America’s Best New Sandwiches, Part 2
Last month ES brought you our list of America’s top 10 new sandwiches. But blogga always said that reader knows best.
Many of you commented on our original story to tell us which of your favorite innovative sandwich should have been included. We chose the ten tastiest suggestions and now present an encore list: America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches, as selected by Endless Simmer readers.
10. Steak Poutine Pita — U Needa Pita — St. Catharine’s, Ontario
What could be better than poutine, Montreal’s signature street food? How about throwing that poutine — cheese curds, fries and gravy included — on a pita, so you can actually eat it while walking down the street? Add some steak and you’ve got yourself one helluva sandwich. And yes, for the sake of U Needa Pita, we’re including Canada as part of America this one time only.
9. Westside Monte Cristo — Melt Bar and Grilled — Cleveland
We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: there’s no food so good that it can’t be made better by a trip to the deep fryer. Kudos to Melt for being brave enough to test this theory out on the monte cristo breakfast sandwich — honey ham, smoked turkey, Swiss and American cheese — all battered in beer and deep fried.
8. Chacarero — La Sombra — Austin
We’re officially placing money on Chile’s signature sandwich — the chacarero — to become the next bahn mi, and La Sombra‘s version is the most sumptuous one we’ve seen yet. Shiner Bock marinated sliced hangar steak topped with green beans, avocado, tomatoes, pickled cucumbers and spicy mayo, all on a thin, toasty bolillo.
7. Koagie — Sammy Chon’s KTown BBQ — Cherry Hill, New Jersey
We thought the bulgogi steak sandwich on our original list was one-of-a-kind, but apparently the greater Philly area is awash with Korea/Pennsylvania mashups. KTown BBQ (formerly known as Myung Ga)’s Koagie is a fresh hoagie roll filled with bulgogi steak, pork or chicken and topped with kimchi, Korean sesame coleslaw and spicy kirby cucumbers.
6. Artisan Foie Gras Torchon & Duck Prosciutto Sandwich — Naked Lunch — San Francisco
Tomato, butter lettuce, black truffle salt and, um, what it says above. With this alongside other seasonal sandwich options like “pig and peach” and fried soft shell crabs with avocado and daikon, Naked Lunch could fill a top ten list of great new sandwiches all on its own. (Photo: Cinnachick)
5. The Stinger — Jim’s Steakout — Buffalo
Call this one the anti-foie gras and duck prosciutto. Jim’s Stinger is just a basic steak sandwich with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion…oh yeah, and some chicken fingers on top for good measure.
4. The Big-Ass Roast Beef Sandwich — Big-Ass Sandwiches — Portland, Oregon
A ciabatta roll is stuffed with slow-cooked roast beef (or turkey or ham, if you’re not Big-Ass enough), plus hand-cut french fries, all covered in gooey bechamel cheese sauce. We can hear the detractors screaming “heart attack” in the comments already. For the record, we recommend every person find time in their lives to eat one and only one of these.
3. Mama Ling Ling’s Thanksgiving — Pom Pom’s Teahouse and Sandwicheria — Orlando
All of Thanksgiving — and then some — between two slices of bread. Pom Pom‘s ultimate sandwich contains turkey, stuffing, cranberry-ginger chutney, mashed potatoes, gouda, and the kicker: a slather of cream cheese. Plus, there’s a side of gravy for dipping au jus style. (Photo: Chris Regan)
2. The Paul Reubens — Ike’s Place — San Francisco
Something about this sandwich makes us feel as happy as Pee Wee’s playhouse and as dirty as Paul Reuben’s playhouse at the same time. Ike’s sandwich has sliced corned beef, homemade poppy seed coleslaw, French dressing and Swiss cheese piled on crispy Dutch crunch bread. (Photo: Kanuck)
1. The Reggie — Pine State Biscuits — Portland, Oregon
Almost like a version of the New Luther for breakfast, Pine State‘s fluffy biscuit is stuffed with buttermilk fried chicken, bacon, cheddar cheese, and (if you order a deluxe, which you obviously will) a runny egg — the whole thing slathered in hearty gravy.
A special thanks to all our readers for letting us know about these amazing sandwiches. Got more? That’s what the comments are for!
Part 1: America’s Top 10 New Sandwiches
Nice list. Good to see Big Ass Sandwiches and Pine State representing Portland. But after looking at this list and last year’s I was surprised to not see Bunk Sandwiches on there.
We love Big Ass Sandwiches!! Everything a food cart should aspire to be.
i ate an incredibly similar sandwich, minus the bacon, as the reggie. it was in seattle at Dahlia Workshop. it’s an absolute mess – and delight – to eat.
Portland! i visited The People’s Sandwich of Portland last week which does greasy sandwiches very well, and also makes their own fries & chips on the spot. The Portlandia Ueber Alles wasn’t quite what i expected, but full of perfectly cooked vegis and very filling. sadly, Big Ass Sandwich’s only vegetarian option does not call me to their cart whatsoever, but this is my own personal hangup as a sandwich of wheat meat on white flour bun = major ouchy stomach.
i want someone to make a sandwich with onion rings on it. please world, do it.
I want that Chacarero situation!
I can vouch for the Monte Cristo at Melt- it’s HUGE and amazing. I was only able to eat about a third of it before I settled into my cheesy food coma, but I’d highly recommend it, as well as the Municipal Stadium and the Parmageddon. Melt’s right down the street from me, but I don’t go often, due to the 2 hour wait times and the fact that zipping my pants is a priority.
Oh man, I’m salivating so hard right now watching these sandwiches. Unfortunately I also think I’m going to need angioplasty after reading this.
Great, I’m officially really hungry now! And looks like Oregon is where it’s at when it comes to awesome sandwiches!
I’d like to nominate a sandwich: the Dr. Lawrence at PS 7’s restaurant in Washington, DC. It’s an open-faced meatball sandwich on parmigiano and garlic sourdough topped roasted tomatoes, provolone, a fried egg (!!), and another sprinkling of parmigiano before it’s popped in the oven and toasted. It is, in a word, sinful. But really really effing good.
That should read “topped WITH roasted tomatoes”. The drool on my keyboard made it tough to type that sentence correctly…
As a Canadian I would like to say fuck you for your “we’re including Canada as part of America this one time only,” comment. We don’t want to be categorized with assholes and pigs.
God Bless America…Lord knows you fucks need it
I commend Jim for breaking down one of the worst stereotypes out there, that Canadians are all conscientious and polite. Thank you. And If you ever visit the US, I owe you a sandwich
Including Canada in America’s Best New Sandwiches does make sense, we are all Americans, so are people from Central and South America.
Just as people from Africa are Africans, from Europe are Europeans and people from Asia are Asians.
Thanks for this article, all that deep-fried stuff makes me want to go for a jog!
A serious omission is the Cuban sandwich from Ebbett’s Good to Go food truck in the SF Bay Area. Slow roasted pulled pork, artesanal ham and gruyere cheese, jalapeno relish and chipotle aoli on an Acme sweet deli roll. When you’ve got people buying multiple sandwiches, you know it’s good.