spooky scary sandwitches (kind of): sandwitches 'coffee+anxiety' review.

If you read my recent Waterstones review you might recall I stated a perk of Waterstones is that it's a safe and good choice if you're ever experiencing decision paralysis. Well the cafe me and my partner were going to review was closed, and our decision paralysis meant we could not decide at all where to go. Ironic.

A meander around town and a quick search on Google led us to SandWitches - which to its credit is probably as independent as independent comes. They're a family-run business whose front door resides right on the Shambles Market. Worth noting the popular open air outlet is one of the most famous attractions of York and gets very busy, similarly to Coney Street. Those crowd-averse should bear this in mind.

The Anxious Stuff

SandWitches is an odd one - the name connotes a potentially spooky yet ironic theme and I love a spooky vibe. However, the actual theme is 'music and films' with the top floor where we were seated covered in headshots of Hollywood stars from the 50's to 90's and movie posters of similar eras. So many eyes staring at you can be unsettling - especially when some of those eyes belong to several actors known for... unsavoury behaviours and horrific actions. If you're someone who can't handle so many eyes on you the upstairs (where the only toilet is) definitely won't be an option.

Similarly, if you're someone who doesn't like spiral stairs this place may not be the best option.

The only seating on the bottom floor is a two seater bench next to the kitchen. The rest of the seating

is spread out across the two upper floors. To get to said floors you have to climb up the two spiral staircases which are a one way system, very slim and have open risers (aka gaps between the stairs. I'm telling you this because I only just found out for this blog.). Overall, a bit of a nervy experience. Especially walking back down when you're not sure if a server is going to ascend with plates (As a previous server I can tell you carrying hot plates for longer than necessary is the bane of most server roles). Despite stating online they're great as a place to read a book, we didn't really feel able to crack out the books let alone a laptop for studying. SandWitches identifies itself as a cafe but it's definitely more of a restaurant vibe, so I wouldn't recommend if you're wanting an anxiety friendly study spot. Also as a heads up as it wasn't communicated to us, you pay downstairs after your meal. I don't want you guys waiting around for half an hour figuring that out!

F&B

On the flip side, the coffee? Nothing but praise. My £2.30 flat white (with a 50p upcharge for oat milk) was a deep roast with a rich taste and after adding a little sugar a hint of nutmeg was drawn out. Furthermore, it came with a biscuit; why have so many cafes nowadays lost the art of adding a little biscuit to coffee? Bring back the biscuits! My partner's £3.30 chai latte with regular milk was similarly praised - it did resemble in smell and taste a coffee crossed with a mulled wine which isn't a negative, just interesting. We ordered a £6.25 slice of chocolate fudge cake (couldn't see a cheap vegan treat unforunately) to share and it looked absolutely goregous when it came out. However, it was quite dry and not the fudgy consistency we anticipated. The sauce it came with reminded me of the kind of chocolate sauce you would have with ice cream which was nostalgic but not my cup of tea.

Whilst I don't want to be negative - because it's not nice to be and also the owner's responses to negative reviews scares me - I didn't have an amazing time at SandWitches. The coffee was amazing but the entire atmosphere was pretty uncomfortable, we couldn't read or study which is what we set out to do, and the playlist which included The Power of Love followed by Jingle Bell Rock didn't exactly help. I'd give the anxiety friendly score of a 1/5 and despite the nice coffee a food+beverage score of 3/5 which is a coffee+anxiety score of 2/5. However, I've heard a fair bit of praise for some of the more savoury meal options at SandWitches so if what I've mentioned doesn't seem like a big deal to you then you should definitely visit!

I hope you enjoyed this review and it helped in some way or may help some day! Any recommendations on where I should test my anxiety next? Let me know!

This blog is in no way affiliated with SandWitches or any of its partners and makes no profit from anything on this page. Everyone has different experiences with their anxiety and as such nothing in this review should be taken as gospel.