Sandwich Hut — Restaurant in Providence

Sandwich Hut 1253 North Main Street, Providence

A seriously popular joint on the northern foothill of Mt. Hope, timing is (almost) everything if you want a sandwich here. Show up on a nice Tuesday at noon and don’t be surprised if you see a line out the door.

It’s not really surprising - there are pretty nice people working a sandwich operation which utilizes really good ingredients. Silky & saline prosciutto, tangy soppressata, savory sheets of pistachio-studded mortadella, etc. The Hut doesn’t cut corners on the Italian classics. Cheeses follow suit, led by an outstanding smoked mozzarella, as do the vegetable components. Fully ripe, umami packed tomato slices, crisp arugula and an olive salad that would be embraced in New Orleans.

One shortcoming to the sandwiches, and it’s minor one, is in the breads used. The grinder rolls are of the just okay variety. Super-basic, fine grained with a thin, soft crust it doesn’t harm the sandwich per se. On the other hand, in a city where the nearest neighborhood pizza shop might be using a notably chewy, yeasty sub bread, the rolls here feel lacking.

The bread is more of an issue with Sandwich Hut’s focaccia. Technically correct: the term covers almost every leavened flattened thing from cracker-like sheets to sheetpan loaves of thick, chewy, oil, holey bread. The latter, Genovese style, being what has taken over the idea of focaccia, especially in the Northeast. If you order it here, at a $1.50 surcharge, you may say “What the fecazze??” when unwrapping your sandwich.

The round, low-rise roll is also a light-textured, featureless bread. While the extra fee is questionable for what you get, it’s probably the only issue in an otherwise fairly-priced menu. In New Jersey they’ll stuff hot dogs, peppers & fries into large versions of this bread - no upcharge.

Sandwich Hut’s focaccia is also exactly what you’d find in a NOLA muffaletta. Which the Hut just happens to serve; and it nails the recipe. Again - awesome olive salad & superb cold cuts.

Stuffed Cherry Peppers are also a signature here. Golfball sized bombs of flavor. Currently my favorite, they mince provolone with an array of deli classics. Freaking phenomenal. Left a container on the counter while visiting my mom later and she stole most of them…

Service/speed is a bit inconsistent here. At 1:30 on our last visit, my daughter & I were the only people there on arrival. With a half dozen staffers bopping around, obviously making phone orders, our two cold-sandwich order fell to one who took over 25 minutes to assemble them.

A little boost to the efficiency wouldn’t hurt. But the wait gave me time to think of stuff. Like tipping and the current debate on which sectors of the service industry should or should not receive them.

What struck me at Sandwich Hut, after tapping up a 20% gratuity while ordering, is that the questions of tipping have neglected the time honored aspect of WHEN to give extra. In the customary transaction between patron and a bartender or server, you pay and tip AFTER the drink is plopped down or the plates are cleared.

Now this isn’t Sandwich Hut’s problem alone. It was just the place where this issue really struck me. I dropped a $6.50 tip and then waited nearly half an hour for two uncooked sandwiches. The incentive for the worker to perform better - or even adequately - was gone as the tip was already in the bucket.

This is where restaurants need to pause on swinging around the touch screen to goad the customer into tipping for a service they...

Warranted Rant. I haven't been in maybe 6 months plus due to employees and their poor customer service. What I witnessed during my last two visits was very saddening. One time the new employees made an EMT wait over 30 minutes for a sandwich, when the EMT questioned the employee about his sandwich they responded by telling the EMT that they forgot to make hit. The employee never offered to immediately make his sandwich and instead gave attitude to EMT and said something like do you want your money back. My very next visit there was another customer waiting for a long amount of time standing next to the cash register and questioned if the bag that was on the counter for 10 plus minutes was hers while repeating what she ordered. The employee said to the customer "I don't know" then opened both sandwiches while placing her gloved hand inside the sandwich causing a good portion of the toppings to fall out. The employee then confirmed to the customer that the sandwiches were hers and haphazardly wrapped the sandwiches with the topping on the exterior of the torpedo roll. Then during that same visit I ended up waiting for 30 minutes to complete my in house takeout order. What bothered me wasn't the wait but what happened before I received my food. The older lady with the shoulder length dark hair asked the same employee with the haphazard wrapping why there was a dining in sandwich just sitting on the back counter for 15 minutes. The employee again responded with an "I don't know" and the sandwich ended up being mine. The older lady then embarrassingly game me my order and apologized for the wait. I truly feel bad for her because she's been the backbone of the business since I can remember. After that day I stopped going to sandwich hut after 30 plus years. I just cant support a business filled with pride-less employees apathetic to their job. I really hope one day they hire employees with self pride and I will be able to enjoy an...

Horrible service. Rude and no accountability.

Just walked in to place an order. Only one person was making sandwiches and was working on a larger order. Heavyset guy with tats and glasses.

He kept telling me it would be a moment. I let him know there was no rush I was fine to wait. I killed time looking over the business wall. At one point he asked what I wanted. Let him know my order and asked for light veggies (pickles, onions etc.) He didn't understand. So I asked that he just put half of what they normally put on. Asked for a small wrap.

He went back to making stuff for the other order. Then asked me to repeat what I wanted. I explained and he again misunderstood and thought I wanted veggies on only half of the sandwich. This happened twice more and I had to emphatically explain that I just wanted light veggies. He started to make the sandwich with a sub roll and I had to correct him. He told the cashier I order a large and I had to correct him again.

He got pissy with me and told me I didn't need to give him an attitude. Claimed he knew what he was doing. I explained I wasn't giving an attitude; but I can only explain my order in so many ways.

I asked the cashier for the manager's contact info. The cashier claimed he was the manager. I asked if he thought the confrontational interaction was ok. Gave the excuse that is was a stressful day and the guy isn't even suppose to be there.

The guy chimes back in claiming to also be a manager and he knows what he is doing and continued to be confrontational throughout the interaction.

To the owner or GM. If these two are truly 'managers' you need to rethink your staffing decisions or get these two some basic customer interaction traning. I'll be taking my business elsewhere. Not worth dealing with these types of...