas pumps and signs for sandwiches, soda, etc. The typical one-stop kind of place everybody stops at on their way to work, home or someplace else.

But now that I’ve tried the food at Waldo’s, it will be the place I’m on my way to.

When I stopped in there for lunch the other day, I was surprised by the fresh smells coming from the kitchen. And by the size and variety of the menu.

The menu includes cold subs, sandwiches on bulkie rolls, deli sandwiches, roll-ups, pizza, salads, hot sandwiches, fresh pastries and breakfast items, and a slew of homemade dinner entrees. The latter were in the refrigerated case, to be taken home and heated up.

On a whim, I ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($5.75). I say a whim because I usually never order pulled pork unless it’s in a place that specializes in barbecue. I find that in some places, pulled pork is the name they give to any kind of pork with barbecue sauce poured over it.

Boy, was I surprised at this pulled pork sandwich. It came in a long and very soft white sub roll that was sort of like a large hot dog roll or Italian roll. At first I thought this was strange, because a sturdy roll is most often used for pulled pork.

But the sub roll was perfect, because the soft white bread soaked up the tangy barbecue sauce and made a delicious combination. The sauce had just the right amount of heat, a slow heat that built as I ate the sandwich.

And the pork itself was perfect. Nice and tender, not stringy. As I write this, I realize I need another one right now.

I also took home a dinner entree of shepherd’s pie for $5.45. It was just the way I like it, the kind we made in my French-Canadian family. If you order shepherd’s pie in some pubs, you might get lamb; peas and carrots; or brown gravy. But this one had a giant layer of creamy mashed potatoes on top of ground beef and corn. Just the way it is supposed to.

Other entrees to go, priced between $4.75 and $5.65, included American chop suey, spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna with meat sauce, macaroni and cheese, chicken a la king, tuna casserole and meat loaf. Considering the place is located between downtown Portland and Falmouth’s residential neighborhoods, dinner to go makes sense.

Large subs were priced $4.95 to $5.95, and deli sandwiches began at $4.50 (corned beef on marble rye) and went up to $5.75 (turkey, bacon and swiss).

The roll-ups, on tortillas, began at $3.50 for some smalls and went up to $6.75 for a large, and included some creative combinations: pesto chicken with lettuce, provolone and tomatoes; chicken, bacon and ranch dressing with lettuce and tomatoes; and buffalo chicken with blue cheese, hot sauce and lettuce.

Several breakfast sandwiches on an English muffin (bacon, egg and cheese, for example) were priced at $2.60.

The place has a few stools at a counter that faces a window onto Route 1. There are also a few picnic tables outside.

The Features staff of The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram anonymously samples meals for about $7.