The Early Word on the Ace Hotels' No. 7 Sub

When the team behind Fort Greene's popular No.7 were courted to open a sub shop in the already too-hot-for-words Ace Hotel, it seemed that they were destined for lunchtime supremacy. And indeed, they've pretty much been mobbed since day one. There have been several concerns about them running out of bread, but the general consensus is that even the less-thrilling offerings at the sandwich hotspot are quirky enough to hold your attention.

The Veggie Gamechanger News: Fork In The Road's Sarah DiGregorio thinks the vegan Eggplant Parm is revelatory. "The eggplant parm substitutes yellow summer squash for the Barney-like vegetable, layers it with fontina cheese for superior meltability, then adds BBQ potato chips for a subdued crunch, and, finally, pickled jalapenos to singe your mucous membranes. What could be better?" and yet, in the comments for that post, Voice critic Robert Sietsema says, "Some of the weird-o sandwiches don't work at all (don't like the pickled blueberries in the roast beef, for example), but this one is really just an improvement on the original eggplant parm, with a thoughtful vegetable and cheese substitution." [FITR]

The "What, no bread?" News: Yelper Ron L. has a tantrum when there's no bread to be found -- at 11:30 AM, which is when they open. "The woman behind counter smiled, at least, but the best she could offer is that the bread comes from Brooklyn, as if that was some sort of excuse. Here's a brilliant idea: Have the bread delivered at 10:30. Or 9:30. The bakers can hack it, promise. They get up early." [Yelp]

The Good But Long Wait News: Eat to Blog finds the service a little slow. "Everything on the menu sounded so awesome. I got there around 1:45pm and no one was in line to order but there was a HUGE crowd all waiting for their sandwiches. For $9, all sandwiches were $9, I got the turkey cubano and for $3 I got a small housemade yuzu soda. Then I stood in the back and waited?and waited?..and waited. I was number 145 and they were just calling out 129 when I got there. After 40mins of standing around I finally got my food and walked back to the office. I sat down and quickly unwrapped the sandwich. It’s a pretty good deal for $9 compared to the crap you get at places like Europa. I took a bite of the sandwich and totally had forgotten about the 40min wait I had to endure earlier. Stuffed with turkey meat, pickled daikon, Swiss cheese and Chinese mustard it was so good." [Eat to Blog]

The "Decent Enough" News: Blog We Heart New York keeps their criticism concise. "We went for the hot-and-sour egg salad, which comes with bamboo shoots and something called "gloop," as well as the braised lamb with yogurt, romaine, and the aforementioned caviar. Although the egg salad really did remind us of hot-and-sour soup in sandwich form, tangy and hot, we may have preferred the lamb slightly more --- tender, sweet, and sharp all at once, like a brief affair." [We Heart New York]

The Meh News: A Chowhounder isn't buying the hype: "They're small, definitely not a bargain, but they're not outrageous for high end, creative, yuppie sandwiches. They're about the size of sandwiches from wichcraft or lamazou, which are simlarly priced. One is just barely enough; two is too many, as I discovered. I would feel great about paying 6 dollars for one; i feel grudgingly ok about paying 9." [CH]

The Twitteriffic News: user Allisyn wishes the darned wait wasn't so long, Daniel, thedvl swears the mock lobster roll is "the shit", and EB Atler has this gem: "Obsessed w No. 7! Tofu my fave but also liked braised lamb & ham subs (I think ham sub is now tuna)"
— Zachary Feldman
[photo credit]