Via Romana, Richmond: The Viral Italian Sandwich Shop off the Green

There is a particular alley off Richmond Green — Paved Court, a narrow pedestrian lane of small independent shops — that has, in recent years, acquired an unlikely secondary identity. It is the "Ted Lasso alleyway", walked by a steady stream of visitors on a pilgrimage to the Prince's Head, the Green-side pub that served as the fictional Crown & Anchor in the television series. They come for a photograph of a pub. What the more curious among them discover, halfway down the lane, is that the best thing on Paved Court is not the pub at all, but a tiny Italian sandwich shop that has quietly become a destination in its own right.

One Thing, Done Well

Via Romana Deli — "the Roman way" — is the kind of place that trades entirely on doing one thing exceptionally well. It makes Italian sandwiches. That is the whole proposition. There is no coffee (the owners cheerfully send you elsewhere for that, which in Richmond is no hardship), no sprawling menu, no attempt to be anything other than what it is: a counter, some fresh Roman flatbread, a case of quality Italian ingredients, and a couple of people who clearly love what they do assembling your lunch in front of you.

This is a Roman idea, specifically. In Rome, the great sandwich shops are exactly this — small, expert, unbothered with anything beyond bread and fillings of real quality — and the best of them draw queues that locals join without complaint. Via Romana imports not just the recipes but the whole philosophy: narrow focus, high standards, no frills.

Nico and Theresa

Those people are Nico and Theresa, and their presence is a large part of the appeal. This is a hand-made, owner-run operation of the sort that is becoming rarer, where the person building your sandwich is the person whose name is effectively over the door, and who might feed you a slice of something to try while you wait. The bread is the foundation — a proper Roman-style flatbread, warm and crisp — and the fillings are the good stuff, fresh and Italian and assembled with evident care rather than slapped together. The menu runs to perhaps ten sandwiches, which is exactly the right number: enough to choose from, few enough that each one has clearly been thought about.

The one everyone mentions is the La Lupe — salami, aubergine, and an artichoke spread that reviewers write about with a slightly evangelical tone. But the specific sandwich matters less than the overall effect, which is of something genuinely, almost surprisingly excellent emerging from a very small and unpretentious space. People describe feeling briefly transported to a backstreet in Rome, which is a cliché, except that in this case the queue of people willing to wait rather suggests it is earned. There is a Nutella sandwich, too, for afterwards, which is the kind of unnecessary, joyful detail that tells you the place is run by people rather than a formula.

Made for the Green

Part of what makes Via Romana work is what it lacks. There is almost nowhere to sit — a little bar seating, and that is it. This is, by design, food to take away: to carry the few dozen yards to Richmond Green and eat on the grass, or down to the river, in a spot as pleasant as any in London for an alfresco lunch. The absence of a dining room is not a shortcoming but the entire point. The sandwich is engineered for the setting, and the setting — Green, river, park — is one of Richmond's great assets.

The one genuine caveat is the queue. Success has found Via Romana, helped along by the Ted Lasso footfall and the general modern appetite for a viral, authentic, single-item food spot, and at busy times the wait can be real. If you are passing through and want lunch in three minutes, it may frustrate. If you have twenty minutes and somewhere green to sit, it is close to perfect. It rewards the unhurried, which is a very Richmond quality to have.

What It Represents

Within this edit, Via Romana represents a particular strand of what makes Richmond special: the small, independent, lovingly-run business that could exist nowhere else and that gives a place its texture. It is the opposite of the polished new arrival and the grand old institution alike — just two people, some very good bread, and a queue of the converted, halfway down an alley that fame found by accident. In a town of pubs and grand houses and royal parks, it is a reminder that sometimes the best thing on offer is a really, really good sandwich.

For anyone stitching a wider Richmond day around a stop at Via Romana, the Reset Series guides and the Reset Companion are a natural pairing for the small, considered pleasures a good afternoon in the town tends to be built from.

Related reading: Danieli: London's Thickest Hot Chocolate · Tower House: The Restaurant Worthy of the View · Roe: The Restaurant That Proved a Point

Who it's for

• Anyone who believes a perfect sandwich, done properly, is one of life's great simple pleasures.
• Visitors on the Ted Lasso trail who want something far better than a tourist lunch a few steps away.
• Those happy to queue a little and carry lunch to Richmond Green or the river rather than sit down.