Midtown Lunch

The world can always use another good sandwich shop, and if that shop also sells churros then I think we can all get behind that. La Churreria, next door to parent restaurant Socarrat Paella Bar on Mulberry (btw. Prince & Houston), opened on Monday after some delays, and I happened to get there about an hour after they unlocked the door. There are three different kinds of sandwiches: Breakfast varieties on a roll ($6), bikinis which are toasted on regular bread and comes in four triangular sections ($6), and the larger bocatas ($9.50) on baguette which was the category I ordered from.

The calamares fritos called my name although at least two of the other bocatas also sounded delicious (spicy pork! jamon and manchego!). My sandwich contained fried calamari and pimiento aioli and came with a pile of potato chips that were a notch above Lay’s. This is a messy, messy sandwich to eat, partly because the baguette is really chewy and every bite made the plentiful aioli and pimientos squeeze out the sides. There is a lot of finger licking and napkin wiping involved.

I scoped out the churros being eaten by the three other tables of people and decided I had to have a small order ($2.50). They are pretty light on the sugar and will not remind you of the kind sold on the subway platforms but they’re fried to order so no complaints here.

The smaller $6 sandwiches and an order of churros would make a pretty great lunch, and are also one of the better values in the neighborhood or if you’re looking to stuff yourself you can always go for one of the baguette models.

La Churreria, 284 Mulberry St. (btw. Prince & Houston), (212) 232-5418, www.lachurrerianyc.com