Slab Sandwiches + Pie

Wow this place does NOT give a crap about making customers wait 20 mins for a sandwich even when not busy. The cook even decided to make a phone call in the middle of that within earshot of the 3 of us waiting. Classy. With customer service calls like that, the food better be amazing, but I was disappointed.
Sunchoke chips are tasty. I got the special — beef tenderloin and aioli sandwich. Pretty disappointing, especially for $ 16 and 20 mins. The meat is very dry.
I had been hoping to go to meat and bread next door but they were closed for the holidays. I paid for 30 mins on the meter thinking I could eat and get back to work. No such luck.

Finally made it today. I wish they were open weekends or for dinner, but it’s not an option since they share the kitchen with Lark. Lark is amazing and I love it, but it is super expensive. The sandwiches at Slab are by the same chef, same quality, but a much lower price point.
A friend and I split a Cubano and a Brisket. Both were phenomenal. The meats were tender, juicy, and flavorful. The sauces and toppings complemented them well. The bread was like a baguette, but with a softer exterior — it absorbed sauce but held up well without cutting up your mouth. Perfection.
Based on the Unilocal reviews, I finished things off with a salted dark chocolate chip cookie. Holy crap that’s a good cookie. I brought it home and microwaved it for 10 seconds before eating it.

My roommate has been talking up this shop from a few days ago when he came here, so he took me here after we finished both of our finals, and I was thoroughly impressed from the start! Definitely lives up to the hype!
Service was extremely friendly from the start, and the atmosphere was very simple and unintimidating. I got the cubano (his decided favorite) and he got the brisket. The cubano had wonderful, deep, smoky flavors that were complemented well with an impressive heap of meat, and the pickles and gruyère were phenomenal accents. The bread was soft on the inside and just perfectly toasted and crispy on the outside.
I also decided to get a salted chocolate chip cookie (warning: if you don’t like salty-​sweet or directly eating salt crystals, don’t get this), which was an excellent way to end the meal. My roommate got their peanut butter chicharones, which are garnished with pork rinds around some sort of peanut butter whipped cream.
When we were just about done, what looked like the owner of the place came out and talked to us, immediately recognizing my roommate. She is by far the sweetest person I’ve met here! My only regret is not trying this place sooner! I will DEFINITELY be back!
One thing to keep in mind: there are two seats for dine-​in. I’m not kidding. There are two more, but there’s no counter space and so I presume they’re for customers getting something to go, so definitely avoid the busy hours if you want to eat in.

Tried the cubano sandwich and whoa! Meat galore. I found out this is owned by Lark and the quality really carries through. The bread had a nice crisp edge but not hard that it cuts up your mouth. Such a big plus. There’s smoked pickles in there and normally I’m not a fan of pickles but this combo with pork really makes the pickles a nice balance. The aioli is also oh so good! Will definitely have to try other sandwiches they offer.

I came back to try the sandwiches here and left pretty disappointed. My boy and I got the brisket sandwich and the sardine sandwich to share with an order of the truffle sunchoke chips. The lady who rang us up was sweet, the atmosphere was nice, and it’s always a plus when you see the owner behind the counter.
The meat inside the sandwiches were tasty. Moist brisket and flavorful sardines. No complaints there! I added crispy chicken skin to my brisket sandwich (because who wouldn’t?!) and for an extra $ 2, all I got was a thin piece of soft chicken skin… dun dun dun. Super bummed when I was half way done with my sandwich and realized my chicken skin was totally lacking. The bread was also really dry. The entire piece of bread was all one texture — dry.
If anything, I would come here just for their sweets and truffle sunchoke chips. Don’t forget to get the chips and their cookies, ok? Ok!

I ordered the Cubano and my friend ordered the 12 hour brisket… and I thought his tasted better. However, that doesn’t mean mine wasn’t delicious, too!
There is a fair amount of meat in the Cubano and the bread is just oh so yummy. The bread is crispy/​crunchy on the outside and just doughy and light enough on the inside to sop up the meat juices and flavors from the sauce/​spread they «slab» on the sandwich.
It has become my alternative to the late and original Paseos (I am not sure any sandwich will ever live up to the #2 Cuban sandwich from there…)
Seating for lunch is SUPER DUPER limited right now, so BEWARE of eating there during lunch rush hour! (My friend and I arrived there at 1:30pm and luckily were the only ones eating there. Other customers were ordering items to carry out)

Absolute best lunch I’ve had in a while! I got the brisket sandwich & it was amazing. So flavorful and juicy (definitely don’t try to eat this if wearing white!), the bread was chewy and the veggies complimented the meat perfectly. The sandwich was big, could easily feed 2 adults for lunch.
My friend I shared a salted chocolate chip cookie… again, just perfectly done!
Why not 5 stars? There were only 2 people in front of us and we still had to wait close to 15 minutes for our food. Also the cashier was pleasant, but wasn’t super helpful when I asked for a recommendation.
Will definitely go back and will try the meat pie next time.

I am not sure what all the hype is about the Cubano which was so heavy on aioli that I had to finally open the sandwich and start scraping it off as I could not taste the pickles which should be a much more forward flavor profile in this type of sandwich along with the ham, which was a pitiful offering. While I was in there (my sandwich) I took the effort that they did not to actually spread out the pork so that you taste it throughout the bites as they had just clumps here and there — the pricing was fair given the purported quality of the ingredients.
I would probably go back to try something else if they one day learn to be more expeditious with my precious lunch time break and not lie to my face and say «thanks that will be a couple of minutes». It took almost 20 minutes and yet I heard the cashier say to three consecutive folks «it will just be a couple of minutes» all in earshot of us.

SO GOOD!
We stayed in a hotel really close by and lucky stumbled upon this surprise!
We had the Cubano (AHHHHmazing), the brisket sandwich, and slab meat pie. To be honest… Everything we had was satisfying and oh so tasty. The Cubano was by far my favorite but my daughter absolutely loved the meat pie!
The order did take a bit longer than expected… But was well worth the wait. If I was on a time crunch I would call and pick up. There isn’t a large sitting area, but you could always go eat these in a near by park… Makes them taste better.
If you in the area looking for a good bite… Seriously consider checking this place out. Doubt you’ll be disappointed!

Their sandwiches were pretty good… but it was the dark chocolate sea salt cookie and peanut butter chiccaron cookies i would come back for… AMAZING!

I’m somewhere between 2 and 3 stars because I can’t say I’ve had anything like the egg sandwich anywhere so 2 isn’t right but it wasn’t A-​Ok either. Maybe just OK.
Took a long time, which is fine but will be a handicap if there’s every a line. I want to see a place have an efficiency that will sustain it so that I can be confident I can come back repeatedly.
I figured out why the sandwich took so long — the bread/​biscuit that it was on was made on a griddle to order so it was like an uncooked pancake in the middle. The egg was pretty good. Eggs are really hard to do. The sausage was kind of mushy.
Overall it was just not quite up to par for all the trouble they went to but I may try and go back.

I had the brisket sandwich and my wife had the Cuban, both were delicious. We will be going back to try the other sandwiches and pies!

Usually i don’t go to places so new and with so few reviews but i decided what the heck. So glad i did. Definatley an upscale cubano. Meat was perfectly fatty and the mustard was saucy and at times nose clearing, all wrapped up in a touch of sweetness from the pickles and soft on the inside crusty in the outside bread. Of course you have to finish with a touch of sweetness and the salted chocolate chip cookie was just right. The only thing that could have been a downer was the serious lack of seating. Only 4 bar stools and 2 were occupied by guys who had finished their meal. I couldn’t take off a star because I read the previous reviews and was prepared for it. No different then eating off a food truck. I was told however they are working on getting permitted for some outdoor seating. Great find

food: cubano sandwich. as good as the citys most famous cuban sandwich? maybe. the only complain i have is the chunks of meat arent distributed well. not quite sliced or pulled, just chunks. so either its a bite of bread or a bite of meat. the experience is hit or miss, literally. but even without the meat, the sauce/​dressing on the sandwich easily makes it up. ***5/​5
service: it was a very long wait. there was only a few of us in there but it took about half an hour to make 4 sandwiches. its a very small kitchenette kind of deal so i dont think they were able to go faster than they can. make sure you have enough time set aside to try this place. ***3/​5
ambiance: a very small place. its connected to the relocated lark. but it seems to be the back kitchen area of lark. theres a few bar seatings near the front, but it might take awhile to sit down. ***3/​5
value: the sandwiches are decent size and fills me up. a bit pricier than some nearby sandwich shops. worth a try. ***4/​5

When I heard that John Sundstrom was making sandwiches I became very excited and knew that I was going to hightail it up to the Hill and try them out! I drug my daughter Shelby, another huge Lark fan, with me. When I said tiny before, I wasn’t kidding. As you enter the sandwich shop you are instantly facing a cooler and display case which them transitions into a small counter with a cash register. Opposite all that is a small counter with three or four stools. But, as is often the case, great things come in small packages! There was a lot of activity going on when I visited there, but it was all being handled in stride. The lack of eating space inside the actual shop is made up for with a long, long bench in the common hall of the building. Shelby and I knowingly ordered more food than we were going to be able to eat; I ordered the Peppered Lamb Sausage Sandwich, My daughter ordered the Cubano and we added the Beef Shortrib Slab Pie for good measure. All of it was terrific!
The Peppered Lamb Sausage Sandwich is a simple enough proposition, a seasoned ground lamb patty perfectly cooked and situated on a tender, flaky and cumin-​scented flat bread with a healthy schmear of seasoned labne and a few leafy fresh greens to round everything out. As I have written so often before, it’s all about getting the little things right. With a sandwich like this, that has so few elements, it becomes even more crucial. The flavors, the textures — everything was spot on! Shelby’s Cubano was just as meticulously prepared and as equally as delicious. And the meat pie? Holy moley! The crust had an exquisite texture, beyond flaky and yet durable enough to retain its structure. The beef, onion and mushroom filling was delectable and reminiscent of the finest Sunday pot roast dinner that you’ve ever had. In short, everything was fantastic and I’ve really come to expect that from John Sundstrom and his team. They’ve yet to let me down.

Oh my god… So good!
I went in today having read that it was a brand new place in Cap Hill from the owners of Lark. The main draw was the meat pies. We have a tiny selection of places that serve meat/​pot pies in Cap Hill, so I had to check it out to see if it was worth eating at. Short answer: Yes!
When I got in, I apparently came in a few minutes after closing. I didn’t realize at the time that they were only open until 3 pm. The lady behind the register was very kind though and offered to cook me up one of the unsold meat pies still remaining. I can’t exactly recall the name, but it was beef, mushrooms, and some other stuff. She told me it was her favorite. I can see why. It was SO GOOD!
I imagine it had been sitting there for quite some time that day, but despite that fact, it was still an amazing pie. The breading was crumbly and had great flavor, the beef was tender and perfectly braised so I didn’t get a ton of it stuck in my teeth. The mushrooms weren’t a readily apparent flavor, but I imagine they were more there to compliment the sauce, which was this thanksgiving style gravy. Oh man, I could order the sauce on its own. It was so savory and delicious. It was the perfect consistency with a great blend of flavor. The whole thing was incredibly easy to eat. It didn’t fall apart as I cut it and none of the filling spilled as I picked it up.
I can see myself going there often. I just wish it was open later! Prices are reasonable (ranging from $ 7-​$ 11). I was going to try a dessert pie too (they have a s’mores pie!) but I guess that’ll have to wait for next time, which probably won’t be long.
For the first new place of like 28 opening in Cap Hill in 2015, this is certainly a great start!