Food & Drink

The 50 Best Sandwiches in America

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Time Out 11 / 49

by Jen Vafidis

Time Out, “Chicken and Cheddar Biscuit”, Chapel Hill, NC

Nothing says southern cooking quite like fried chicken and biscuits, so why not put them together in sandwich form? Time Out, a popular stop for UNC Chapel Hill students, has a chicken and cheddar biscuit sandwich that won’t crumble in your hands. The chicken is fried with the bone for extra flavor, and the marinade has a Tabasco base for extra spice. Melted cheddar bonds the chicken to the biscuit, and together they make a heavy but delicious combination.

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Jason Helle / Flickr 12 / 49

Zingerman's, "Reuben", Ann Arbor, MI

A Reuben sandwich should be defined solely based on how Zingerman’s deli makes them. Everything about it is perfect: the corned beef is the kind of meat a person could kill for, the cheese is pungent Swiss, the sauerkraut and the Russian dressing sing in harmony, and the rye bread is grilled and hand-sliced. Health-conscious? Not at all. But the kind of experience no one should deprive themselves of? Yeah, we think so. Zingerman’s also offers a Reuben kit for those looking to send a loved one a decadent gift, which might come in handy come Christmastime.

Littleneck 13 / 49

Littleneck, "Full Belly Ipswitch Clam Roll", Brooklyn, NY

The clam roll at Littleneck in Brooklyn is everything that a good New Englander could ever want from this genre of food. The clams are huge, succulent, and truly special, changing how you might feel about clams altogether. The lettuce is shredded romaine, the texture of which just feels right, and the tartar sauce is rich without being overwhelming. The bread comes from a bakery in Maine that supplies the clams, and is toasted to perfection. Littleneck in general is the sort of place that makes a customer feel taken care of, and their roll is the ideal example of that, hitting all the high notes that a seafood sandwich should hit.

Amanda Kelso / Flickr 14 / 49

Primanti Brothers, "Almost Famous", Pittsburgh, PA

Listed as a Pittsburgh institution, the “Almost Famous” sandwich at Primanti Brothers is not known so much for its meat as it is for the fact that the fries are served in the sandwich itself, between two slices of Italian bread. The coleslaw too is worth singing about; it’s tart enough to make an impression and enhance the whole meal. There’s something humble about ordering a sandwich that’s billed as “almost” famous, but eating one is not even close to an exercise in humility. The Primanti Brothers team makes these enormous and almost impossible to bite into, but people usually find a way to eat the whole thing, somehow.

Bunk 15 / 49

Bunk, "Oregon Albacore Tuna Melt", Portland, OR

Leave it to Portland to elevate a greasy spoon perennial like a tuna melt. Bunk, a sandwich shop in Portland, serves their special tuna salad with mayo, mustard, sharp cheddar, and garlic dill pickles on a pressed ciabatta roll. What’s in that special tuna salad? Chili flakes, basil, albacore, red onion, olive oil, and balsamic, all local. It’s fancier than you might remember your diner tuna melts, but it’s too good to exclude just because of that.

shelnew19 / Flickr 16 / 49

Publix, "Publix Sub", Various Locations

Let it be known that sometimes all a person really needs is a fresh, perfect sub sandwich, with peppers, sliced deli meats, thick cheese, and crispy bread. Is that so much to ask for? Publix, a Southeastern supermarket chain, delivers this sought-after treat and then some. Their subs show an attention to detail and flavor that you wouldn’t expect from a chain, maybe out of snobbery, and their fans are legion because of it. Every ingredient is quality, and there are variations to the classic sub combo that satisfy all sorts of cravings, from a yearning for chicken fingers to a whimsical desire for a Cuban.

Daniel Lobo / Flickr 17 / 49

Churchkey, "The Luther", Washington, D.C.

Some sandwiches should come with a health warning, perhaps; The Luther, on the menu at D.C.’s Churchkey bar and grill, would certainly have to be one of them. Buttermilk-fried chicken and bacon, plus pecans and a maple-chicken jus, are just the filling. The real main event is the bread, which isn’t bread at all—it’s a brioche donut, powdered with sugar. No wonder it’s only served on Sundays. This is the stuff of legend.

Krista / Flickr 18 / 49

Cochon Butchers, "Cochon Muffuleta", New Orleans, LA

The crucial part of any muffaletta is the sesame seed loaf, and Cochon Butchers in New Orleans knows their stuff. Their muffuletta’s loaf is fluffy but browned at the bottom and crispy, an indulgence on its own. The meats are smoky and strongly peppered, and the olive tapenade has the right amount of brine to it. Cochon serves this sandwich with potato chips and pickles, knowing not to stray too far from deli staples.

Rosebud 19 / 49

Rosebud, "The Nasty McAlister", Atlanta, GA

Formerly known as The Big Nasty, until McAlister’s Deli sent a cease-and-desist to chef Ron Eyester for using the same name as one of their items, the Nasty McAlister is feistiness in food form. It should be a brunch classic, considering all the elements in play: scrambled eggs, fried chicken, smoked bacon, and sharp cheddar come together on a soft bun to make the grossest of hangovers slightly more bearable. A side of grits helps the dish tip over into heart attack territory, but regulars wouldn’t want it any other way.

Ruma's 20 / 49

Ruma's, "The Gerber", St. Louis, MO

The Gerber sandwich at Ruma’s in St. Louis has gotten several awards, but maybe none as infamous as the award for “the best use of the worst cheese” it got in 2008 from readers of the Riverfront Times. That cheese is Provel, a blend of mozzarella, provolone, and Swiss that is heavily processed but too classically St. Louis for anyone to care. Ruma’s layers Provel open-faced over grilled ham and plenty of garlic butter, making a buttery treat that is delicious enough to break our no open-face rule.

Bayou Bakery 21 / 49

Bayou Bakery, "Muff-a-Lotta", Arlington, VA

Bayou Bakery just outside of DC lives up to its name with its menu of New Orleans-style treats, like gumbos, po’ boys, and one genius muffuletta named the Muff-a-lotta. The amount of meat you get in one Muff-a-lotta is fairly manageable, and you can order it with extra olives for more tartness to match the sweet Virginia ham. Just meat, cheese, olives, and a sesame roll, it’s simple but unparalleled in what it gives in satisfaction.

Noble Pig 22 / 49

Noble Pig Sandwich Co., "Seared Beef Tongue", Austin, TX

Beef tongue is not necessarily hard to find in Texas, but there’s something novel about the seared beef tongue sandwich at Noble Pig Sandwich Co. anyway. The bread is lightly, almost unnoticeably grilled, and the tongue is topped with garlic aioli (a great partner for tongue), red pepper relish, and green onions. The tenderness of the meat plus the smokiness of the toppings makes this a find among many restaurants capitalizing on the newfound trendiness of organ meats, and it’s not too expensive either.

Mitchell's Deli 23 / 49

Mitchell's Deli, "Turkey Avocado and Bacon", Nashville, TN

The most popular sandwich at an already popular Nashville deli, the turkey, avocado, and bacon offering at Mitchell’s is probably everything you could want in a turkey sandwich. Sprouts, tomato, mayonnaise, smoky bacon, fresh avocado, and turkey is an order you can’t really get wrong, but maybe the best part of this is the cheese, a sharp bright cheddar that melts wonderfully over the sides and into the crust of the wheat bread. Sometimes dishes are best-sellers for a reason.

Zunzi's 24 / 49

Zunzi's, "The Chicken Conquistador", Savannah, GA

Zunzi’s in Savannah is a nice blend of different cuisines, taking from Swiss, Dutch, South African, and Italian styles of cooking, but the best sandwich on their menu is a simple chicken sandwich. The Chicken Conquistador comes on French bread, the chicken is baked, and the toppings are humble lettuce and tomato, but the sauce brings it all up to another level. Merely known as Zunzi’s special sauce, it’s a game-changing condiment that the restaurant sells and ships right to your door, if you want to try to make your own at home.

Jessica Dillree / Flickr 25 / 49

The Brown Hotel, "The Hot Brown", Louisville, KY

At the Brown Hotel in Louisville, there is one dish everyone must eat: the Hot Brown, an open-faced turkey sandwich that has been lauded by numerous magazines and TV shows for its creamy richness. The Mornay sauce, made of roux, heavy cream, and Pecorino, is hard to beat, and the turkey is sliced thick and paired with bacon. And true to the style of the South, the bread used in the Hot Brown is Texas toast, crusts trimmed. It’s easy to see why this meal has been around since at least the 1920s.

Saffron's 26 / 49

Saffron's ""The Lamb Bacon 'BLT'", Minneapolis, MN

Why would anyone mess with the sublime combination of bacon, lettuce, and tomato? The only reason we can justify would be substituting in lamb belly bacon, the thought of which is almost too much to bear. Saffron’s in Minneapolis cures their own in-house and serves it on vanilla egg challah that has been coated in lamb fat before hitting the grill, with tarragon aioli and tomato jam. Fanciful, sure, but also delicious.

Joe's 27 / 49

Joe's, "The Z-Man", Kansas City, KS

It’s maybe every sandwich-lover’s dream to have an item named after them at their favorite shop, and that dream came true for a mysterious regular at Joe’s in Kansas City named Mike Zarrick, the eponymous Z-Man whose sports radio show publicized the sandwich before it was named. If you ask for a Z-Man, you get a Kaiser roll filled with sliced brisket, melted provolone cheese, crispy onion rings, and barbecue sauce, though not too much at the risk of overwhelming the rest of the flavors. Both the sandwich and the man it was named for became tremendously popular; the former might be responsible for a winning streak for the Kansas City Royals in 2013, but who can be sure?

Xoco 28 / 49

Xoco, "The Pepito Torta", Chicago, IL

Chef Rick Bayless has a pretty tight hustle going on with cookbooks, guacamole mixes, and television appearances on his resume, but we can’t begrudge him his fame because his food is just too good to pass up. Xoco is a casual Mexican place serving up churros and hot chocolate as desserts for the main attraction: the tortas. For instructions on how tortas get made, everyone should consult Bayless. The roll for the Pepito, our pick, is a crispy bolillo that is filled with the right amount of braised short ribs, melted cheese, jalapenos, and caramelized onions. It also comes with a tomatillo sauce, a tangier choice than a regular red salsa, for a different kind of taste.

Tavern on Grand 29 / 49

Tavern on Grand, "Fried Walleye Sandwich", Saint Paul, MN

The walleye sandwich is a Twin Cities classic in the same way that oyster loafs are New Orleans in sandwich form. Deep-fried white, flaky fish is served with tartar sauce, lettuce, and tomato on either a hamburger bun or a French loaf. Tavern on Grand in Saint Paul offers their walleye sandwich with the fish deep-fried, blackened, or grilled, and on a ciabatta loaf, with regular tartar sauce, jalapeno tartar, or housemade béarnaise sauce. Fries and pickles come on the side, of course.

Gourmands Neighborhood Pub 30 / 49

Gourmands Neighborhood Pub, "Royale with Brie", Austin, TX

Gourmands in Austin, Texas, is cool in a way that’s completely without pretension. The space was previously a Tejano nightclub, and the bar is stacked with great drafts on tap and a wide range of snacks like Shiner Bock-infused cheese and spicy nachos. Their sandwiches are appropriately deemed “fat” on the menu, and the royal with brie is perhaps the fattest: it’s a twist on a traditional roast beef sandwich, with spicy creole mustard, sprouts, and brie. The rye bread is what elevates the meal, in our opinion, complementing the spice in the mustard splendidly.

Charles Haynes / Flickr 31 / 49

Ike's Place, "Menage a Trois", San Francisco, CA

The owner of Ike’s Place in San Francisco (genuinely named Ike) is a big believer in putting basically anything between two slices of bread and calling it a sandwich, and it shows. The menu boasts more than two hundred concoctions, including the Menage a trois, recently estimated to be about 1200 calories. That count doesn’t seem so far off considering how totally decadent this sandwich is. So called because there are three cheeses and three sauces, the Menage a trois features halal chicken, pepper jack, Swiss, cheddar, honey mustard, real honey, and something called “Dirty sauce,” which is an aioli perfected by Ike himself and cultishly adored by Ike’s many fans.

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