The New Yorker

A new crop of unapologetic sandwiches

Featuring

The New Yorker

A new crop of unapologetic sandwiches

Featuring

Sanwits, in the old Rowdy Rooster flagship spot, serves a glorious mashup of American sandwich styles and frank Filipino flavors.

Sanwits, a new fast-casual Filipino sandwich shop by chef Eric Valdez and the Unapologetic Foods restaurant group, has taken over the former Rowdy Rooster flagship space in New York's East Village. The establishment offers a bold, messy, and flavor-packed menu that fuses classic American sandwich forms with distinct Filipino ingredients and comfort foods, featuring standout items like a pork belly lechón French dip with Vienna-sausage mayonnaise, a beef caldereta cheesesteak with Eden cheese, and a house-made, un-cured "spam" egg sandwich paired with banana ketchup. Accompanied by aggressive sides like MSG-dusted vinegar fries and sweet-sauce spaghetti mac and cheese, the unapologetic and intense menu represents a refreshing return to the restaurant group's signature, uncompromising culinary style, even as its other established outposts shift toward more mainstream palates.

Author:

Helen Rosner

Photo:

Jessica Pettway for The New Yorker