Cult sandwich makers Bada Bing are looking for new premises, after their stint at the Ancoats General Store came to an end.
More than 16,000 followers on Instagram have been bereft at the prospect of no more giant subs, but its founders have said that the eatery ‘will be back’.
Started in lockdown, it majored on huge, Italian deli style sandwiches using their own baked bread and lesser-used ingredients like gabagool - similar to prosciutto ham - and provolone cheese, fillings were more often seen in the US and inspired, in part, by hit mob show The Sopranos.
It quickly gained a huge following, initially serving out of a window at The B Lounge pub on Paton Street off Piccadilly, before moving to a ‘dark kitchen’ on Radium Street in Ancoats, where queues would form all down the street at lunchtimes.
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Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Sam Gormally said: “It’s coming up to almost exactly a year to when we opened, so it feels like a good time for a break, and figure out how we’ve done for the year.
“We just need to figure out how we continue in the future, and in what way, and where! We want to be in our own spot, preferably somewhere in Ancoats or the Northern Quarter.
“The way we’re going forward is to really push into something proper and really make something of it. The way people of Manchester have responded to us, I think it would be wrong if we didn’t continue.”
In the final week of opening at the General Store, Sam and his team made and sold a staggering 1,250 sandwiches, over five days, only opening three to four hours per day.
“It was crazy really,” he added. “Considering there’s only two of us making the sandwiches. It was pretty intense.
“But it’s a lot of fun. I’ve always been obsessed with working in food and drink. I dropped out of university to work in bars and restaurants, because I loved it.”
Sam and his girlfriend Meg Lingenfelter had the idea for the venture while in lockdown, having previously worked at Another Heart To Feed in the Northern Quarter.
“The bar was operating more as a shop over lockdown, so we had a lot of free time to think about it,” he went on.
“We were watching a lot of The Sopranos, so that’s where we came up with the idea.”
Now they’re on the lookout for new premises, which would ideally feature both a takeaway and sit-in element.
“When we had a few seats at the General Store, they were always full, and I think it’s good to be building those relationships,” he added.
"We have a lot of regulars, and a lot of our customers, we see them every week. It’s a nice community feel, everyone thought it was their sandwich shop.”
He’s also toying with a late-night offering too.
“I feel like there’s not a lot of good takeaway evening food in the city, so I’ve always toyed with maybe Friday or Saturday having an alternative menu, like a chopped cheese sandwich like you get in the bodegas in New York, drunk food basically!
“I’ve worked in bars and restaurants for years, and I lived in Melbourne for a while, and you finish work at 1am and you want something delicious to eat, you don’t necessarily just want a McDonald’s."
Bada Bing will be having a final farewell, serving up sandwiches at the Track brewery taproom on the Piccadilly trading estate tomorrow (February 25) from 12pm.
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