Our Story

Sanpanino was created in 2000 by Leonardo Scarpone, a hybrid sandwich shop that combined both his nostalgia for New York’s Italian salumerias and the lively paninotecas he discovered on his trips to Italy.

Growing up in Brooklyn to Puglia-born parents and very much inspired by his mother who was both a marvelous cook and entrepreneur, he sought to open a shop that combined the best aspects of “Italian” and “Italian-American” panini and food.  “San” is the prefix to “Sandwich”. “Panino” literally means sandwich in Italian. 

Our team is made up of courteous and hard-working individuals, some of whom have been with us from the beginning.

In 2018, Sanpanino launched their second shop at 187 State Street in Brooklyn, a dynamic neighborhood that intersects Brooklyn Heights,  Cobble Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, and Boerum Hill,  just blocks away from where Leonardo’s family first emigrated to in the 1960’s.

Our fresh mozzarella is home-made daily, we roast our own meats, our prosciutto and coppas are imported from Italy, and that fragrant basil along with all our produce arrives fresh every day.