BB Sandwich Bar
120 W 3RD St (Cross Street: MacDougal Street)
New York, NY 10012-1235
(212) 473-7500

Continuing my occasional restaurant review series, I want to turn to another restaurant in the New York University area. BB Sandwich Bar's New York-Style Philly Cheese Steak took me by surprise. I have passed it many, many times with hardly a notice. But I finally decided to try it and went back days later.

They claim there is only one thing on the menu: New York-Style Philly Cheese Steak. This is the only sandwich served by this sandwich bar. But oddly the sandwich bar seems to share space and kitchen with a cupcake store, so when you walk in you see an incongruous combination of many rave reviews of their cheese steak overlooking a counter display of cupcakes and a kitchen where everyone seems to be making cupcakes. I haven't tried their cupcakes and barely perused the large posted menu of cupcakes. I came for the item on the tiny menu on the side that has one item listed: cheese steak. And that one item costs $4.50 a piece.

The owner of BB Sandwich Bar, Gary Thompson, apparently used to run an upscale restaurant called Sonia Rose that was quite popular and successful. When a move of venue and 9/11 sent his business plummeting, Thompson decided to open a hole-in-the-wall sandwich place selling a single kind of sandwich. And he chose to make a Philly Cheese steak in a manner that makes people in Philly outraged. He uses a Kaiser roll and his own sauce which purists consider anathema.

So what. Big deal. I am not a cheese steak purist. In fact, here is my admission: this is the only cheese steak I have ever tried.

Growing up on the West Coast I had barely heard of them. When I moved to NYC I heard of them but the description sounded so revolting I never bothered trying it...but I always intended to. I figured even if it proved as disgusting and slimy as it sounds, it's worth a try. And who knows, meat and cheese certainly can be a great combination even if it does violate my Jewish heritage to eat it. It is sheer chance that my first and, to date, only cheese steak experience is Gary Thompson's heretical version.

But it is extremely good! So take this review not a review by someone steeped in the ways of the cheese steak, but a review of a sandwich that is damned good whatever it is called. So purists be damned. I like this place.

Thompson's version of this sandwich uses surprisingly high quality meat. I was expecting low grade meat and, given the nature of the sandwich and the low price I would have been satisfied with lower grade meat. But the meat is excellent. It is served on a Kaiser roll with caramelized onions and Thompson's own sauce with just a touch of cheese. The meat and the sauce dominate, with the onions and cheese adding merely a slight, but critical, accent.

My first bite I thought the meat was excellent, but didn't initially like the sauce. But from my second bite on, I reconsidered and became a quick fan of the sauce. I think my problem on the first bite is that the flavor of the sauce was unexpected to a degree that it initially put me off. But once I got over the surprise, I was highly impressed. Its main flavors are balsamic vinegar and somewhat spicy peppers, giving it a noticeable tang and kick over a tomato ketsup base.

For the price it is just about as good a sandwich as you can get. And the creativity and skill of Gary Thompson shows in the result, something you can rarely say about a cheap sandwich shop.

Service varies. I went when it was empty and asked for nothing special and they were very friendly and quick, though they sure seemed more interested in making cupcakes than sandwiches. But rumor has it the place gets very crowded and that sends the service and quality down a bit, and they apparently get irate if you ask for something special. So don't even ask them to leave the onions off, they won't like it.

Cheap, quick and excellent pretty much sum up these sandwiches.

Previous Reviews:

NYU Area, Manhattan:

The Bourgeois Pig (French Brothel style wine bar around the corner from BB Sandwich Bar)

Roll and Dough (Fujianese Chinese bao and bings across the street from BB Sandwich Bar)

Brooklyn:

Biscuit BBQ (Carolina style BBQ in Park Slope)

La Maison du Couscous (Moroccan in Bay Ridge)