Why sandwich shops are the latest slice of London's food scene

Some London restaurateurs are working to fill a niche in the city which they believe has been lacking for too many years: a good sandwich shop.

From the downtown core to Old East Village, at least three new sandwich shop storefronts have popped up in the last six months.

"Sandwiches are a comfort food for people," said Shaddy Alkhatib, owner of The Bread Bowl, a new sandwich shop set to open in mid-May at 354 Wellington St., across from Citi Plaza.

"I think it all goes back to when we were kids. The first thing your mom makes you for lunch is sandwiches. You grow up eating sandwiches for lunch, and then when you outgrow that and actually get into a work career, you start to feel like you want a sandwich to feel that comfort and nostalgia."

With the goal of catering to downtown's office crowd, Alkhatib plans to sell traditional deli sandwiches, such as pastrami, corned beef and turkey, with Halal options available. While the take-out spot will also serve soups and bread bowls, Alkhatib said he primarily wanted to open a sandwich shop because it seemed to be missing from the area.

"When I was doing my research, trying to come across sandwich shops was hard to find," he said. "I feel like sandwiches are something that needs to hit the city harder."

A 15-minute walk away at 525 Richmond St., Zack Agathos had the same idea when he opened Al Paninos in April.

"There was a niche in the market that had to be captured, and I felt with the experience of us being in the industry, it was something that we could bring to London," said Agathos, whose family has run several restaurants throughout the city, including Huron House and Icarus.

The increased interest in one type of food isn't something exclusive to sandwich shops, according to Renee's Sandwich Shop co-owner Renee Kaplansky, who added food trends happen often.

"It's very indicative of London; London has nothing and then all of a sudden, has 10 of them," said Kaplansky, who opened her sandwich shop at 1018 Dundas St. in October.

"I feel like sandwiches have been trendy a little bit," she said. "Maybe it's my algorithm, but it pops up a lot on my TikTok and Instagram, and I just think that London's catching up to the other cities that probably already had a few sandwich shops there."

While the three restaurateurs all agree that sandwiches can be a relatively simple meal, they say there is something special about getting it from a restaurant.

"Everything tastes good if somebody else makes it for you," Alkhatib said.

Agathos said he wants his customers to enjoy the service and atmosphere of his restaurant when they pick up a bite.

"It's a family feel, what we're doing here," he said. "Most people are good cooks, but when you come here, you just see it put together a little differently. We don't complicate things and just try to give everybody a good, comfortable experience."

Despite more sandwich shops opening in the city, it's the personal touches that will allow them to exist among each other, Kaplansky said.

"The beautiful thing is that we're a huge city so there's more than enough business to go around and I wish everybody great success," she said.

Her shop serves both hot and cold items, including chicken schnitzel and turkey brie sandwiches, all using homemade sauces and bread baked in-house daily.

Meanwhile, Al Paninos has a Greek-Italian menu, with classic items such as chicken parmesan, Philly cheesesteak and club sandwiches. The shop uses homemade ingredients and bread from a local London bakery, Agathos said.

"It's the best thing I've eaten in my entire life," said Travis Moffat, who was eating the "Big Al" meatball sandwich at Al Paninos Thursday. He said it was already his second visit to the shop since it opened three weeks ago. "I get to get out of the house and I don't have to do any of the work."