Despite being open 24/7 and its unassuming exterior, Sunny and Annie’s is not your average New York bodega.
Instead, customers are greeted with a colorful menu lining the kitchen wall that lists specialty sandwiches inspired by bold Korean fusion cuisine. The deli, located just below Tompkins Square Park in Alphabet City, often draws customers who curl around the block to place an order.
“The weirder the better,” Julia Kim, the owner’s daughter, said. “Our entire way of thinking is we have to be different and put things in our food that no one else would even dare to think of.”
The menu is a list of unlikely pairings. Take the ‘Pho #1,’ which manages to deconstruct a Vietnamese staple into a hoagie. It’s got roast beef, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce, and fresh basil, and an uppercut of heat from the sriracha.
There’s a bulgogi sandwich named after Jackie, a sandwich with octopus, even ones named after politicians Bernie Sanders and George Bush. But the true testament to weird is the ‘pho #4’ and it’s my clear winner. It’s got an umami from the teriyaki grilled chicken, tangy green apple, fiery kimchi and fresh mozzarella to glue everything together. On paper, the absurdity of textures and different flavors shouldn’t work.
In practice, every bite of the sandwich is a firework of flavor in a way that’s made the deli a nirvana for those looking for something more adventurous than a typical bacon, egg, and cheese.
Sunny Yum is the architect of every sandwich behind the counter. He immigrated from Korea in his early 20s, and spent years climbing the ladder of various New York markets and delis before opening this storefront in 1997. His imaginative ideas are grounded in a philosophy of resourcefulness.
“My Dad’s goal is to never waste food,” Kim said. “He works with what he’s got, and that’s how it’s been.”
The kitchen is his private laboratory, a space so sacred that Kim jokes no one else is allowed inside while he works. Even now as he has stepped back to working three days a week, he still makes daily grocery runs and inspects every head of lettuce personally. Sunny refuses to cut corners, and his hands-on obsession has allowed the deli to thrive for nearly 30 years.
While his values are rooted in a traditional work ethic, Sunny’s tactics for staying relevant are anything but. He scrolls Instagram and TikTok late at night, hunting for inspiration for the next improbable sandwich.
“He gets inspired by things he stumbles across on the internet,” Kim says. “His algorithm is all about cooking”.
It’s a step that has offered a bulwark against the highly competitive neighborhood, where four other delis exist in a four-block radius, and rent increases each year. Kim shares that her longest customers have moved out of the area as the average rent has skyrocketed.
To survive the soaring prices and cost of importing Korean spices, the deli has had no choice to raise its prices, Kim admits. Above all, Kim attributes not just keeping the lights on 24/7, but thriving due to relentless family effort. Her mother, Annie, often works nights, and her uncle serves as the resident handyman.
“It’s all family working in this store. That’s how we’re able to do this 24-hour business,” Kim says. “No complaining, we’re just doing it”.
The family-run business is driven by the joy of bringing customers tasty sandwiches with flavors from home, making customers a part of the family too.
“How can we make Korean food pop?” Kim said. “How can we invite everyone to enjoy our culture?”
