{"id":588880,"date":"2025-11-23T14:10:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588880\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T14:10:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:10:22","slug":"i-went-to-manchesters-biggest-lunchtime-queue-it-was-worth-the-hype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588880\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I went to Manchester\u2019s biggest lunchtime queue – it was worth the hype’"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to Northern Quarter foodie institution that has been serving sandwiches for over 20 years\"ALook at the size of that sandwich! <\/p>\n

Picking a lunch<\/a> spot in Manchester city centre can be a mind-boggling decision. In a city with options at every turn, it can be an overwhelming choice to make, which often leads to a sad-looking meal deal from the local supermarket when you realise you’ve whiled away half of your lunch hour mulling it over.<\/p>\n

But quite often when it comes to the top foodie destinations, it’s best to just to follow the crowds. After walking across town recently, I spotted a queue from quite some distance, forming around a corner in the Northern Quarter. As I approached, I could tell it was a sandwich shop, but it didn\u2019t look like a typical sandwich shop.<\/p>\n

\"AnRustica is a sandwich shop serving customer through two windows in a wall<\/p>\n

It was Rustica<\/a> – the longstanding favourite for many in the Northern Quarter<\/a>. The “Butty Bar” is an institution, and for good reason.<\/p>\n

A crowd had gathered, massing around two holes in the wall on Hilton Street and Tib Street. The eatery serves a variety of different fillings, including a huge selection of vegetarian options, on either a white or brown barm.<\/p>\n

As I was waiting to place my order, I noticed that the friendly member of staff taking orders was having conversations with each customer and even knew some of them on a first-name basis. I gathered that there are clearly returning customers who are happy with what they have eaten in the past.<\/p>\n

I was welcomed with a lovely greeting and placed my order. Their most popular sandwich is the beef and mozzarella sandwich, but I opted for a chicken club on a white barm, featuring chicken mayo, bacon, melted cheese, and lettuce (I had to take the tomato out!).<\/p>\n

The total cost came to \u00a35.50<\/a>, which I would see as standard for a sandwich that is being made freshly and specifically to each customer\u2019s order in the Northern Quarter.<\/p>\n

\"Rustica'sA jam-packed menu full of meat and vegetarian options!<\/p>\n

As I waited for my order to be made, I had a glance into the kitchen, where there were three members of staff preparing the sandwiches, along with the woman taking orders. They were smiling and laughing with each other as the amazing customer service was shown throughout my experience.<\/p>\n

I waited around five to 10 minutes for my sandwich, understandably, as there were at least 10 other people waiting for their orders too. My sandwich was then handed to me in a paper bag, and I sat down on a nearby wall to have a taste.<\/p>\n

\"ALook at the size of that sandwich!<\/p>\n

First impressions? It looked like a standard sandwich, but what stood out to me was the size; half of the sandwich was probably the size of a normal pre-made sandwich from our local supermarket.<\/p>\n

As for the filling, there was an excessive amount of lettuce, but that didn\u2019t mean the meat filling was lacklustre. A good amount of chicken mayo and cheese, and a decent amount of bacon, which I tend to find in a lot of shops and restaurants, are very stingy on bacon portions in a sandwich.<\/p>\n

\"TheFilled with a good portion of meat and salad!<\/p>\n

After trying to stop all the lettuce from falling out into the paper bag, I polished off the sandwich and was satisfied with what I ordered. The chicken and bacon tasted fresh and didn\u2019t have any artificial hints. The cheese was half-melted, which meant there were more hints of its cheddar flavour, although I did order melted cheese, I didn\u2019t mind the level of \u2018meltiness\u2019 it had arrived as.<\/p>\n

The lettuce was just the average shredded lettuce you\u2019d expect in any sandwich. The mayonnaise also had a strong eggy flavour to it, which I find in lots of places; it can taste very bland.<\/p>\n

My conclusion of Rustica is that it is worth exactly what it is charging. Good customer service, good portion sizes, and \u00a35.50 for a sandwich that is tastier than your local supermarket meal deal sandwich; it is worth paying a visit or having a try if you\u2019re in the area.<\/p>\n

\"TheA queue of people waiting to try a sandwich!<\/p>\n

I would go back again and try one of their many different fillings. I walked past again 30 minutes later, and the queue was the same size as it was when I ordered. Clearly, previous customers are more than happy to return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I went to Northern Quarter foodie institution that has been serving sandwiches for over 20 yearsLook at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,786,4884,2465,9158,19336,16,15,416],"class_list":{"0":"post-588880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-food-and-drink","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-northern-quarter","14":"tag-restaurant-reviews","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-viral"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115599419025610703","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}