Grandaisy Bakery Serves a Mean Panino

Lauren Bloomberg

It's like eating Greece without all the grease.

​If you've been to one of the three Grandaisy Bakery locations scattered throughout Manhattan, then you know that they do awesome things with carbs. Excellent breads, enviable pastries (try the Lumaca), and chewy silver-dollar-sized cookies. However, Grandaisy Bakery's sandwiches are also worthy of a try. Especially the Panino Greco.

It's not often that a meatless sandwich makes a satisfying lunch. Nor is it common for such a smallish sandwich to fill you up. This one breaks both of those expectations.

A slightly salty, horizontally sliced roll is layered with peppery arugula, pickled onions, and carrots, and a make-or-break-it smattering of chickpeas. A refreshing smear of skordalia stands in for mayo, or other fatty condiment, and gives the sandwich a ton of flavor and touch of moistness.

Though Grandaisy offers a number of vegetarian options -- one stuffed with beets, goat cheese, arugula; another features squash jam, butter, and walnuts -- the Panino Greco is by far the most sophisticated, although at $7.50 a pop it may not be the most budget-friendly lunchtime option.

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