At Mike & Patty’s it’s hard to select the best seat in the house; there are only four. Yet what this tiny corner sandwich-slinger lacks in size, it makes up for in flavor. Since 2009, busy staff here have been serving a small menu of indulgent sandwiches stuffed with everything needed to cure last night’s hangover—or ensure a nap after this afternoon’s meeting.

Sometimes even we well-trodden explorers have a hard time locating Mike & Patty’s, which sits at the end of a quiet street in sleepy Bay Village, a residential corner of downtown Boston that shields the destination from anyone not actively seeking it out. But there’s one clear giveaway: a small crowd of aspiring sandwich eaters waiting outside for their order to be called. That’s because there’s barely enough space for three people to stand inside among the four stools offering prized seating along a skinny wooden counter.

Most of that interior is occupied by a cramped open kitchen, where workers furiously churn out breakfast sandwiches. Watching closely, we’ve tried to snag their trade secrets, concluding that every sandwich reveals the Mike & Patty’s mastery of the ancient art of bread toasting. Fittingly, this breakfast sandwich mecca is also a fine spot for a caffeine fix: All the coffee comes from local roaster Fazenda. For those trying to up their Vitamin C intake, fresh-squeezed orange and grapefruit juices are also an option.

They say great things come in small packages, and that maxim’s certainly true for Mike & Patty’s—even if the sandwiches are anything but small.