9 More Favorite Sandwiches for Spring

Welcome to the late spring edition of our quarterly sandwich column, which debuted in April 2021. At the time, we were especially grateful for sandwiches during COVID, since we could carry them around and eat them in the fresh air. As we’d all likely agree, sandwiches are just plain delicious during just about any circumstance, and in the ensuing seven installments, we continued to praise them unstintingly in all their permutations. Here is the latest paean to two slices of bread and filling.

Here are the previous columns if you wish to read them: 9 Favorite Sandwiches for Spring (So Far), 9 Favorite Sandwiches for Fall, Eater Critic Robert Sietsema’s 9 Favorite Summer Sandwiches So Far, 11 Unexpected Sandwiches, 11 Favorite Hot Parm Heros, 11 Favorite Winter Sandwiches, 11 Favorite Fall Sandwiches, 11 More NYC Sandwiches That Are Getting Us Through the Pandemic, 11 Great NYC Sandwiches That Got Us Through the Pandemic

The Nordic at Nordic Preserves

Nordic Preserves on the main floor of the Essex Market is a stall that sells more kinds of Scandinavian fish — pickled, brined, dried, tinned — than you can well imagine. Every day, the place lists two special sandwiches, and the Nordic ($12) is a frequent offering. It’s a definition of briny, with bright orange smoked salmon, black paddlefish roe in smetana sour cream, and pico de gallo. Ultra yum! Squeeze on the lemon. 88 Essex Street, at Delancey Street, Lower East Side

Tuna salad sandwich from Pick A Bagel

Let’s face it: A sandwich made with a bagel is often too much bread and not enough filling. And bagels are chewy, making for a less than enjoyable sandwich experience. Well, Pick A Bagel provides the solution: A flagel instead of a bagel. This flattened everything bagel is the perfect tasty vehicle for the tuna salad dotted with minced celery and onions, and you can actually wrap your kisser around it ($10). 891 Eighth Avenue, at 53rd Street, Hell’s Kitchen

Torta de chilaquiles at Panzón

Mexican tortas often contain a series of ingredients that includes refried beans, Oaxacan cheese, pickled jalapenos, crema, and a cutlet of either chicken or beef on a tapered roll. This amazing rendition ($18) found at a Mexico City-style bar also features a good heaping of chilaquiles — fried tortilla chips soaked in salsa. It ups the carb quotient but also indemnifies you against an imminent hangover. 23 Greenpoint Avenue, between Kent Avenue and the East River, Greenpoint

Chopped beef and chicharron sandwich at Bark Barbecue

This may be one of the greatest barbecue sandwiches of all time. Dominican-Texan mash-up Bark Barbecue on the fifth floor of the Time Out Market chops up fatty brisket and barbecued pork belly with plenty of crisp skin and deposits it on a soft round bun. Be sure to squirt on a modest amount of the dark barbecue sauce. Squish, squish, crunch, crunch, and smiles all around. 55 Water Street, between Dock and Main streets, Dumbo

Ham and cheese baguette at ALF Bakery

In Paris, bakeries that specialize in baguettes often use them to make sandwiches. These sandwiches are not the elaborate affairs often detailed in this column, but minimalist examples with just one or two ingredients on a crusty baguette. That is the case at the new ALF Bakery in the basement of the Chelsea Market. A fresh loaf is buttered and layered with one or two slices of ham and gruyere, and the result is memorably portable, tasty, and digestible. 75 9th Avenue, at 15th Street, Chelsea

Ella mortadella at Madman Espresso

We’ve extolled the sandwiches at Madman Espresso, a tiny coffee bar chain with an extreme Italian bent perhaps more notable for its baked goods than its exceedingly strong and bitter coffee. The place squeezes housemade focaccia in a sandwich press with a variety of fillings, including this distinctive combo of mortadella, gorgonzola, and — for no apparent reason — extra pistachios ($8). The cheese melts, but the mortadella only warms slightly. 332 Bleecker Street, between Christopher and West 10th streets, West Village

Collard greens sandwich at Superiority Burger

Is it possible to have a great sandwich without any of the standard meats or cheeses, with their exclusion not even engendering regret? Hell, yes! This tofu-free sandwich (that’s vegan on request) proves it once and for all. That doesn’t mean the sandwich ($16) is fat free: The well-oiled and assertively flavored leaf heaps on a crusty wedge of focaccia, which retains its crunchiness and sesame seeded structure, leaving not a drip or a crumb as you scarf it down. 119 Avenue A, between 7th and St. Marks streets, East Village

Cody chopped cheese at Supreme Deli

There’s no doubt the chopped cheese sandwich made famous by Bronx and East Harlem delis has legs. Spicy versions using pepper jack and pickled jalapenos are common, but leave it to this Chelsea deli to offer eight versions. The one called the Cody ($7.50 on a roll, and the deli guy had no idea who it was named after) has an egg, hash browns, and chipotle mayo inside. Is it an improvement over the plain chopped cheese? It’s pretty damn delicious. 154 7th Avenue, near 19th Street, Chelsea

Almond butter, banana, and blueberry sandwich slim at Pret A Manger

Pret is well-known for its boring but still desirable sandwiches, very retro in their perspective: ham and cheese, chicken club, and tuna salad are typical offerings. When I traipsed in recently to see if there are any additions, imagine my surprise when I saw this weirdo sandwich ($7.50 for half), substituting almond butter for peanut butter, then adding jelly and banana. Is it good? A better question is, Would Elvis eat it? 825 8th Avenue, near 50th Street, Theater District