Chris, since the modern sandwich is basically an English creation of John Montagu, are there sandwich shops and deli's in Britain like here?
What a wonderful question! The kind of thing that makes you realise what we take for granted about our surroundings. And a subject after my own heart; and stomach.
The answer is very much, yes.
First of addressing what we Brits call a sandwich - sliced white bread around a filling, rather than burgers or hoagies...
The sandwich is still very much the lunch of the office worker or the person on the move. As such every food shop and supermarket will have a sandwich chiller cabinet filled with prepackaged sandwiches, with a variety of bread types and fillings. Everything from a very ordinary cheese and tomato or egg and cress on white bread, to quite deep filled sandwiches on fancy breads. So stores will make them inhouse, but most are bought in - sandwich making is a big business.
A step up from that, many bakers also do sandwiches, except they are more likely to make the to order, and with their own bread.
Then many cafes will offer sandwiches - also self-made, along with hot food.
In between the last two would be the tea room - a kind of cafe, but somewhere you would go for afternoon tea (or morning coffee), offering a small spread of sandwiches, small cakes or possibly scones, jam and cream.
Then you have the chains. A big chain here is "Pret" (full name "Pret a Manger") doing hot and cold drinks, snacks and sandwiches and wraps. Although a chain, a Pret sandwich is a bit special, a step up from a supermarket sandwich - Chicken, Avacado and Basil, Breakfast Egg and Bacon, Italian Prosciutto with salad - you get the idea - in a sandwich, wrap, 6inch roll or footlong.
We also have a chain call Subway, which is less special, but does subs with mainly hot fillings - Meatball Mariana, Tuna Salad, BLT...
And then finally you have the burger joints, which we don't consider sandwiches, but my American friends refer to them as, so I'll include them.
But probably, more sandwiches are sold from the supermarkets than all the others, I would guess.
