Simply Sandwiches

Chomp is was an adorable little sandwich shop in the east village. It was opened by a former lawyer who gave up his fancy life to open a sandwich shop — a dream I’m sure we can all relate to. He started out with a fairly large menu of tasty sandwiches made by himself for about $5. His shop was the size of a large suburban walk-in closet. The sandwiches were tasty and cheap. He was friendly and the entire place had the air of going to your uncles for a bite of lunch. It was a great little place, if a bit off kilter as they figured out how to run a sandwich joint.

Unfortunately, they first raised prices to make ends meet; then they made so much money that they moved up the block to 14th st (from 12th). Odd how those things go together. Anyhow, their new place is massive. They have 4 gigantic communal seating benches, rows of drink coolers, huge spreads of impulse-buy snacks and crunchy things in bags. More importantly, the sandwiches have lost their love.

I sampled their flagship sandwich (an old favorite), the ‘press chicken with avocado’ with cheddar and chipotle mayo. It used to be delicious. This time the avocado slices were replaced with some watered down ‘avocado spread’, the chicken was stacked en masse and the entire thing became a crunchy vehicle for the chipotle mayo, which was about all I could taste.

My companion had the cream cheese and lox with cucumbers sandwich, which he kept remarking had ‘way much bread.’ Obviously, just look at that thing! It should have been served on a bagel or maybe some carved out french bread.

If you’re nearby and want a sandwich, visit Thai Me Up or Bite (soon to be covered) just down the block.

Pressed Chicken w/cheddar and chipotle mayo:

Cream Cheese with Lox and Cucumbers: