Taste Our Goods is possibly the tiniest lunch counter in town–it’s a two-seater, and if there’s a one-seater somewhere, we don’t know about it. It’s been next to Kerrytown’s Sparrow Market cash register for two years, but with the crush of people pushing their way through the tight aisles with armloads of groceries, especially at peak transit hours and on market days, you might never have noticed it. During quieter times, however, one or two people are often sitting lazily at the counter, picking their way through a meal and keeping the cooks company while they make the breakfasts, sandwiches, salads, and soups that are take-out favorites among people who work in Kerrytown and offices nearby. A rumor that Taste Our Goods was closing ruined the afternoon for two Observer staffers (the Observer offices are practically next door), so we’re happy to report that it ain’t so.

Taste Our Goods was a partnership of Elena Levin, who graduated from U-M and was looking for something to do (“I cooked a lot; I studied environmental science and focused on food systems.”), and Bob Sparrow, the butcher and sausage maker behind the meat counter. Levin is leaving town at the end of July. Sparrow vacillated between closing TOG altogether and making major changes before deciding to keep it pretty much as is, though he has decided to expand the hours to seven days a week instead of five. He says the menu will remain the same, though he adds, not surprisingly, that “we’ll probably do more with meat–like more sausages.”

Taste Our Goods (inside Sparrow Market), 407 N. Fifth Ave., 769-2725. Daily 9 a.m.-3 p.m. www.tasteourgoods.com