This year’s most important poll
The best sandwich: Muffuletta, Reuben, Patty Melt, Bacon Double Cheeseburger, or Fluffernutter?
Perhaps worthy of the list is my brother in law’s Italian Redneck Hotdog. Grill up some Italian sausage, put it on a hotdog bun with some spaghetti sauce of choice and mozzarella. But I’m leaving it off the poll because you probably haven’t had one. But you should.
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:04 am
Oh wow, I want to try that muffuletta.
April 23rd, 2009 at 10:08 am
I made some last night.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:02 am
Sir, it has been scientifically proven that the best sammich is a bacon sandwich when you have a hangover.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/sciencenews/5118283/Bacon-sandwich-really-does-cure-a-hangover.html
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 am
There is one catch on my vote for the Muff. THE best place to get one is Central Grocery on Decatur St. in New Orleans. You may get some good ones else where but this is the home of the Muffaleta. In fact one of the best and cheapest dates in New Orleans is picking up a Muff, a couple of Barq’s in a bottle and some Zapp’s, then take it up to the levee and watch the ships on the river. Or over to Jackson Square and watch the people. Was a great date in high school and still is today.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 am
The problem is that the best example of any sandwich will eclipse all normal examples of all the rest.
The best sandwich I have ever had was a Reuben, but it was also just about the most perfectly prepared sandwich I have ever had, when I most needed a perfect sandwich. Yes, the need arises, much like the dude abides.
The best I make myself, which also surpasses all but the most refined examples of each listed, is a simple bacon, lettuce and tomato on wheat bread with mayo and salt, made with perfect examples of each ingredient. Vine ripened, home grown tomato is of course mandatory; the lettuce is best home grown but store bought is aceptable.
The most surprisingly good sandwich I ever had, which again would surpass any normal example listed, was apple sliced salami-thin, with sprouts, blue cheese and home-made mayo on a roll. What a kick that was – the mayo helped, but treating an apple as a meat was both novel and very successful.
The worst sandwich I ever ate, which raises my gorge some 45 years later, was prepared by my friend Tim’s mom. She offered tuna fish salad, which was a nonstarter for me, so I asked if she could make me a banana and peanut butter sandwich instead (I could see the ingredients on the kitchen counter). She agreed, but misunderstood, and made me a banana salad sandwich, mixing the fruit with Miracle Whip. Don’t try that at home, you will regret it.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:35 am
By the way, posting things like this before lunch hour really kills my productivity. Early lunch today, I think.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I concur with the comment about quality of the sandwich counting for a lot. I’ve had some really crappy ruebens and some really outstanding ones. There was BBQ place near my old job that made something called a “rueben wrap” full of barbequed corned beef and sauerkraut. It was the king of fucking sandwiches and I ate there as often as possible. I can’t remember the name of the place though. Thanks google earth: it was “Fred Fleming’s BBQ”
There was also a restaurant near work that was basically a tiny shack but they made incredible toasted cubans. Actually, they had a whole selection of awesome homemade hispanic dishes. A well made cuban is a worthy meal.
I don’t know if this is cheating, but if you’ll allow non-standard sandwiches, I want to put in honorable mention for the gyro. A well prepared gyro is pure sex. I used to live near tarpon springs in FL and there was this greek place (King Gyro, they were temporarily shut down when I left a few years ago due to an old lady driving through the front of the restaurant lol florida) that made these incredible gyros. The bread, the meat, the sauce were all consistently perfect. Yum.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I can’t understand how sane people can eat corned beef. Ugh.
Bacon double for me plz.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:59 pm
This was really good, nothing like deli corned beef at all.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:02 pm
I want to try your brother’s creation. Sounds delicious.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:06 pm
A properly made reuben is the best.
Also I refuse to call a burger a “Sandwich” I know it has many of the same componants, but a Burger is a Burger, a Sandwich is like a burger, but not a burger.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
+1 on a good gyro, with feta.
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Gyros do rock.
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:38 pm
A gyro is one of the best, but it has to be made with lamb and have a good tzatziki sauce.
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:52 pm
I agree with teh Beardz0rz that a burger is a different class of food than a sandwich. But I can’t eat peanut butter, I don’t really like rye bread, patty melts are just bad-tasting burgers, and I’ve never had a muffaletta that I’ve really been impressed with, so burgers it is.
I am a fan of sandwiches, though. My favorite readily-available sandwich is a Quizno’s Classic Italian. Gotta load up on the extra sauce for dipping it, and make sure they toast it up nice and crunchy, maybe even get them to run it through the oven twice if necessary (a lot of Quizno’s locations have overly-fast ovens). Quizno’s Mesquite Chicken with Bacon is awesome when made correctly, but there’s a certain ratio of onions to ranch dressing, and a certain ratio of those two ingredients to the rest of the sandwich, that’s needed to make it perfect, otherwise you end up with a soggy mess or a cloyingly ranchy sandwich. Also the chicken needs to get a good long soak in the mesquite sauce.
Jimmy John’s subs has a good sandwich too, but they’ve lost some of their mojo since going national. I used to go there all the time in Chicago.
In Utah there is this chain called Gandolfo’s New York Deli. Holy freaking awesome subs. My mouth is watering just thinking about it, and wishing that I was back in SLC. Based on their website, it looks like they’re expanding too.
Potbelly’s is another Chicago chain that has expanded nationally recently. Not a bad sandwich but certainly not gourmet.
IMO the key ingredient for a great sandwich is the bread. Awesome bread can make a mediocre sandwich good, and bad bread can make an awesome sandwich taste like crap.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:31 pm
For everyday eats when you don’t happen to have anything awesome nearby, the subway 5 dollar footlongs are a pretty good deal.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I’ve never heard of a muffuletta. Is that what we in Middle TN call “cunnilingus”? If so, that ain’t no sandwich. Unless you have two chicks, I reckon.
BTW, gyros on the island of Rhodes are killer.
April 24th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
This list was a bit slanted: any dish/sandwich/whatever that has ‘bacon’ in the title automatically gets my vote.