At one time, New Yorkers might have objected to the idea of a $30 lobster roll. But then the price jumped north of $50, and they said to themselves, “Whatever, it’s lobster.” Lobster conforms to the market. And New York is expensive.’
When the long-standing promise of dollar slices started costing $1.50 or more, New Yorkers grumbled, then grimaced and moved on. “It’s New York, and times are tough,” some would have said. “New York is expensive.”
But when the city got wind this week of a $29 ham and cheese sandwich being sold at an Upper East Side sandwich shop, residents decided they had had enough. “$29 Ham and Cheese Sandwich,” one user wrote on Reddit alongside a photo of a prepackaged square of “health bread,” ham and cheese, sold at EAT, an affiliate of long-established NYC market Eli Zabar.
One user called the sandwich an “undesirable” tourist trap, another pointed out that the ingredients could be bought and assembled for a fraction of the price, and still others said they’d come across the sandwiches before and continued laughing. Some thought it was a joke.
But the $29 ham and cheese is no joke, as DailyMail.com confirmed, nor was EAT’s $29 prepackaged chicken salad sandwich, or their $24 prepackaged egg salad sandwich. And while EAT may not have been joking about their prices, DailyMail.com can attest that they’re pretty dumb.
And it’s not just EAT that has pushed the boundaries of lunchtime pricing in NYC. From downtown to downtown and uptown, sandwich shops can be found charging increasingly outrageous prices. Below are some of the most egregious offenders and DailyMail.com’s take on whether their sandwiches are worth the price.
A simple Ham & Cheese sandwich ‘on wholesome bread’ from EAT on New York City’s Upper East Side costs a steep $29… and the egg salad sandwich has a price tag of $24
The infamous $29 ham and cheese sandwich from EAT on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
DailyMail.com sampled some of the more expensive lunch sandwiches in town
EAT, Upper East Side
Located on Madison Avenue and 80th Street – just around the corner from the Metropolitan Museum of Art – EAT is one of NYC’s bread and smoked fish standbys, founded in 1973 by Eli Zabar. Not to be confused with the Upper West Side grocery store Zabar’s, founded by Eli’s father, EAT has grown from its humble origins into a restaurant, wine bar, and numerous markets along the city’s east side.
The menu at EAT features the now infamous $29 ham and cheese. A square about 3×3 inches, the sandwich’s sliced ham and cheese are housed between two slices of “health bread,” which appeared to be a standard multigrain recipe with the crusts cut off. Although only the crust on two to three sides of the sandwich. There was also a bit of brown mustard spread on one of the bread pieces.
Upon biting into the $29 ham and cheese sandwich, one is overwhelmed by the feeling that it is completely unremarkable. It tastes like the end of its name – ham and cheese – and without the $29 price tag it would be a perfectly harmless and acceptable sandwich.
Sasha Zabar defended the sandwich, telling Gothamist that the twist surrounding the item was “Fake Sandwich News,” emphasizing that the recipe had been the founder’s “signature sandwich” since Eli first opened in 1973.
A look at the $29 ham and cheese sandwich. Included in the price? A little mustard
A look at EAT’s chicken salad sandwich, which was pretty good, but not $29 right
The ‘health bread’ on the egg salad sandwich was not that healthy. It tore on contact
Zabar also insisted the $29 price tag was the price of two sandwiches, saying the plastic wrap contains two sandwiches meant for sharing.
“For $16 you get a sandwich cut and packaged on an angle,” he told the Gothamist. “For $29 you get two excellent sandwiches, not sliced but packaged.”
And while the package technically contains two sandwiches — there are four pieces of bread in total in the package — each is about the size of a peanut butter and jelly that a six-year-old’s mother could whip up for them after a day in the summer sun .
The $29 chicken salad sandwiches and the $24 egg salad sandwiches apparently follow the same principles of culinary camaraderie, as they both include “two excellent sandwiches” in their refrigerated wrappers.
However, ‘excellent’ was far from the truth, especially when it came to the egg salad, which tasted remarkably like air for several bites before a faint taste could be detected. Once it was found, it was pleasant, only pleasant enough for $24 to buy about five pounds of the stuff.
The chicken salad was actually pretty good. $29 good? No.
The full price tag for these three sandwiches came to a whopping $89.28. At checkout, the cashier suggested leaving a 10, 15, or 20 percent tip.
Épicerie Boulud’s grilled cheese, which cost $12 neat and $16 with ham added
The deluxe cheese in the grilled cheese had a consistency reminiscent of EAT’s egg salad
Epicerie Boulud, Midtown
Located downtown, Épicerie Boulud is a quick lunch spot with at least three locations in the city.
New Yorkers have flagged their overpriced grilled cheese, which costs $12 before tax. Add ham for $4, and customers walk away with a $17.42 price tag for the sandwich and no drink.
When DailyMail.com tasted the sandwich, it came out of Épicerie Boulud’s countertop oven within minutes and quickly turned cold and soggy. Half the bread had been shaved off one end of the sandwich, exposing the wet ham to the world, and the cheese—said to be a fancy French cheese—had a consistency remarkably similar to EAT’s egg salad.
Needless to say, this grilled cheese sucked. It would have been bad if it had cost a dollar of the $16 Épicerie Boulud was asking for it.
The Pret a Manger sandwich was everything you would expect from a Pret a Manger
Most of the romesco chicken sauce was drizzled over the top of the baguette
Pret a manger, Astor Place
You shouldn’t hope too much for a Pret a Manger, and their romesco chicken did indeed disappoint.
The sandwich costs $12 flat, $13.07 with tax and no drink. It came on a ‘baguette’ that felt like it came out of a sealed package, like a bag of chips, and the chicken, mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, arugula and sauce didn’t really speak to each other on the palate.
Was it good? Um, not really. Was it bad? No, not really either. Was it worth $12? Probably not. But was it offensively expensive and was it anything but what might be expected from the Pret a Manger brand? No, and no.
Le Petit Parisien’s Charles du Gaulle: cured ham and blue cheese Fourme d’Ambert for 16 months. DailyMail.com swapped the blue cheese for Camembert for an extra $1.50
The sandwich cost $16.40 before tax and was worth every penny. Perfect in every way
Le Petit Parisian, East Village
A New York City French deli perfectly reminiscent of a Franco-French deli, Le Petit Parisien doesn’t skimp on their prices.
The cheapest sandwich on their menu is a ham and butter baguette that costs $10.80, and from there the baguettes with different combinations of ham and cheese and artichokes and spreads run from $13 to $15 and all the way to the foie gras and confit smothered Louis XIV sandwich for $31.40.
DailyMail.com tried the Charles du Gaulle, a baguette with 16 months cured ham, and Fourme d’Ambert blue cheese, which entered the mid-range of Le Petit Parisien’s menu for $14.90. DailyMail.com chose to trade camembert for $1.50 expressly to make it more expensive, leading to a price tag of $16.40 before tax and without a drink.
And was it worth it?
Yes, every penny. Every penny. The ham was exquisitely sliced, moist and perfectly cured and cured. The $1.50 Camembert – dipped liberally but not indulgently – was the perfect temperature and neither too stiff nor too soft.
If only every sandwich that charged such prices was that good.