Chequers

Chequers is a hidden gem just off the strand. If you’re looking for a hearty sandwich, salad, or even a bowl of hot soup for a very price, Chequers is the place to be. The staff is extremely friendly and goes out of their way to accommodate your request. If you order a cup of coffee, it comes with a small complimentary croissant that’s freshly baked.
I miss Chequers and will visit it every time when I am in London!

LOVE IT! Cannot ask for more. Sandwiches are good, prices reasonable — free soup! — staff extremely… nice! They even remember your taste if you start going often.
I can only recommend this little gem VS chains restaurants around this touristy area. Might have to queue between 12−1pm

Really great place to grab a quick lunch. The jacket potatoes are popular and sometimes run out, so go early!
Free soup with every sandwich, great staff, and loads of options — coronation chicken being my favourite! The big lunch time queue speaks volumes.

This place is fantastic for Sweet Potatoes and as far as I’m aware regular jackets are also great.
Fantastic selection of meat and veg as well as great pricing.
With each potato you get a medium portion of chopped salad to compliment the meal, it is of course optional.
Great value for money and great range of choice.

Great sarnies here! The chicken escalope on focaccia is great, comes with coriander salad and chilli & mayonnaise if you want it. You also get that and a free soup for around 4 quid in total. The guys in there work really hard and I think that’s why the value is so great. It’s odd to see that street at lunch time there are at least two other sandwich shops just next door that are empty of customers but this place has a queue up the street.

Great, simple sandwich place. It’s popular with the office crowd at lunchtime — usually a queue but it goes quickly. The four guys behind the counter crank out sandwiches with a frightening speed and focus.
I usually have a BLT or the bacon avocado sandwich — both are delicious, perhaps because I request extra butter. The sandwiches come with a free cup of soup which is actually quite bad — you can tell who’s a regular by who politely declines the free soup. I’ve tried it a few times, usually managing to get a few sips down in the name of «eating things that are green is healthy» but most of it gets binned.
Prices are reasonable, and the service is excellent. It’s a tiny space and there’s nowhere to sit, so head to a park or Covent Garden on a nice day. Or just back to your desk.

One of my favourite sandwich shops around London. There’s always a queue around lunch time but moves rather quickly. The best days are Tuesdays and Thursdays when they have the Hot Italian Chicken sandwich as the special and a bargain 4 quid that includes the soup of the day. I’d recommend it on a brown bap w/​mayo, chili sauce and coriander salad. As good as it gets!

I could be jet-​lagged to the point where I will collapse, but the first thing I do upon arriving to my father’s flat is sleepwalk to Bedford St. and get a Chequers sandwich. I’m not even kidding. I’ve been going here for years now and it’s great to see the same familiar faces working there. I’m only in the UK three times a year, a few weeks at a time, but the sandwich guys remember me and my order (smoked salmon and spinach on brown bread, lightly buttered with pepper) every single time. These are the best sandwiches I have ever eaten — I never, ever eat sandwiches stateside because I know that my expectations will be too high (due to Chequers). I wish I could take the shop back to New York with me, that’s how much I love it!
Chequers is a small place — I actually stumbled upon it by accident. I had to go up the street to Tesco to buy provisions for the refrigerator, and I was hungry (I can’t bring myself to eat airplane «food»). There are a few sandwich shops along Bedford Street, but I selected the smallest of the bunch (there’s no seating inside and when there’s a queue for sandwiches, it can be hard to get in and out).
During lunch hour, you’ll see a long queue, sometimes it reaches all the way down to the Strand. As for the other sandwich shops, Pret, Eat, your other various pre-​fabricated lunch places — they’re completely deserted in comparison. The sandwich guys at Chequers are efficient, so you won’t be waiting for long at all. The Lunch Box special is one the best deals in the area — you can get soup, a sandwich, and a soda for under £7. As I always make it a point of trying a new sandwich each time I’m in town and have never been disappointed. Everything down to the bread is amazing. The downsides: they do close fairly early in the day (it’s mainly a lunchtime operation) and unfortunately, they are not open on the weekend.