Neighborhood Eats: Sandwell serves modern take on hearty and healthier sandwiches on Upper West Side
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- This week's Neighborhood Eats takes you to a shop serving up food that won't leave you feeling in need of a post-lunch snooze.
Founded in 2023, Sandwell is an Upper West Side eatery serving hearty and healthier sandwiches.
"We're a modern sandwich shop, and we're really inspired by old school New York delis," said Andy Gottlieb, owner of Sandwell.
At Sandwell, the concept of "healthy-ish" means finding a balance where a customer can have a great sandwich and not feel like they need to nap afterwards. For Gottlieb, that balance involves cooking something both satisfying and delicious.
Gottlieb says he's been a lifelong fan of sandwiches, which ultimately inspired his decision to open up his own shop.
"I've gone to every sandwich shop in the Tri-State area asking for things around if this was healthy-ish. But really delicious and really flavor-driven, and with great bread and with great products, and a lot of places do one or the other, and I realized this didn't exist," Gottlieb said. "That's really what helped me push to open Sandwell because if someone else wasn't going to do it, then I had to at least have a place where I could get my sandwich fix."
According to Gottlieb, a great sandwich starts with great bread, and that's why Sandwell makes their own bread fresh in-house every single day.
One of the menu items Sandwell is known for is the buffalo chicken sandwich.
"It is this balance of incredibly bright, rich flavors without being rich, without being heavy," Gottlieb said. "We created a buffalo sauce with coconut milk instead of butter, and we use an avocado ranch using oat milk instead, but it's still flavorful."
Sandwell also makes a popular mushroom cheesesteak.
Inspired by old-school classic cheesesteaks, Sandwell's version is a vegetarian option featuring mushrooms marinated in porcini powder and then roasted and tossed in truffle dressing. The cheesesteak is topped with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and provolone cheese.
For customers looking for one of Sandwell's top-sellers, Gottlieb recommends the turkey meatball sub, which he calls the "gateway sandwich."
Although a chicken parm wasn't originally on Sandwell's opening menu, the sub quickly became a favorite. The sandwich includes house-made marinara sauce, chicken cutlet with burrata and finished with house-infused basil oil and parmesan.
"Our staff started doing it, and pretty soon, we're making as many chicken parms as anything else," Gottlieb said.
In the end, Gottlieb says he is grateful for how far Sandwell has come and is excited to continue bringing tasty sandwiches to customers on the Upper West Side and beyond.
"We love where we are now, we're excited where we go tomorrow. We love making sandwiches, and it's something that we're really excited to see how we can grow and how we can serve sandwiches to as many people as we can and have a great time," he said.
You can find out more about the restaurant on the Sandwell website.
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