Any good sandwich starts with good bread, and so it is fantastic bread called schiacciata that makes the sandwiches great at the Uptown takeout joint Lunch.
Schiacciata is a first cousin to focaccia but thinner. In that wonderful way of literal Italian food term translations, schiacciata means “squashed,” as if compressed with your hands. The undulating top crust gleams with oil and crackles with a bit of salt, the interior has a soft, lacy chew and big air pockets ready to mold around fillings.
At Lunch, rectangular pans of the bread are baked in the morning, then cut for massive whole (or perfectly reasonable half) sandwiches from the Tuscan tradition.
The Firenze with cold chicken cutlets and broccoli rabe (left), the Verona with proscuitto and peaches (top) and the Positano with mortadella and burrata are specialties from Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
These run across nine varieties on the regular menu, plus seasonal specials. Each is a different combination of the wonders of an Italian deli, all velvety salumi, bitter greens, oily peppers and dollops of fluffy mozzarella that resemble whipped cream tumbling out.
Lunch to late night
Lunch is not a lunchroom. It’s a takeout window with a couple sidewalk tables located next to the Boot, the bar that is practically a part of Tulane and Loyola universities’ Uptown campuses.
Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans is a takeout window for specialty Tuscan sandwiches near Tulane University’s Uptown campus.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
Since landing here in 2025, Lunch has become an adjunct of campus life too, feeding students who throng to it when the bar scene is rolling next door. It also gives neighbors, and those driven to cross town for a great sandwich, a compelling fix, served up at the speed of street food.
Lunch is going places, and that includes dinner and (very) late night. Starting later in August, Lunch will add a night shift Thursday through Saturday with a shorter menu of sandwiches and snacks from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m., and also earlier breakfast hours for coffee, scones and other baked goods. See schedule updates at instagram.com/lunch.sandwichshop.
Lisa Greenleaf and her son Jack Greenleaf started Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans, now a takeout window near Tulane University’s Uptown campus.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
The tie-in to the Boot is driving this. But Lunch should not be relegated purely to campus eats. Behind the counter, there’s an Italian mother-and-son duo taking joy from feeding people, and they’re doing it well.
Family-style sandwiches
The Roma at Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans combines proscuitto with fresh mozzarella, balsamic glaze and roasted red peppers.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
The top sandwich at Lunch is the Roma, and it’s a classic combination of fine prosciutto (cut from legs from the vaunted Galloni brand), fresh mozzarella traced with zebra stripes of balsamic glaze, pesto and roasted red peppers that are slippery, sweet and carry a whiff of backyard barbecue char.
The Firenze is a sleeper hit. Chicken parm sandwiches abound these days, but this one is different. It pairs chilled chicken cutlets with a bit of lemon aioli, and planks of nutty Parmigiano Reggiano, finished with a heap of bitter broccoli rabe, sharp with garlic and pepper.
It feels like a sandwich made from leftovers after an Italian supper, which is indeed the origin story of Lunch.
The Verona is a summer seasonal special at Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans, with proscuitto, mozzarella, peaches and hot honey on schiacciata bread.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
Lisa Greenleaf grew up in New York, on Long Island. Her first-generation Italian immigrant grandmother made bread, including schiacciata, and visiting her house meant freestyle grazing and building sandwiches with whatever was in the fridge or spread across the kitchen table. These are the kind of family meals Lisa’s son, Jack Greenleaf, grew up with too.
Lisa’s introduction to New Orleans came when her daughter enrolled at Tulane. The mom was drawn to the city too, and through a series of life pivots, she ended up living in the Marigny and sharing her love of cooking with neighbors.
At Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans, sandwiches are made on schiacciata bread baked daily in house.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
This led to a pop-up at Pepp’s Pub, one of the city’s great pop-up incubators. She recruited Jack, fresh from culinary school, to join her in a new business.
From a pop-up, Lunch had a turn at the St. Roch Market food hall before moving Uptown to Broadway.
Mortadella dreams
A view into the tiny, galley-like kitchen shows mother and son and their staff maneuvering between a compact oven, racks of bread and the cutting board.
At Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans, sandwiches are made on schiacciata bread baked daily in house.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
Watching the Positano sandwich come together builds anticipation. Pretty pink ruffles of mortadella specked with pistachio fall on the bread. Then they’re layered with waves of burrata (mozzarella aching to return to a liquid form), arugula and a pesto-esque pistachio cream (oily and a touch spicy) with fig spread adding a dark sweetness.
Biting in, there’s the crunch of the crust and the “squish” of the schiacciata around a progression of salty, fresh, bitter and creamy flavor.
Do like the students and eat these sandwiches immediately on the sidewalk (or like I did, in my car).
Chocolate chip cookies glitter with sea salt at Lunch sandwich shop in New Orleans.
Staff photo by Ian McNulty
Or, in the original spirit of the Italian family table, the ideal approach at Lunch could be to order a couple sandwiches with company, cut them into smaller pieces and alternate between types.
Don’t leave without a chocolate chip cookie, which tastes extra buttery. Food love follows different forms at this delicious takeout window.
Lunch
1039 Broadway St., 504-982-9477
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tue.-Sat. (note, morning and late-night hours coming in late August, see instagram.com/lunch.sandwichshop for updates).
Dining and Cooking