Local business Sandwich Sandwich has won gold at a competition dubbed the industry's equivalent of the Oscars. Nicknamed the Sammies, the Sandwich and Food To Go Industry Awards has also nominated the family-run business, which aims to be bigger than Subway one day, for a platinum award.
Sandwich Sandwich has built a name for itself over more than a decade for its incredibly large sandwiches that are 'works of art', recognisable by their perfect cross sections and cost-effective prices. Founded in 2010 by restauranteur Nicholas Kleiner, it began as the Cotham Sandwich Co. next to his restaurant Juniper and has since grown to five sites across the city, with this year making ten years of a flagship store on Baldwin Street.
Each sandwich is made to order and jam-packed with thick, distinguishable layers that use locally sourced meat from one farmer in Shirehampton. Each store opens every weekday at 7am and serves non-stop until 3pm and typically has queues out of the door every lunchtime.
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Josh Kleiner, social media manager and son of the owner, said: "The working day sees me getting up in the morning with my 54-year-old dad both working 14-hour days to make it all happen and bring these sandwiches together." His mum, Anita, does the accounts for the business and his brother, Israel, works behind the counter. "We do this because it's a labour of love."
Everything on the counter is made from scratch in house, including the popular scotch eggs, fat slabs of cheesecake and fudgy brownies, requiring a lot of pre-preparation and early starts. Josh added that a common misconception of the business is that it's not independent.
The Sandwich Sandwich family is made up of around 27 people across the five sites, who all share a passion for the business and attaining 'sandwich perfection', Josh explained. "Our staff, they're amazing, they're almost on show because they've got around 17 people watching them make sandwiches every day."
The award from the Sammies is a testament to the hard work of the entire time, Josh added, and is just one of five independent businesses nominated for the award. “We’re extremely proud to have won the Gold Award for the Best Sandwich Shop/Bakery/Cafe in the UK for the second time in three years.
'Some staff get up at 1am'
"We’ve also been shortlisted for the platinum award at the Sammies, which is pretty much the Oscars for the food-to-go industry. We won the gold award back in 2019 and we would love to bring the platinum award to Bristol for the first time, where we feel it belongs.
"Our team works tirelessly to bring Bristol incredible sandwiches Monday to Friday. Some of our staff get up at 1am to ensure all of our ingredients are ready for lunchtime service. So winning this would really mean a lot to us all.”
The sandwiches, which are large enough to share or have as two meals if you wish, range from £5.95 to £7.95. It offers traditional fillings like ham and cheese or tuna mayo as well as elite combinations like roast chicken dinner, roast beef and its signature triple decker.
"Our business model relies solely on the quantity of people," Josh explained. "We would rather have 80 covers at £7.50." The queues of people down the road every day are "essential" to the business because they're working on such small margins.
"We make it cheap for the people. We could raise our prices and people wouldn't bat an eyelid but we don't want to. We want people to enjoy themselves at a reasonable spend."
In 2021, the sandwich shop went viral and saw thousands queue up in the city centre when it announced it was giving out 1,000 free sandwiches. In 2022, it reopened its new, larger flagship store on Baldwin Street. The family business is looking to expand to London next year with the long-term goal of franchising the business in the future.
"The ultimate goal is to have Sandwich Sandwich in every city. People who go to Subway, you come here and you never want to go to Subway again as it's better in every way. It's cheaper, better quality and nothing is processed."
Find your nearest location on Sandwich Sandwich's website. Open Monday to Friday, 7am-3pm.
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