A Bristol sandwich shop that was named the best restaurant in the UK last year is opening in London.
Sandwich Sandwich, which boasts one-kilo ‘doorstopper’ sandwiches and a buzzy Instagram account, has opened it’s first location in St Pauls, with plans to open two more across the capital next year.
Its owners have their eyes on the prize – namely, knocking Pret A Manger off its lunchtime pedestal.
Serving up a string of exciting combinations, the award-winning sandwich shop is certainly making a play for Pret’s clientele with its new City of London location.
And, while those same time-poor office workers will have to stump up a little more cash for Sandwich Sandwich’s Posh Ham and Cheese (£8.95) compared with Pret’s Ham & Grevé Baguette (£6.25), the owner’s son Josh Kleiner is confident he can come for Pret’s crown.
Speaking to the Independent, Josh, 24, explained: ‘While Pret has filled a very important convenience gap, we believe that lunchtimes in general have gotten boring.
‘People are now eating for convenience, rather than pleasure and fun and excitement.’
Sandwich Sandwich’s BBQ Beef Burnt Ends, featuring sticky charred brisket of beef, mac n cheese, iceberg lettuce, gherkins and chimichurri mayonnaise
And it’s exactly that ‘fun and excitement’ which Sandwich Sandwich, having settled into Gresham Street, near St Paul’s, is working on.
Sandwich Sandwich’s Posh Hand and Cheese is literally overflowing with pulled ham hock, grated mature cheddar, garlic and parmesan soft cheese, fresh parsley and homemade piccalilli – all sourced from local suppliers.
While Pret’s baguette with its Wiltshire cured ham, slices of Swedish Grevé cheese, mustard mayo and salad pales in comparison.
When Josh says the brand’s ‘targeting for new locations is to find the nearest Pret and open up across the road,’ he’s not only being proactive.
With plans to downgrade its £30 subscription deal, which promised members any hot or iced Barista-made drink up to five times and a 20 per cent discount on the rest of the chain’s food and drink menu, Pret’s popularity is waning.
Sandwich Sandwich’s tactic of swooping in with an offer that’s not only more exciting but considerably bigger – Josh seriously doubts any City worker will be able to finish one of their sandwiches – makes good business sense.
‘There is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why we couldn’t be bigger than Pret one day,’ Josh added.
So, what else is on the menu? Priced at £9.95, the Chicken Kyiv sandwich includes breaded Chicken, pulled bacon, garlic, parmesan, herby soft cheese, caramelised red onions, cucumber and lettuce, while the £9.95 Rare Roast Beef contains overnight roasted sirloin of beef, red onion, tomato, cheddar and horseradish mayo.
Sandwich Sandwich posts potential menu additions on the business’s Instagram account and asks users to comment. One example is the Mediterranean Lamb (pictured), which includes pulled leg of lamb, minty whipped feta, crispy potato rosti, cucumber and chopped mint salad
Sandwich Sandwich, which opened its first Bristol location in 2010, has arrived in London largely thanks to the £100,000 prize money it picked up last October when it was crowned the UK and Ireland’s restaurant of the year by Uber Eats.
Its vibrant Instagram account, which doesn’t stop short of teasing high street stalwart Subway (as well as Pret, of course) also deserves some of the credit.
Posting images of potential menu additions and asking users to comment, the sandwich business has achieved huge engagement and now boasts 185,000 followers.
While it already has three locations in Bristol – and is planning another City of London location by the end of this year, as well another four or five across the capital next year, according to the Independent – Sandwich Sandwich remains family-run.
Josh recently admitted on Instagram that he ‘honestly never thought this would happen.’
He added: ‘Eight years later, and we’re announcing the first of many stores in the centre of our capital city — our expansion plans are beyond my wildest dreams.’
Nick’s wife and another son are also involved and the whole family moved to London to give the new shop – and the entire London project – the best possible chance of success.
Speaking to the Independent, Josh explained: ‘We are so family-run that we could not be one of those businesses that would open up somewhere and externally try to run it. I’ll be making sandwiches, I assure you.’
Another lunchtime offering is the Spanish Chicken sandwich, which is made up of roast chicken, chorizo, chorizo and garlic soft cheese and chimichurri mayonnaise
Sandwich Sandwich plans to be producing thousands of made-fresh sandwiches a day while also offering a grab-and-go range, and they’ve hired 65 people to ensure everything runs smoothly.
‘We’re expecting queues of hundreds of people every single day. It’s going to be impossible to fulfil the demand. But our plan has always been to set London on fire,’ Josh enthused.
Last October, Sandwich Sandwich was named restaurant of the year by Uber Eats.
Following several rounds of public voting, the sandwich shop took part in an intensive judging day along with fellow national finalists from across the UK and Ireland.
Sandwich Sandwich’s impressive menu helped them win over the judging panel, which included Bake Off’s Prue Leith and MasterChef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti.
The pair came to a joint decision, crowning Sandwich Sandwich as the winner and awarding the business £100,000 to develop further.
At the time, Josh said: ‘It is difficult to put into words how much being announced as the winner of the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Awards means to us.
‘The process has been so exciting from start to finish and it has been incredible to take part alongside the other finalists. Big shout out to our restaurant team back home in Bristol, our family and of course Uber Eats for the support in getting us to this moment. This investment will make our ambitions to grow as a family business a reality.’
Sandwich Sandwich was awarded £100,000 when it was crowned Uber Eats restaurant of the year in 2023. The team are pictured with judges Prue Leith (second from left) and Monica Galetti (right)
Matthew Price, Regional General Manager of Uber Eats in UKI and Northern Europe said: ‘Huge congratulations to Sandwich Sandwich, the winner of our Restaurant of the Year, who saw off stiff competition from thousands of other restaurants to be crowned the winner!
‘It has been a very challenging time for small restaurants up and down the country which have faced skyrocketing food costs and energy bills. We want to play our role in helping to support and champion the best small businesses and under-represented groups within the restaurant industry through our awards.’
The 2023 awards focused on supporting the independent businesses that were disproportionately affected by the difficult economic conditions faced by the country.
An Uber Eats survey of its restaurant partners found that 65 per cent of merchants felt they were short staffed while 70 per cent cited inflation as their main worry, with 65 per cent reporting rising energy costs as their chief concern.
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