I'm not sure I agree with this AT ALL. I've spent most of my adult life split between New York (5+ years), California (5+ years), and also Berlin and Paris for a few years. I'm originally British and live in London now. I've eaten sandwiches in all of these countries (obviously).
Pret's sandwiches hold up to any sandwiches I've had in any of those countries. I've had the occasional better sandwich (especially in Paris), but I would take Pret's sandwiches over most of the crap sandwiches I ate in New York. New York sandwiches tend to assume that packing in TONS of shit quality meat makes the sandwich better. I don't actual like to eat through an inch of American-quality processed meat to mask the fact that the bread is crap.
French style sandwiches have less total filling but the filling itself is high quality and tasty, including the butter. Also the bread tends to be extremely delicious by itself.
The only sandwiches I would get in New York are freshly made bagels from the better bagel places in Brooklyn. However, this is comparing apples to oranges because this whole discussion is about pre-made sandwiches which you get off a shelf and go, not freshly made sandwiches.
I currently live in London and eat Pret all the time.
I have easily found better sandwich shops than Pret in NYC, Boston, Chicago, LA, Berlin, Paris, SF... I could go on.
Specifically in NYC there are some amazing sandwich places all over Manhattan (though that's not to say the other boroughs don't have excellent shops as well). My favorites are generally the Italian-style sandwich shops which have great Italian cured meats.
In response to your last paragraph, I think that's part of what people are complaining about – there are precious few places in London where you can get a freshly made sandwich, and for being pre-made, Pret isn't much cheaper than a lot of the fresh-made sandwiches you can get in other countries.
Also I think fresh-made is maybe giving a bit too much credit to that idea, as Subway is freshly made but I'd much rather have a Pret.
Dude those bodega deli sandwiches in NYC are mostly shit. Cheap bagel, cheap bread, cheap meat. The only good thing is the "value for money" since you get basically an inch of meat, but the meat is the cheapest bottom of the shelf quality meat you can buy.
Trust me, I spent years getting those bodega sandwiches in New York and sure, when you're drunk they seem good, but it's not quality fare by any stretch of the imagination.
Pret's sandwiches hold up to any sandwiches I've had in any of those countries. I've had the occasional better sandwich (especially in Paris), but I would take Pret's sandwiches over most of the crap sandwiches I ate in New York. New York sandwiches tend to assume that packing in TONS of shit quality meat makes the sandwich better. I don't actual like to eat through an inch of American-quality processed meat to mask the fact that the bread is crap.
French style sandwiches have less total filling but the filling itself is high quality and tasty, including the butter. Also the bread tends to be extremely delicious by itself.
The only sandwiches I would get in New York are freshly made bagels from the better bagel places in Brooklyn. However, this is comparing apples to oranges because this whole discussion is about pre-made sandwiches which you get off a shelf and go, not freshly made sandwiches.