Midtown Lunch

As you may recall, I’ve been known to partake in the occasional pretty much every single Toasties sandwich ever made so you can imagine my surprise when, walking through the 51st and Madison location the other day, I noticed the menu had been entirely redone. I don’t mean that they scrapped any items from the menu, but that the actual boards hanging inside had been redesigned and reorganized. Naturally, I scanned the new menu for any changes to its contents.

Much to my dismay, it appears all prices have gone up by $0.50. Really, it’s not all that much of an increase, but sandwiches that used to be under $8.00 now come out to $8.44 after tax. Crossing that $8 threshold hurts so much more than it should… though the biggest hurt comes from the fancier steam table sandwiches, which now cost just over $10 when ordered on a hero, wrap, or pita. That’s a lot of money to pay for a sandwich, even if it is large, delicious, and most importantly, toasty.

Fortunately, I’ve got some good news as well. There are three new sandwiches to enjoy! It irritates me that they introduced these guys just after I made the bold claim of having eaten every sandwich at Toasties, but hey, whatever. Of course, the completist in me had to try all three.

The Sophie Blue on a roll – $7.75 before tax

This one has grilled chicken, avocado, lettuce, cucumbers, green peas, blue cheese dressing and honey dijon mustard. The grilled chicken at Toasties is always reliable – hot, freshly grilled, and juicy. The avocado and blue cheese dressing added a creamy texture to this sandwich, but it never got too messy. Avocado tastes great with nearly everything, but blue cheese can sometimes be intense. I thought it provided a necessary contrast in flavor here, so I was pleased. Peas are an odd thing to eat on a sandwich, but it works just fine. In the end, this sandwich ranks among the best of the grilled chicken options at Toasties. Try it and you won’t be disappointed.

Sue’s Combo on whole wheat toast – $7.75 before tax

This sandwich has honey maple turkey, brie, lettuce, tomato, and honey mustard. It’s remarkably similar to the Alice, which has regular turkey instead of the honey maple stuff and apple slices in place of the tomato. The honey maple turkey coupled with the honey mustard creates a slightly sweet taste, which is kind of refreshing. Brie is pretty much the greatest cheese ever, and there’s plenty of it on here – it adds a strong, distinctive brie flavor without being overwhelming. The turkey is sliced thin and piled high, so the sandwich is plenty meaty and filling, but at the same time feels like a light meal. I loved it.

Buffalo Chicken wrap – $9.50 before tax

Last month, in my search for midtown’s best buffalo chicken wrap, I called out Toasties for not having any sort of buffalo chicken item on their menu. They must have been reading because they JUST added this beast to the steam table sandwiches. Had I eaten it when reviewing the other buffalo chicken wraps, I might have declared it my favorite.

For starters, Toasties doesn’t use chicken cutlet or grilled chicken breast, but sliced roast chicken from their entrée table… whoa! They spread the blue cheese dressing on the wrap, pile the ingredients on top (including grilled onions, baby spinach, and tomato), and then squirt a “homemade” buffalo sauce over everything. The buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing blend together and are present in every bite. The wrap was spicy enough to make my nose runny, but I wasn’t in intense pain at any point. The onions, spinach, and tomato give the wrap a particularly fresh taste that is sometimes lacking from other buffalo chicken sandwiches. If I had to complain about something, I would have preferred blue cheese crumbles to the dressing, but the wrap was still pretty freakin’ tasty. Unfortunately, after tax, the price is over $10, but if you order it on a roll or bread instead of as a wrap, it’ll cost $1 less.

And there you have it. Three out of three new sandwiches at Toasties are excellent. Sure, prices are higher than they used to be, but it’s not enough to stop me from buying lunch here just yet. I probably didn’t need any affirmation, but it turns out that even after dozens upon dozens of sandwiches, I still love Toasties!

Toasties (Multiple Locations)

• 924 Third Ave (btw 55+56th), 212-888-7893
• 6 E 48th Street (nr 5th Ave), 212-230-1320
• 148 W 49th Street (btw. 6+7th), 212-398-4900
• 23 E 51st Street (btw. Madison+5th), 212-371-7676
• 599 Lexington Ave (nr. 52nd), 212-644-8780