Porchetta

110 E. 7th St., East Village, NY

3.0

map & more

Neighborhood
East Village

Cuisine
Sandwiches

Nearby
Mercury Lounge
Rockwood Music Hall

212-777-2151

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
July 23, 2009

The hype on Porchetta is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Has a sandwich of any kind, even a burger, ever garnered this much critical acclaim? In print, online and across NYC food nation, people are wetting themselves over Porchetta’s Tuscan style pork sandwich. People treat it like a Wes Anderson directed movie that Thom Yorke did the soundtrack for and Megan Fox shows her t*ts in. It’s absurd!

We’re not shy about hopping on the bandwagon when something deserves it, and fully expected to be front car on this trip. Unfortunately, despite repeat visits and plenty of chances the verdict is in – this sandwich is incredibly overrated. The pork is less than plentiful and too dry, and the bread nowhere near moist enough and way too thick. Sure, it’s reasonably tasty and for $9, it’s a bargain according to NYC standards, but this level of praise is completely unwarranted. The Porchetta sandwich ranked #1 in Time Out’s “Best Thing We Ate This Year” spread, while NY Mag can’t stop writing about Porchetta (they prominently featured it in the “Where To Eat 2009″ issue). The bottom line is that it’s just not all that. The hype on Porchetta is just that – hype!

Food Rundown:

Porchetta Sandwich:
See review above. Dry, bland, boring, small and completely overrated.

Crispy Potatoes and Burnt Ends
Porchetta does good work with their potatoes. If this is what was garnering all the praise, we’d be fine with it.