Sandwich Me In

Live near this place but it took a year to walk in, as it doesn’t have a store front that really draws you in.
Really glad I finally checked it out! The pulled pork sandwich I had there had a very unique flavor that was top notch, one of the better that I’ve had in awhile.
I’m tempted to knock this down to a 4, because, like the store front, it’s pretty bland inside. However, the sandwich and soup I got were excellent, so… 5 stars!

Refreshing! Tasty food, small local feel and above all: Sandwich me in cares about the environment more than the average joe.
Positives: well. come on… a zero– waste ideology, how good can it get!
I don’t want to go into hyper detail, but I think a lot of companies should follow this restaurant’s lead! Sandwich me in will certainly not be the reason for environmental turmoil. xoxo

Loved their gluten free wrap/​bread alternative. Had the mushroom soup and it was void of any salt or flavor, just hot liquidy mushroom pieces. I love the concept of this place, and I’m looking forward to trying new things, because my food was ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ great and blah.

This place is good — but you never know when they are open! I love their portobello mushroom sandwich and I just grabbed a menu from them at 1:30pm and walked back over at 2:45pm to put an order in and the sign says they are closed. This always happens! It was packed when I went in to grab the menu, and now it’s dark and empty.
I always see the «closed this evening» sign and it makes it really hard to patron a place that you like when they randomly close. I am sure it’s a staffing issue, but it’s very frustrating. Otherwise, this place would be 4 stars.

Excellent place for healthy, high-​quality food. I spend a lot of time researching optimal nutritional patterns in various cultures (japan, mediterranean diet, vegan diets, etc.) and I think this restaurant makes a solid low-​pesticide, high quality food offering.
I commend Michael Romano for the quality of his food and the values of a low-​impact on the environment.
After reading many reviews, I think most of the recent negative reviews appear to be from people are poorly educated about nutrition, recommended dietary intake (RDI) guidelines and pesticides in the food supply chain. This restaurant seems to take these matters seriously and I appreciate it. I think reviews from people like Amy «the brisket» expert are pretty comical, yet absurdly stupid.
I think if the average consumer knew the difference between, «what tastes the best,» and, «what is the best for your health,» people would be lined up outside the door. Even Amy would be there…

I stopped by with a few people for lunch awhile back hoping to grab some amazing sandwiches per the reviews. Alas, not quite. The glazed pork loin sandwich added a nice touch with the sauerkraut but I wasn’t able to taste any of the seasonal fruit that was supposed to be there as well. The sandwich was also difficult to eat given that the juices soaked through the thin wheat bread pretty quickly into the meal. A couple of other people got the country steak sandwich and were pretty much unable to eat it properly because the steak was so tough that they weren’t able to bite through it. I watched them wrestle a small poorly deconstructed sandwich with knives through most of lunch.
The shoestring fries were flavored decently but it’s really hard to pick up, dip in sauce, and eat just because of how thin they cut the fries. I know it sounds ridiculous to complain about something like this but how can fries possibly be so difficult to eat?!
Finally, the bread pudding is more like bread with pudding instead of pudding with bread. It wasn’t quite what I envisioned my dessert to be so I don’t know how I feel about that. It was good, but not exactly what I want from a bread pudding.
3 stars will do. It definitely did not live up to the many 5 star reviews.

WOW… more like Sandwich Me OUT! Absolutely astounded by all these good reviews. It must have been a really bad day for the two people working there, like REALLY bad.
My experience was ridiculously bad from start to finish. Walked in, place was empty, wasn’t even sure it was open at first– very uninviting. Right away you get a musty, old sock smell that hits you. Then the two people behind the counter say nothing, don’t even make eye contact, no nod, nothing. Should have just walked out then, but we were starving.
Ordered the beef brisket sandwich with shoe string fries. Brisket is one of my favorite things, I eat it a LOT so I’ve had all spectrums, shitty brisket to delicious brisket. This wasn’t even classifiable. It was basically white blubber attached by a few strings of beef jerky-​esque pieces of «meat». It was literally 90% fat. Usually brisket has a very THIN layer of some fat, but this was completely inedible. So, I brought my plate up and politely showed the guy who made it and just ASSUMED he’d see all the fat and apologize and offer another sandwich. But, no he looks at me smugly and said «it IS brisket…» (then begrudgingly) «I can make you more if you want…» I was just stunned. I sat down and waited for the new brisket to come out, and I waited and waited some more… The two of them disappeared off to the back never to be seen again. After 20 minutes we just left.
I’ve never written a review before but this experience was so bad I just had to.
PS– mushroom soup tasted like it was strained through aforementioned musty socks and shoe string fries were greasy and burnt.

Pretty disappointed after the reviews I’ve read on here. Full disclosure, I did order delivery on a Sunday afternoon. And it did take the full hour estimate for the food to get here. The sandwiches did not travel well and were very underwhelming. Bottom bun was so soggy it broke apart in my hand and could hold the meat. We ordered 3 different sandwiches. Even if travel were the culprit; our order of shoe string chips were mostly small broken pieces and burnt. Not something I would serve to any customer.

This place is amazing.
I’m not sure if there’s another locally-​sourced-​meat restaurant that delivers to us, and so I feel lucky that we have this option.
I also really appreciate their zero waste-​ness with their compostable takeout containers.
The sandwiches are always delicious, and it’s a pretty good deal to get a sandwich and a cup of soup (all come with sides, which could be soup or fries) for around $ 8 or $ 9.
Truth be told, the amount of food you get with a sandwich and a soup is not exceedingly filling, but we’ve found we just add on a salad, a dessert, or a smoothie, and we’re good to go (and still well within a reasonable price range).

This place is absolutely fantastic. Best sandwich shop I’ve ever come across, I am so lucky that this is located right by where I live in Lakeview. First off, every time I walk in the door I am greeted with a friendly smile and asked how my day is going. It’s just a really personal atmosphere, they frequently have live music and it’s BYOB. Every time I come in I order the pulled pork sandwich with the shoelace fries. It is out of this world good, it completely melts in your mouth. I can’t put my finger on the type of bbq sauce they put on, but it’s spicy and has a great kick!
The bbq pulled pork is so good that I don’t even need to try anything else. You can tell that they put a lot of love and care into their food. The prices are a tad high but every once and awhile, it’s worth it. You’re paying for quality. Should I mention that they are a no-​waste restaurant? That is so amazing– these guys aren’t out to just make a buck, they want to make the world a better place and brighten people’s lives. I love their mission.
Also, they care about your customers. After my first visit I signed up for a loyalty program, and was a texted a deal for a free ginger soda. I can count on one hand the number of food places that care about their customers as much as these guys. Thanks for creating a great experience! Hope to be back again soon.

Oh buddy, this place is amazing! After reading about its sustainability efforts, I knew I had to get to Sandwich Me In during my next trip to Chicago. With a few friends in tow, I was not disappointed. In fact, one of my friends was still raving about the place days later.
Sadly they were out of the black bean burger when I visited, so I enjoyed the grilled cheese instead! This gluten free option includes thick cut wheat bread with ricotta, white cheddar and parmesan cheese toasted to perfection. So amazing!
To sum it up: Go here!

Pretty pumped I finally made it here! I had come across Sandwich Me In via Unilocal several times while I was in the area and stopped by with Sunny H. to check it out. The interior of the restaurant is really small, but we had no issue ordering and getting a table around noon on a Saturday.
Ordering and eating at Sandwich Me In is low-​key and easy. We decided to share the fried egg BLT and BBQ pulled chicken sandwich. Additionally, we each went with their special soup of the day as our side. The soup was very tasty and definitely homemade. This is actually a common theme at Sandwich Me In; everything on their menu is homemade, even the sandwich buns and BBQ sauce. Both the sandwiches we ordered were delicious. The bacon was perfectly cooked on the BLT and all the ingredients were fresh. It was a simple, but very well made sandwich. The BBQ chicken was tender and very flavorful, couldn’t go wrong with this choice either. Highly recommend both of these and whatever soup special is going on.
A unique aspect of Sandwich Me In is their commitment to being green. Their composting and using fresh items from gardens is pretty awesome. Overall, you should absolutely stop by this casual spot for some phenomenal lunch!

This no-​nonsense, farm to plate restaurant is one of the best in Chicago! Unlike other farm to table places, Sandwich Me In focuses mostly on the food experience (as opposed to décor, etc).
The fact that the restaurant operates with zero waste is amazing (and even more incredible when you consider the amount of waste at other restaurants).
On top of the awesome food and sustainable attitude, the place is byob and has live music!
All in all, I think this place is a must try in Chicago and you will probably see me there as I am going back again and again.

This is an awesome place. Jason the owner is the face of the restaurant and you can tell how much he cares by the attention to detail he puts into preparing each dish.
Sandwichmein recently got a lot of publicity for becoming a zero-​waste restaurant, which is quite a feat! Check out the link to the video here: (It has 200,000 views as of this posting)

Food is terrific. I suggest the fried egg BLT or the Pulled Pork with the shoestring potato chips. I highly recommend checking out this place.

Stopped in on a whim while out and about running errands. A farm to table sandwich shop? Awesome. Super friendly staff. I had the BBQ pulled chicken and it rocked. The shoe string potato chips were soooo good! There was even a man playing a ukulele… I’m excited to go back!

MANY THANKS!
wish you were closer, will visit went/​if we are in town
saw you and your restaurant video on
UPWORTHY

I went here after reading this review of their sustainability efforts:

8 gallons of garbage in 2 years! Sandwich Me In does everything locally and sustainably. My friends and I had a great conversation with the manager about The Plant and how they are partnering to lower their footprint even further. Apparently they are giving their 8 gallons of garbage to an artist to make a weird gross sculpture of some kind so that now they are zero-​waste.
You would never know it if I hadn’t just told you. This place has amazing food, the best pulled chicken sandwich I’ve had outside of Honky Tonk BBQ down in Pilsen. Tiny tiny shoestring fries with which they give you BBQ sauce, not ketchup. For me, this was key as I hate ketchup and always pay extra to have BBQ sauce instead.
They make their own sodas. I had a ginger soda which was not at all sweet, more like a ginger beer. This was a good thing to me– I loved it, so refreshing– but it might not be what you expect.
Also, there was a banjolele/​ukulele player there and he is there every Sunday. I will definitely be back.

It’s easy to miss this small restaurant which is located on a strip of Clark that doesn’t see much foot traffic. If you’re in the area, and appreciate well-​sourced, fresh and healthful food, it’s definitely worth checking out. SMI is one of those restaurants that prides itself in things like knowing where their ingredients come from and that everything is made to order.
We had a beef brisket sandwich and a fried egg BLT. The brisket was dressed in a house BBQ sauce which was tasty, though the brisket itself was a bit fattier than some people might prefer (though I actually prefer it that way). There are certainly better places to get a beef brisket sandwich in the city but most of those places are actual smokehouses. The fried egg BLT was great. Crispy bacon, a perfectly cooked egg, and all the typical accoutrements. I asked the owner where he got his sandwich rolls, which were warm, soft, and toasted; and of course he proudly said they were baked fresh in house– they were probably the best part of our meal.
Each sandwich comes with a side choice of soup, salad or shoestring potato. We both had the chicken rice which was simple and tasty.
We were there off peak hours and the owner was the only person working at the time. Which wasn’t a problem since we were the only customers. There was a sign saying they had live music in the evenings which I’d like to check out sometime.
Solid place for a quick affordable meal when you’re on the go and don’t wanna feel like you’re in a food coma all afternoon.

Lunch review:
The good: Great tasting food. Healthy and interesting options. The store and management is all about sustainability. Very little goes to waste and all of the ingredients are fresh. Love the atmosphere, food is made right in front of you too. Great service, fast and friendly. BYOB and live music some days
The bad: The prices are a little high, and the portion sizes are a little small for how much you pay.
Overall: A great local stop if you are looking for interesting sandwiches. A little pricey, but it’s good quality food made with care.
Atmosphere: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Food: ⁹⁄₁₀

So, one day several weeks ago I strolled by this place while running errands in the neighborhood. I read the sign and it said the place was all local and green. I’m into this stuff so I decided to stop for lunch. I ordered the grilled veg sandwich with shoestring potatoes and a homemade ginger ale. I can’t imagine what could be done to a grilled veggie sandwich to make it so delicious but it really was one heck of a tasty Sammy. Everything in here is homemade. The crunchy delicious shoestrings came with a delicious homemade BBQ sauce. The ginger ale had a nice, not-​too-​sweet punch to it.
I came back tonight and brought a friend who just moved back to Chi from Phoenix. Again, I got the grilled veg, and he got the black bean burger. This time instead of ginger ale, we brought in a bottle of wine, as it is a BYOB. It’s Friday night and they had an amazing singer/​acoustic guitar player, Sonny Hills, performing. He was really talented and did a good variety of music, 70’s through current. My pal from Phoenix was really glad to be introduced to this place.
Sandwich Me In has a lot of heart. Give it a try.