When you first walk into Counter Service, you get the impression that you’re not really supposed to be there. Not because they aren’t nice to you—we got a little bag of pretzels as a token of appreciation. Rather, it's because the Greenwich Village spot, formerly a robot vegan shop and still backed by the Chipotle founder, looks like a ghost kitchen that forgot to lock its door. 

photo credit: Will Hartman

But once you’ve placed your order via a tablet in a payphone booth and waited a few minutes next to a wall of newspaper clippings, the personality-less name and lack of atmosphere cease to matter. Counter Service serves some of the best sandwiches you can get in New York right now. 

photo credit: Will Hartman

photo credit: Will Hartman

photo credit: Will Hartman

Take their mushroom patty melt, which wouldn’t be out of place at an old-school diner, but seamlessly replaces beef with chewy, savory oyster mushrooms between two slices of buttered rye bread. The Green Goddess chicken club hits the same light-but-satisfying notes as a good chicken caesar wrap, and the Cortese—fatty roasted pork on a crusty hoagie—reminds us of Philly’s classic roast pork sandwich with a nice hit of bittersweet broccoli rabe. 

Counter Service has over a dozen options, half of which are breakfast sandwiches, but keep in mind that it really is just a counter. Order delivery, or take your sandwich to Union Square a few blocks away.