‘Wichcraft Makes Lunchtime the Main Event with Bold Flavor Profiles, Chef-Driven Seasonal Menus and an Elevated Dining Experience

In 2003, seven-time James Beard Award winner Tom Colicchio and chef Sisha Ortúzar founded ‘Wichcraft with a mission: to elevate the sandwich from a humble hand-held meal to a premium experience thanks to sustainably-sourced ingredients and gourmet flavors. While other fast-casual options claim only a standard offering of sandwiches, salads and sides, ‘Wichcraft’s menu makes lunchtime a culinary event to look forward to—not an afterthought.

“We create unique, bold flavor profiles that hit across the spectrum,” said Dave MonDore, Culinary Operations Director and chef at ‘Wichcraft. “When I’m creating a new sandwich, I’m thinking: ‘What is a dish I recently enjoyed at a restaurant, and how can I put it into a sandwich?’ We want to offer something more sophisticated; something that has a little more thought put into it. We’re proud of that.” The ‘Wichcraft way is certainly proving successful: MonDore’s chicken and cauliflower sandwich landed the title of The Best Sandwich in America by Restaurant Hospitality in 2017.

From a classic-meets-creative roasted turkey sandwich with bacon, avocado, balsamic onion relish and aioli on toasted ciabatta to a limited-time marinated portobello mushroom sandwich with goat cheese, arugula and shishito peppers with toasted almond crumbs, ‘Wichcraft’s menu ensures that the concept is not your average grab-and-go 12:00 p.m. option.

To set the scene for enjoying a chef-driven menu, ‘Wichcraft is committed to creating a superior dining experience.

“We have a great culture here at ‘Wichcraft that resonates from the leadership team to every cook, cashier and employee,” said MonDore. “We are all happy to be here, and in turn, we make our guests happy. The level of service that we give really stands out. From top to bottom, it’s all about the customer.”

Indeed, the level of hospitality that’s often considered unique to full-service restaurants can also be found at ‘Wichcraft.

“We take the wining and dining experience of a two-hour dinner and deliver it in three minutes,” said MonDore. “When you come up to our counter, a cashier will make sure all your needs are met, and boom, mere minutes later they are bringing a premium meal to your table. We check in on you while you dine and clean up after you leave. Some guests simply take their meal to go—but the experience doesn’t just stop at the register for us.”

Who are these lucky ‘Wichcraft customers, exactly? With its variety of bold flavor combinations, environmentally-conscious ingredients and the ability to accommodate any diet, ‘Wichcraft’s menu appeals to virtually anyone.

“Between our fantastic salads, soups, sides, desserts, breakfast options, and hearty and light sandwiches, we are a place that can service almost anyone. We offer several different types of proteins, as well as gluten-free options,” said MonDore. “We are also proud to serve this quality product at a fair price. Anyone on a lunch break—from a business executive to a student—can walk into a ‘Wichcraft, find something they like and feel good about its value.”

That value is further demonstrated through ‘Wichcraft’s chef-driven menu made with carefully sourced ingredients.

“We’ve spent countless weeks searching for the perfect ciabatta. We source our bacon from specific farms that properly raise their animals with no hormones,” said MonDore. “Everything, from how we source it to how we smoke it, is thoughtful. We use only sustainably-sourced fish from family-owned fisheries. Everything we do is purpose-driven.”

Part of that purposeful approach involves spotlighting sustainable ingredients during their peak growing season—just like Mother Nature intended. While most sandwich-focused restaurants slap lettuce, tomatoes and onions on their sandwiches year-round, ‘Wichcraft thinks about its menu a bit differently.

“If you walk into a ‘Wichcraft most months of the year, you won’t find beefsteak tomatoes on our sandwiches because they’re not in season,” said MonDore. “We only use our tomatoes—which are sourced from Eckerton Hill Farm, a local farm in Pennsylvania—in our BLT six to eight weeks of the year.”

With applewood smoked bacon, bibb lettuce, field-grown beefsteak tomatoes and aioli on semolina bread, ‘Wichcraft’s BLT isn’t even included on the printed seasonal menu because it is available for such a limited time. And it’s garnered quite the cult following.

“Every time a new employee hears about the BLT, they don’t understand why it’s such a big deal. But then they have it, and they’re like, ‘Wow, that’s the best BLT I’ve ever had,’” laughed MonDore.

While some fans jump around the menu and others stay loyal to their delicious faves, ‘Wichcraft gives guests plenty of reasons to keep coming back, lunch after lunch.

“We have customers who get the same one or two sandwiches every day of the week. They are religiously eating ‘Wichcraft sandwiches,” said MonDore. “We strive to create a variety of options—but above all, to make those options something to crave."