Getting to Know New York Through Its Sandwiches

From pho-inspired wraps to a Pakistani-style chopped cheese, a writer tastes the many flavors that shape NYC on a sandwich tour through the East Village.Getty / Airbnb / Arati Menon“By the end of our time together, I will be asking you again: ‘So, what is a sandwich?’”An expert-led tour that starts by questioning its own object of inquiry is unconventional. But then, so is our guide. Ben Gollan, known to his Instagram followers as A Man and His Sandwich, has spent the last nine years reviewing sandwiches across New York City. Gollan moved here from Australia in 2016, after nearly a decade as a government lawyer. For about as long, he has run an Airbnb Experience that turns a food crawl into a two-hour pilgrimage to the city’s best sandwich slingers.It was a pastrami sandwich at Harry & Ida’s, a former deli in the East Village, that turned Gollan into a professional sandwich hound. “It was a fourth-generation Jewish deli that broke every rule of pastrami sandwiches: it was thick-cut and fabulous,” he says as we dash across Bowery. We’re scuttling over from a coffee shop in Cooper Square that served as our meeting point and into the East Village—a neighborhood of contrasts that still manages to connect New York's past and present. There are 12 of us in total, mostly locals, a couple of newer transplants, and just one traveler. “It’s usually mostly visitors, so this is different,” he says.It’s a great introduction to the city. After all, New York runs on sandwiches, and there’s no shortage of great ones, whether it’s a classic Italian deli sub you’re after or a grab-and-go banh mi. They’re economical, versatile, delicious and, as is the point of Gollan’s tour, telegraph the city’s greatest personality trait—its diversity. So is there such a thing as a New York sandwich? “Not really,” he says, "but the chopped cheese, born in East Harlem, might come closest.”The Bono at Via Della Scrofa, a small family-owned joint that wouldn't look out of place on the streets of Rome Arati MenonStop #1: Via Della ScrofaOrder: Porcodeddena panini; Bono panini“We start here because it’s closest to what we think of as a traditional sandwich,” says Gollan, before filling us in on the origins of what is the modern-day sandwich. It involves John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who, in the 18th century, gave his title to the now-ubiquitous food. Gollan loves to talk and think about sandwiches as much as he eats them. “Although I've learned never to trust history, especially when rendered by colonizers,” he muses. “Do we really think it took us till the 1700s to invent the sandwich?”Named after a Roman street, Via Della Scrofa is the kind of bottega or alimentari you might find in Rome, with a tiny counter selling tiny espressos and focaccia, as well as imported groceries from Italy. “It's small family-owned joints like this that make New York what it is,” says Gollan. While the rest of the group gets to try the Porcodeddena panini (made with porchetta), I’m getting a Bono: grilled eggplants sweetened with sun-dried tomatoes, with arugula and buffalo mozzarella, in a warm roll that’s toasty on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. The bread is perfect—it’s a rosetta (or michetta), a traditional Roman bread roll. I wash it down with a Crodino, a popular non-alcoholic bitter aperitif from Italy.Around us, the Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House, an annual event, had taken over the street, adding personality to our time with its bands, pop-up stalls, and lively crowds. Gollan regales us with stories of owner Giovanni Bartocci, describing him as a real character with “a man bun, suspenders, tattoos, and naturally, a Harley," and I look around hoping he'll show up. I ask Gollan why he isn’t eating with us. “I never want to tire of these sandwiches, and if I keep eating them, I will.” The wind picks up and blows over the canvases at an art stall, but the band is undeterred, playing “New York, New York.”A spicy Pakistani rendition of the chopped cheese at Nishaan Arati MenonThe writer and her chopped cheese sandwich, the chapli kebab replaced with Impossible Meat. Arati MenonStop #2: NishaanOrder: A chopped cheese, but make it desiAn 11-minute walk up 1st Avenue and a few blocks later, we spot our next sandwich spot. A cobalt-blue sign reads Nishaan; bags of rice are piled high along its exterior; and a long line snakes out of what I can only assume is a tiny space inside. Nishaan began as a pop-up at the weekly open-air food festival Smorgasburg and went on to win season 18 of The Great Food Truck Race. While there are other dishes on the menu (elote chaat, mango lassi), it’s Nishaan’s twist on that great New York City bodega staple, the chopped cheese, that many are after: a spice-laden chapli kebab, chopped up on a griddle with peppers and onions, then enhanced with a zingy cilantro sauce and tamarind chutney. When it opened in August 2025, it was one of the most talked-about new restaurants in New York City, which has emerged as a hub for a new generation of Pakistani eateries. “New York belongs to everyone, and so does the sandwich,” proclaims Gollan.In a city that runs on pastrami, vegetarians like me don’t faze Gollan; he orders me a version with Impossible Meat. We tuck ourselves out of the wind and into an alley and dig in. I can’t stop eating, making a mess as I go along. “Half the fun of a sandwich is the experience of eating it,” Gollan adds.Regulars love the pho sandwiches at Sunny and Annie’s—sandwiches stuffed to the brim with pho ingredients, minus the broth. Arati MenonSunny and Annie’s is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year kind of neighborhood classic with 92 items on its sandwich menu. Arati MenonStop #3: Sunny and Annie'sOrder: Pho sandwich“We’re taking a detour,” says Gollan, frantically looking around him. It’s the day of the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, and the crowds around us are building, as are the dogs in costume—cheese boards, UPS drivers, and, suitably for the occasion, hot dogs. We ditch the idea of cutting through the park and work our way around the revelers.Our destination? Sunny and Annie’s, a 24/7, 365-days-a-year kind of neighborhood classic that has been open since 1997. There’s no front door here, because there’s always someone around. Inside, past the candy, chips, and dish detergent, we’re greeted by what must be the most extensive sandwich menu I’ve ever encountered, all written out on brightly colored sheets of paper stuck to the glass counter. There are 92 handheld options in total, some named after politicians and celebrities, like the Jackie Chan—bulgogi, cilantro, avocado, lettuce, jalapeños, and onions, served on a roll or hero. There’s also a chicken cutlet sandwich called the Australian. It’s not named after Gollan.This is not a place to linger, so we keep it moving. Outside, the crowds have thickened, and Gollan instructs us to head to a neighborhood bar called ABC Beer Co., which often features at the end of his tours. As someone who has spent many a night in an East Village bar, I’m disappointed I’ve never been here before. It’s spacious, has a backyard, and is equally welcoming to couples on dates and families with little ones.The writer's sandwich tour ended at ABC Beer Co, a hybrid beer bar and store with a particular focus on NYC breweries. Arati MenonGollan appears with our pho sandwiches, wrapped in spinach tortillas. They smell like pho, taste like pho; only the avocado throws me off.Some of us get ciders and wine, and the conversation winds back to where we started: So, what really is a sandwich? “I want this to get contentious: bang the tables, let’s have a food fight," Gollan says, egging us on. Hot dogs? Quesadillas? What about a hamburger? A pizza folded in half? Does it have to have a carb? What about a lettuce wrap instead of bread? Gollan briefs us on a famous 2006 Massachusetts lawsuit—White City Shopping Center vs. Panera Bread—which legally answered an age-old culinary debate: Is a burrito a sandwich? The judge ruled that a burrito is, in fact, not a sandwich, clearing the way for the Mexican fast-casual joint to open in the vicinity of Panera Bread. “A sandwich court case is my Roman Empire," he says. “When this question goes to the Supreme Court, I will be there.”The point of this tour—and the posed question—Gollan says, was never to walk away with an answer, but to open our minds and palates. So, what are Ben Gollan’s own rules for a sandwich, I have to ask. He lists the following:It must have a carb.Intent matters: are you making a sandwich, or simply “sandwiching” something?The components inside must be cooked separately.And then he adds: “Take those rules and throw them in the bin.” And with that, class is dismissed.How to book with A Man and His SandwichThe NYC Sandwich Tour can be booked directly on the A Man and His Sandwich website, as well as on Airbnb. Tours run every day of the week, with the exception of Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Ben Gollan, who proudly calls himself the Chief Sandwich Officer, often leads the experiences himself, but he also has co-hosts to help guide fellow sandwich enthusiasts on these two-hour outings. Along the way, guests sample three standout sandwiches—from the classic to the “slightly unhinged”—before finishing up at a bar to settle the debate over what really counts as a sandwich. While my tour focused on the East Village, Gollan also leads sandwich tours around Williamsburg. And word on the street is that he has his eye on opening a sandwich shop of his own one day.Arati Menon is the Global Digital Director at Condé Nast Traveler. Her experience as an editor and writer has spanned the areas of design, fashion, food, and business—and across print, digital, and documentary video—and her current role happily sits at the intersection of it all. She has previously worked at ... Read More