Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop

*** THIS RESTAURANT IS PERMANENTLY CLOSED ***

We used to adore Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop, and frequently directed people to it for the best tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches in town. In our opinion, this hole in the wall on Fifth Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets was an only-in-New York experience.

It still is the quintessential New York sandwich shop, but it is our belief that the food is not what it used to be. Tuna and egg salad sandwiches, once the perfect fork-blended melange with plenty of mayo — but not too much — seemed more pulverized than mixed. The meat loaf on a hot meat loaf plate was pretty darn good, but the mashed potatoes that came alongside were watery. An egg cream was fine, but the lemonade was an insipid mix.

Maybe it was a bad day. Maybe we should have ordered chopped liver or hot pastrami or a Reuben sandwich. We WILL be back, that’s for sure. Because even if the food has slipped, the place is a delight. It seems unchanged for decades, a ridiculously skinny space with tiny two-top tables along one wall and stools positioned so close to the counter that anyone over 5’2″ tall will be playing kneesies with the knee guard.

Service is swift and sassy, by countermen who are experts at selling the famous sandwiches and who seemed genuinely upset when we didn’t finish all our mashed potatoes.