An editor and I escaped the din of the newsroom last Friday afternoon to investigate the classic American lunch fare at the new Luncheonette: Gourmet Take Away, a literal hole in the wall restaurant in the old Woolworth’s building in downtown Medford.

Braving the traffic and sunbaked sidewalks, we walked until we reached a small window in the side of the building at 33 N. Central Ave., No. 100. A woman slid the window open and crouched down to meet our eyes. She greeted us with a smile. The kitchen around her, visible through the window, appeared as small as a food cart.

The menu was as spartan as the digs. She offered three varieties of sandwiches, one salad, several fresh juice combinations featuring carrots, and house-made potato chips. A small sampling of coffee and sweets was also available.

My editor announced that he was struggling with the prevalence of cheese on the menu. Aside from the grilled cheese, all menu items featured Rogue Creamery’s famous blue cheese.

“I’m lactose intolerant,” he confessed.

Our restaurateur was compassionate and agreed to leave the Smokey Blue Cheese mayonnaise off the steak sandwich ($20). The primitive special, I said — meat, bread and butter with a side of fried potato.

I chose the “Boss B” salad for $15 and the carrot juice for $9.

The wait outside the window was not long before our chef’s arm extended to offer a cup filled with colorful paper straws for my juice.

I chose a blue one with white fish and palm fronds. Soon after, we were wandering back to the maze of desks where we spend the balance of our time, carrying red and white checkered paper boats of food.

Stirring the salad, I thought I detected the sight of dark nebula black-purple carrots, a failure in my garden this year. Before leaving the window stand, I had the presence of mind to ask whether the tomatoes were as heirloom as they looked — she smiled to say they were.

The dressing, though salty from its infusion with blue cheese, was appealing. It coated the mahogany marbled lettuce well. The salad showed signs of devotion, from radishes cut like stars and flowers to the variety of colorful tomatoes. The croutons, she said as we left the window, were made fresh this morning.

My dining companion — a self-professed chip aficionado — confirmed the chips were in fact scratch-made. The roll held up well to the solid medium-rare steak, he said, but the overall effect was a little dull. Maybe the Rogue Creamery mayonnaise would have elevated it.

The “side salad” promised with his sandwich turned out to be a dressing cup filled with colorful slices of carrots in a light dressing and crowned with an orange heirloom cherry tomato. Pretty, but only one mouthful, we agreed. My dining companion pointed to the mouthful as a surprise from the leaves of lettuce the word “salad” conjured in his imagination. I encouraged him to eat his vegetables, but the burden of the salad was placed on me with a silent passing of the cup.

It took me only two mouthfuls to disappear the “side salad.”

My salad, on the other hand, was large enough to satisfy and maintained a good balance of flavors.

The carrot juice was indisputably fresh, judging not only from its glaring orange color and bright flavor, but from the sound of the juicer while we waited at the window.

Overall, the fresh, carefully selected ingredients, caring service and proximity to the center of Medford are all advantages for The Luncheonette.

The Luncheonette: Gourmet Take Away is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays. To see the menu, or for further information go to happyluncheonette.com; online ordering will soon be available, as well.