Inside La Lima Sangucheria: The Fast-Casual Peruvian Sandwich Shop in South End
From the team behind Yunta and Viva Chicken
A decent deli sandwich isn’t too hard to come by. But a sandwich you’re still thinking about a week later? That’s a masterstroke. It’s structured to ensure an even distribution of meat, cheese, veggies, and condiments. It incorporates a mix of crispy, smooth, and chewy textures. Perhaps most important, it has a punchy, unexpected ingredient (or three) that you can’t quite identify. You take another bite just to make sure, and … dang. That’s a righteous sandwich. And that’s how they do it at La Lima Sangucheria, the new Peruvian sandwich shop from the team behind Yunta and Viva Chicken.
Since opening the first Viva Chicken in Elizabeth 12 years ago, co-founders Bruno Macchiavello and Randy Garcia haven’t made a wrong move. The Peruvian rotisserie chicken joint has expanded to 16 locations across the Carolinas, Georgia, and Utah. In 2022, along with Garcia’s wife, Cinthya, they opened Yunta, Charlotte’s first Nikkei restaurant, in South End. Three years later, it’s still hard to snag a table on a Saturday night.
In March, Macchiavello, along with fellow Lima natives Alvaro Carrillo and Lucia Griffith, added another restaurant to his portfolio with this counter-service sandwich shop in the former Carrabba’s space in South End. They took the best parts of their Peruvian-inspired menus—tangy sauces, crispy yuca, fruity cocktails—and adapted them for this sanguchería, a Peruvian street food tradition. In addition to sandwiches, La Lima has salads, bowls, empanadas, and soup, as well as a pastry case full of pies, cakes, and eclairs.
The 1,800-square-foot restaurant seats 40.
The 1,800-square-foot space feels bigger than it is, with blond wood dining tables, greenery hanging from the industrial ceilings, and garage doors that open to the patio. Order at the counter, grab a number, and sit at a banquette along the wall or the long communal table in the middle. The restaurant seats about 40, so you may have to wait a few minutes during the lunch or dinner rush.
The drink menu features coffee, sodas, wine, cocktails, and a lineup of Peruvian juices. You’ll recognize the Chicha Morada ($4.55), a purple corn punch with spiced apple and cinnamon, and Maracuya ($4.55), a passion fruit juice, from La Lima’s sister restaurants. The Piña Brava ($14) is a refreshing tequila-based cocktail with lime juice and a spicy kick from the jalapeño. The Chilcano ($14) combines lime and pisco, the national liquor of Peru, with a splash of ginger ale.
Peruvian Steak Empanadas ($8) come two to an order and are filled with smoky, aji panca-seasoned steak and served with a side of aji amarillo sauce for dipping. Crispy Yuca ($3.55) are like denser, starchier French fries that taste splendid after a dunk in some aji verde sauce. The Chicharron Bowl ($16) is a hearty bowl of rice and beans topped with crispy pork belly, sweet potato, sarza criolla (like a Peruvian salsa), and carretillero sauce, a tangy marinade made with lime juice and chile peppers.
The Chicharron Bowl is topped with crispy pork belly, sweet potato, avocado, and Peruvian salsa.
All eight sandwiches are Peruvian-inspired but incorporate Italian, Spanish, and Japanese flavors, too. Each comes on pillowy, Spanish-style ciabatta that’s sturdy enough to contain the sandwich contents without being too bulky. The Tusan ($16) is loaded with marinated steak, red onion, tomato, and carretillero sauce. The Sakura ($17) is layered with tuna tartare, spicy acevichada (Peruvian-style mashed potatoes topped with ceviche), crispy onion, daikon (aka Japanese radish), and cilantro.
The Tori Nikkei ($16) is the kind of sandwich that requires two hands, a napkin, and a moment of silence to fully appreciate. The tamari honey chicken has sweet and savory notes, the citrus sauce cuts through the richness of the chicken, and the daikon coleslaw gives it a satisfying crunch. The ingredients are whole and uncomplicated, but each bite will slay your taste buds.
The pastry case brims with cakes, tarts, and eclairs.
It’s tough to make it out of La Lima without dessert once you’ve seen the pastry case. Eclairs ($9) come with a variety of fillings, such as pastry cream and chocolate ganache, yuzu meringue and lime confit, and pistachio and white chocolate. The Cherimoya Roll ($9) is a vanilla sponge slathered with cherimoya (a sweet, tropical fruit with a custard-like texture), dulce de leche, and shaved almonds. The Key Lime Pie ($9) has all the tangy, creamy goodness of the original model, but this individually sized, cylindrical version is almost smug in its perfection. Pastries this beautiful deserve a spot in a museum—or, at the very least, on your Instagram feed.
