Little Collins Replaces Peter’s w/ Good Coffee and Sandwiches

When Peter’s Since 1969’s East Side location shuttered a couple months ago for “rebranding,” I mourned the loss of one of my favorite comfort foods in Midtown: their homemade meatloaf. However, in its place, Little Collins, a new joint venture between Peter’s owners and Melbourne-native, Leon Unglik, seems to be the kind of friendly neighborhood coffee joint and cafe that Midtown East has been needing for quite some time.

Though not a coffee drinker myself, Little Collins prides itself on being the first NYC coffee shop to use ModBar coffee systems, serving Counter Culture coffee out of pretty adorable green coffee cups. It also appears to be at the forefront of a growing Melbourne Coffee Shop trend, as a couple of weeks later, fellow Melbourne-inspired coffee shop, Bluestone Lane Coffee, opened on 3rd Avenue. If you’re a weirdo like me and just can’t do coffee, but enjoy teas, sandwiches, pastries, and a good place to meet a friend in Midtown, you’ve still got a place at Little Collins, where true to the website, the baristas make an effort to get to know you and your sandwich preferences!

The food menu at Little Collins is pretty extensive for what I thought was going to just be a coffee shop with a few items to choose from. Their “Brekkie” menu has seven items ranging from breakfast sandwiches to various toasts and muesli along with a rotating cast of different pastries.

I, of course, went for lunch, with a menu that includes six different sandwiches and three different salads to choose from.

Since Peter’s was known for their comfort foods, my first sandwich at Little Collins was the smoked brisket sandwich ($9.50), which I enjoyed along with a raspberry hibiscus iced tea ($3.25). Served on a toasted baguette half, the sandwich features a generous amount of tender, but fairly lean smoked brisket on a bed of their “house slaw” and horseradish mayo.

Along with the mayo, there’s a solid spread of deli-style mustard in there as well. All in all, I would say this sandwich was exactly what I wanted it to be, and hit the spot for wanting something similar to what the old Peter’s offered.

My second sandwich at Little Collins is what I will continue to keep coming back for: the Charcoal Chook (chook is Australian slang for chicken). At $10, this sandwich comes on a toasted small baguette and kind of felt like the equivalent of a cold chicken salad sandwich, but MUCH more improved.

First off, the sandwich is spread with mashed peas (who knew this could be so good on a sandwich?) on the bottom followed by a good helping of BACON, and then topped with grilled pulled chicken and caramelized onions. A good amount of chipotle mayo is also spread over the whole thing for a really really tasty sandwich. The presentation of Little Collins’ sandwiches is also so clean and just lends itself to you wanting to eat them. The sandwiches hold up well, and don’t get messy despite the fact that they definitely have the potential.

I’m looking forward to trying more of the sandwiches on the menu, such as the cured ham with gruyere, dijon, and chonichons, and the house cured salmon. My only regret about paying nearly $10 for a sandwich is that I wish it came with a side! Maybe a side of Meatloaf, Little Collins?! Just a thought.

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

  • Really tasty sandwiches!
  • Great menu selection
  • Extremely friendly service for Midtown East

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

    • No Meatloaf :(
    • At $10, there’s no side with your sandwich order
    • If you’re staying to eat in at lunch, it can get pretty crowded and you may have to wait a little for a table to open up

Little Collins, 667 Lexington Avenue (btw. 55th and 56th Street)

3 Comments

  • I’d love to compare the chicken sandwich to Treehaus’ lemon chicken sandwich for about $9 which I loved.

  • I had the Chicken sandwich last week… other than an unfortunate number of bones in my portion, it was a very good sandwich.

    My biggest problem is that the line/order system didnt seem particular well managed. Orders taken but no names or numbers given, so the girl at the end just had to hope for the best when calling out the sandwiches coming out from the back. Also, there really wasnt any space to wait for take out since the espresso bar is massive and the rest of the space was filled with tables.

  • Following up on this… I went back today to give them another try. There wasn’t a line so ordering was easy and I had a spot near the back counter where I could wait.

    I got their Chicken Schnitzel sandwich – It had fresh Schnitz (that had sesame seeds in the breading), hummus, caramelized onions, pickles, tomatoes, and a chili sauce of some kind to add a little kick. It was AWESOME. A messy sandwich to eat for sure. Over the ML budget ($11.43 with tax), but a lot of food (even without a side)and flavor-wise absolutely worth it

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