A Bristol sandwich shop that was named the UK’s best restaurant last year is to open in London.
Sandwich Sandwich, which boasts jaw-dropping one-kilo sandwiches and a very active Instagram account, has opened its first outlet in St Pauls and has plans to open two more in the capital next year.
Its owners have their sights set on dethroning Pret A Manger from its lunchtime pedestal.
Offering a variety of exciting combinations, the award-winning sandwich shop is certainly winning over Pret’s clientele with its new location in the City of London.
And while those same time-poor office workers will have to fork out a little more cash for Pret’s Posh Ham and Cheese Baguette (£8.95) compared to Pret’s Ham & Grevé Baguette (£6.25), owner son Josh Kleiner is confident it can challenge Pret for its crown.
Talking with him IndependentJosh, 24, explained: ‘While Pret has filled a very important convenience gap, we feel that lunchtimes in general have become boring.
“People now eat for convenience, rather than for pleasure, fun and excitement.”
BBQ Beef Burnt Ends Sandwich with sticky charred beef brisket, macaroni and cheese, iceberg lettuce, pickles and chimichurri mayo
And it is exactly that ‘fun and excitement’ that Sandwich Sandwich is working towards, having set up shop on Gresham Street, near St Paul’s.
The Posh Hand and Cheese Sandwich is literally packed with shredded ham, shredded mature cheddar, garlic parmesan soft cheese, fresh parsley and homemade piccalilli, all sourced from local suppliers.
Although Pret’s baguette with cured Wiltshire ham, slices of Swedish Grevé cheese, mustard mayonnaise and salad pales in comparison.
When Josh says the brand’s goal for finding new locations is to find the nearest Pret and open it across the street, he’s not just being proactive.
With plans to slash its £30 subscription offer, which promised members up to five times as much of a Barista-made hot or iced drink and 20 per cent off the rest of the chain’s food and drink menu, Pret’s popularity is waning.
Sandwich’s tactic of coming up with an offer that’s not only more exciting but considerably bigger (Josh seriously doubts any city worker could finish one of its sandwiches) makes a lot of business sense.
“There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t be bigger than Pret one day,” Josh added.
And what else is on the menu? The Chicken Kyiv sandwich, which costs £9.95, features breaded chicken, crumbled bacon, garlic, parmesan, herbed soft cheese, caramelised red onions, cucumber and lettuce, while the Rare Roast Beef, which costs £9.95, features overnight-roasted beef tenderloin, red onion, tomato, cheddar and horseradish mayo.
Sandwich Sandwich posts potential menu additions on the company’s Instagram account and asks users to comment. One example is the Mediterranean Lamb (pictured), which includes shredded lamb shank, mint-whipped feta, crispy potato rösti, cucumber salad and chopped mint.
Sandwich Sandwich, which opened its first location in Bristol in 2010, came to London in large part thanks to the £100,000 prize it won last October when it was crowned UK and Ireland restaurant of the year by Uber Eats.
Her vibrant Instagram account, which constantly pokes fun at the Subway brand stalwart (and Pret, of course), also deserves some credit.
By posting images of potential menu additions and asking users to comment, the sandwich shop has achieved huge engagement and now has 185,000 followers.
While it already has three branches in Bristol (and is planning to open another in London by the end of this year, as well as another four or five in the capital next year, according to the Independent), Sandwich Sandwich remains a family-run business.
Josh recently admitted on Instagram that he “honestly never thought this would happen.”
He added: “Eight years later, we are announcing the first of many stores in the centre of our capital; our expansion plans are beyond my wildest dreams.”
Nick’s wife and other son are also involved and the whole family moved to London to give the new store – and the entire London project – the best chance of success.
Speaking to The Independent, Josh explained: “We’re such a family-run business that we couldn’t be one of those businesses that opens up somewhere and tries to run it from the outside. I’ll make sandwiches, I can tell you that.”
Another option for lunch is the Spanish chicken sandwich, which is made up of roast chicken, chorizo, soft cheese with garlic and chimichurri mayonnaise.
Sandwich Sandwich plans to produce thousands of freshly made sandwiches a day and also offer a takeaway variety, and has hired 65 people to ensure everything runs smoothly.
“We expect queues of hundreds of people every day. It’s going to be impossible to keep up with demand, but our plan has always been to set London alight,” 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 day of judging alongside other national finalists from across the UK and Ireland.
The 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: they crowned Sandwich Sandwich the winner and awarded the business £100,000 to further develop.
At the time, Josh said: ‘It’s hard to put into words how much it means to us to be announced as the winners of the Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year Awards.
“The process has been very exciting from start to finish and it’s been amazing to be involved alongside the other finalists. We’d like to thank our restaurant team in Bristol, our family and of course Uber Eats for the support that has allowed us to get to this point. This investment will realise our ambitions to grow as a family business.”
Sandwich Sandwich received £100,000 when it was crowned Uber Eats Restaurant of the Year in 2023. The team is pictured with judges Prue Leith (second from left) and Monica Galetti (right)
Matthew Price, Regional Managing Director for Uber Eats in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe, said: ‘Huge congratulations to Sandwich Sandwich, the winner of our Restaurant of the Year, who beat off stiff competition from thousands of other restaurants to be crowned the winner!
“It’s been a very difficult time for small restaurants across the country, who have faced skyrocketing food costs and energy bills. We want to play our part in helping to support and champion the best small businesses and underrepresented groups within the restaurant industry through our awards.”
The 2023 awards focused on supporting independent businesses that were disproportionately affected by the difficult economic conditions the country faced.
An Uber Eats survey of its restaurant partners found that 65 percent of merchants felt they were understaffed, while 70 percent cited inflation as their top concern, and 65 percent reported rising energy costs as their top concern.