TravelNoise: MAKE Sandwich, New York City

MAKE Sandwich, New York

My guest and I walked down 4th Avenue, admittedly passing the restaurant once because it was an uncharacteristically lovely February day and when do you ever have a solid attention span when the sun is out after months of darkness? But within steps of passing it, the scent pulled us back like a wicked spell. Chorizo, I thought, suddenly famished.

The establishment is small but bright, with about 10 available seats. A clean black and white color scheme provide modernity to the sandwich shop while gold-framed prints are stacked on one accent wall.

Normally the line is out the door, but we were there at 3pm on a Wednesday—lucky us.

The menu of pre-designed sandwiches spanned the wall above the counter, and on the side was a board of handwritten breads, spreads and add-ins you could mix and match to make your ideal sandwich.

The options were overwhelming in the best way—the pre-designed sandwiches looked bomb, so my guest and I chose from the list, my guest ordering the turkey and gouda sandwich and me the chicken chorizo. We grabbed some water from their cooler water and sat for about five minutes before being called up to the counter to collect our sandwiches.

Wrapped neatly in foil, the sandwiches awaited us. We parked at the island table in the centre of the shop and tucked in.

My guest’s sandwich ($10.95) was packed with layers of slow roasted turkey and smoked Gouda, topped with avocado, pickled apple, lettuce and tomato and spread with chile-celery mayo on a sub roll. It reminded me of what a true “sub” should taste like, savoury and smoky and hefty.

My sandwich, the chicken and chorizo ($11.95), was spicy and zesty. The mojo grilled chicken and chorizo were juicy and offset nicely by Oaxacan cheese, then topped with avocado, pickled onion, jalapeño and cilantro and spread with smoky mayo on fresh ciabatta. We both decided mine was best specifically because between the bold heat and the citrusy smokiness, this sandwich was something neither of us had quite encountered before.

As we finished, we realized we had gone maybe a little too hard on the sandwiches and took some time to clean ourselves off, but every single bite was worth it.

MAKE sandwiches makes me believe in sandwiches again. Say that five times fast.

I’ll be back, indefinitely, ready for more.

Address: 135 4th Ave. New York, NY 10003
Telephone Number: +1 212-398-2602
Website: makesandwich.com

Sami Allen

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