Parm

248 Mulberry St., Nolita, NY

8.1

map & more

Neighborhood
Nolita

Cuisine
Italian
Sandwiches

Nearby
Bowery Ballroom
Santos Party House

212-993-7189

Official Website

By Andrew Steinthal
December 5, 2011

We already know that the fellas behind Torrisi run our kind of restaurant and serve our kind of food, so it’s not big surprise that we love Parm, their new Italian sandwich shop. Simple Italian food is a lost art in NYC. You might find chicken parmesan, baked ziti and mozzarella sticks at your sh*tty local pizza joint, but they’re obviously not doing it right. Enter Parm. We knew going in that this is home to the single greatest turkey sandwich in NYC, as the oven roasted deliciousness they serve is the same one they’ve been selling at Torrisi and Yankee Stadium for a while now. We’re still fired up about the turkey, but even more so about the ingenious Saratoga Club. This is the kind of face stuffing glory dreams are made of – a triple-decker chicken salad with bacon and potato chips (on the sandwich!)

Parm’s got a lot of character. The attention to detail doesn’t go unnoticed. Fountain sodas are served in those big old Coke glasses which makes it look so good it’s impossible not to order one, even if you’re trying to lay off the caffeine. Draft beer comes in classic mugs and the wine pours are quite generous. All that, and my favorite Yankee of all time, Dave Winfield, has his picture hanging in the bathroom.

With the addition of Parm next door, Torrisi will no longer make sandwiches for lunch. The $60 prix fixe we know and love will now be offered there for lunch, and Torrisi will add a 15-20 course prix fixe for dinner for which reservations will be accepted. Parm will now handle all sandwich duties. Unfortunately, the takeout situation here still needs some work. It gets crowded by the front where they’re taking to-go orders, and overall it seems a little choppy and confusing. I’m sure they’ll work out the kinks, but in the meantime we’re willing to steer through pretty much anything to get our hands on a Saratoga Club.

Photo Credit: Daniel Krieger/Eater

Food Rundown:

Pizza Knots
It’s like a garlic knot/funnel cake combo drizzled with tomato powder and parmesan cheese. You’re doing yourself a serious disservice if you don’t order these. Damn they’re good.

Veggies
Aside from the sandwiches, this is the most important section of the menu. Torrisi and Parm absolutely kill it with their veggie sides. The three absolute must orders are the cauliflower, brussels sprouts and spicy broccoli rabe. The cauliflower is roasted with breadcrumbs and served with sautéed red onion and lemon juice. So good. Also, the brussels sprouts have a nice flaky char to them and are tossed with parmesan cheese. The rabe is awesome too, it’s in an excellent spicy sauce that’ll open up your pores. The pickled veggies are worth ordering too, as are the beets.

Baked Ziti
Ya know, this was just OK. Ours was a little over cooked and a little dry. We liked the meat sauce, but overall just felt that this was anything but special.

Chicken Parm
If they didn’t make a great chicken parm at Parm, we’d have issues. Thankfully, their namesake dish is delicious. It’s best as a hero sandwich, which is a nice manageable size.

Roasted Turkey Sandwich
If you’ve been sleeping on the famous turkey sandwich that originated at Torrisi, it’s time to wake up. This thing is so effing good. The soft bun soaked in some kind of spicy sauce really puts it over the top for us. Get on it ASAP.

Saratoga Club
As gushed about above, this triple-decker chicken salad club is straight up gangster, and this statement comes from someone who puts high standards on chicken salad. It’s nice when the chicken doesn’t have to take the lead role when sandwiched between bread. In this case, it plays a compliment to the toasted bread, bacon ad crispy potato chips. I could eat this sandwich for lunch every day.

Italian Combo
This is a pretty standard Italian cold cut sandwich . It’s got a lot of meat on it, and has a nice vinegar kick, but this isn’t the sandwich to get here.

Fried Calamari
It’s nothing fancy, but this basket of fried squid will do the job. Bonus points for serving it with both a marinara and a spicy aoili sauce.

Baked Clams
These are mini razor clams baked with breadcrumbs, garlic and butter. It’s a tasty dish, but don’t go in expecting big baked clams that will fill you up – these things are tiny little shooters.

Dinner Specials
There’s one dinner special each night and some of them sound delicious. Fried Chicken Cacciatore on Monday. Aged Chopped Steak on Tuesday. Wednesday is Pork Chop Pizziaola and Thursday is Italian Thanksgiving. Before it’s all said and done, we’ll have to come back here to try each one. We went on Friday, when they serve a delicious fish stew, Zuppa Di Pesce. If the soup is any indication, I have a feeling the rest of the specials will be great. It had a nice balance and a hefty amount of scallops, clams, mussels, squid and shrimp.