New York's best crash course in the city might just come wrapped in bread. That's the premise behind the NYC Sandwich Tour, a two-hour walking experience run by Ben Gollan, the Australian former government lawyer behind the Instagram account A Man and His Sandwich. Gollan has spent nine years reviewing sandwiches across the five boroughs, and his tour distils that obsession into a crawl through the East Village, with three stops, a lot of food history, and a closing argument over what legally and philosophically counts as a sandwich.
The route makes sense as a snapshot of the city. First stop is Via Della Scrofa, a tiny Roman-style alimentari in the Lower East Side run by the suitably flamboyant Giovanni Bartocci, where the group tries panini on proper rosetta rolls. Then it's Nishaan, a Pakistani spot that started as a Smorgasburg pop-up, won season 18 of The Great Food Truck Race, and made a splash when it opened in August 2025 with its desi take on the chopped cheese: a chapli kebab griddled with peppers and onions, finished with cilantro sauce and tamarind chutney. It's part of a wave of new Pakistani eateries reshaping the city's food scene.
The finale is Sunny and Annie's, a bodega that has been open 24/7 since 1997 and claims 92 sandwiches on its menu, including the Jackie Chan (bulgogi, avocado, jalapeños) and a pho sandwich served in a spinach tortilla. The walk itself is half the point — the East Village layers New York's past and present on every block, and on this particular day the route detoured around the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. Tours wrap up at a bar, typically ABC Beer Co., where Gollan stirs debate with trivia like the 2006 Massachusetts court ruling that a burrito is not a sandwich. His own rules? A carb is required, intent matters, and the fillings must be cooked separately — though he'd happily see you throw all three in the bin.
For travellers, this is an unusually efficient introduction to New York: cheap, portable food that reflects the city's immigrant history, from Italian delis to desi reinterpretations of the bodega chopped cheese. Tours run daily except Tuesdays and Wednesdays, bookable via the A Man and His Sandwich site or Airbnb, last about two hours, and include three sandwiches plus a drink stop. Gollan usually guides himself, co-hosts cover other dates, and there's a Williamsburg version of the route if the East Village doesn't suit. Vegetarians are catered for — the writer of the original piece got an Impossible Meat chopped cheese — and most groups mix curious locals with visitors. Word is Gollan may open his own sandwich shop eventually, so catch the tour format while it lasts.
Condé Nast Traveler
