Wax Paper might be the best sandwich in Los Angeles
There is a shipping container on Knox Avenue in Frogtown, 226 square feet, no ovens, no grills, no freezers, no toasters, and it makes the best sandwiches in Los Angeles. That is not a careful hedge. That is the claim. Wax Paper has been proving it since 2015, five days a week, 11am until they sell out, and they sell out.
Peter and Lauren Lemos built this. Peter cooked at SPQR in San Francisco, at Tom Colicchio's Craft, at José Andrés's Bazaar, at Jon & Vinny's as chef de cuisine. He competed on Food Network's Chopped. Lauren worked front-of-house at L&E Oyster Bar and the Ace Hotel. They met in 2012 at a restaurant downtown, married, scraped together their savings and a small bank loan, and opened a sandwich counter in a shipping container a block from the LA River. No investors. The building inspector told them it was four walls and a floor. They turned it into something people drive across the city for.
The concept: every sandwich is named after an NPR host. The origin of this idea is perfect, Peter says it started as an homage to a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where Larry David obsesses over the ingredients in celebrity-named sandwiches at a deli. They considered Seinfeld characters but figured they'd get sued. They landed on the public radio hosts they listened to on their long commutes to work. KPCC 89.3, if you're wondering.
So you order The Ira Glass, half an avocado, sea salt, pickled and raw red onion, Tillamook sharp cheddar, a pillow of alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, and garlic aioli on seeded sourdough-wheat from Bub & Grandma's Bakery. It is their most popular sandwich. It is a vegetarian sandwich that carnivores order without thinking about it. It frequently sells out before 2pm.
Or you order The Larry Mantle, herb bologna and salami from Continental Gourmet Sausage, shredded lettuce, Mama Lil's Pickled Peppers, pepperoncinis, pickled and raw red onion in house oregano vinaigrette, Italian pecorino pepato on a sesame roll. It comes with house-made chili vinegar on the side. It is, by every measure, a perfect Italian sandwich.
Or The Audie Cornish, Black Forest ham, Tillamook cheddar, Maldon sea salt, house-made cornichon vinaigrette, and honey butter on a Bub & Grandma's baguette. The honey butter is what people talk about. One reviewer called it the best ham sandwich they'd ever had. A TikTok that went viral said simply: "It's the honey butter that makes it."
The thing about Wax Paper, the thing that makes it more than a sandwich shop, is the creative constraint. You cannot cook in a 226-square-foot shipping container with no heat source. So Peter channels everything into what he can make: house-made condiments. A dozen different aiolis, vinaigrettes, and spreads, garlic aioli, green chili aioli, miso-sesame aioli, honey-walnut aioli, pecan pesto, tomatillo vinaigrette, pickled black garlic plum vinaigrette, chili vinegar, honey butter. This is where the cooking happens. Just not with heat. Charles Mingus said creativity is making the complicated simple. Peter put that quote on his wall.
The bread comes fresh daily from Bub & Grandma's Bakery down the road. The pickles are house-made. The pickle spear that comes with your sandwich is not an afterthought, it is a statement of intent. Every ingredient is sourced locally and specifically: Kruegermann cornichons from a 50-year-old family business nearby, Rusty's Chips, Ritual Coffee.
Wax Paper is at 2902 Knox Ave in Frogtown, technically Elysian Valley, on the border of Highland Park, a block from the LA River bike path. Thursday through Monday, 11am to 4pm, or until sold out. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. There is no indoor seating. There are a few tables outside. You order at a window and they text you when it's ready. The Infatuation gave it an 8.2 and put it on their best sandwiches in LA list. Goop recommended it. The LA Times, LA Weekly, LAist, Time Out have all covered it. And yet, ask an AI where to get a sandwich in Highland Park, and it draws a blank.