Nice Sandwiches, For Real

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I spend a lot of time scrolling Milwaukee Instagram accounts (mine is @yougotserved_mke) to try and find new spots to feature in my column, and that must have been how I found Nice Sandwich at 2705 S. 108th St in West Allis. It’s a very unassuming little sandwich shop at the end of a strip mall but it’s adorably Milwaukee inside with old photos and drawings of the city, a taxidermy fish on the wall, and local radio playing over the speakers. It feels very small town, and in some ways it is.

From my Instagram research, the sandwiches looked a lot like Schlotzky’s Deli with the round bread which looks like soda bread (but isn’t) and sliced deli meats inside. In fact, the space used to be a Schlotzsky’s but Nice Sandwiches bought the space after they closed that location. There’s a small caricature drawing of the former owners over the door which you see on your way out. 

Being that I was coming in for sandwiches, I was more focused on the menu than the decor. Each sandwich comes in a regular or large version, but the regular is filling enough. For the sake of this article, I wanted to try two different sandwiches and it was hard to even finish one. I opted for the classic muffuletta after the manager said it’s up there with Glorioso’s version of the famous sandwich from New Orleans. And it was a simple turkey sandwich to offset the powerful and distinctive flavors of the muffuletta. They had some locally made potato chips and Coca-Cola products. I might be the only adult I know who still orders orange Fanta whenever there’s fountain soda.

I can’t even imagine what a large sandwich looks like, but I would imagine it’s like a small pizza where when shared everyone gets a slice. Their sandwiches are served slightly warm but still far from a melt. I sat in the corner booth on a peaceful Saturday morning remembering how much I’ve talked about this kind of bread with other Wisconsin people over the years. 

The muffuletta came home with me and was enjoyed as a later lunch/early dinner and held up after its travels. I gotta say, it is definitely a contender for the best muffuletta in town. Simple and understated, fresh and tasty…these really are some nice sandwiches.