52 Best Sandwiches Of 2011 Slideshow

Red's Lobster Roll (Wiscasset, Maine)

Heaping, fresh wet lobster. So much it falls off and all over. It tastes like it was just cooked and picked, plus it's a great deal. No dressing. Ask for both butter (kept warm in a tea kettle on the stove) and mayo. Sometimes there's a reason why number one is number one. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Red's Lobster Roll.

LAX International Dog (Los Angeles)

The latest installment of Pink's started serving hot dogs in Los Angeles at the Tom Bradley International Terminal of LAX. The chili is classic Pink's (small ground), the dog is surrounded by fine shredded kraut and melted cheese that clings to it and pulls away in sticky threads. The soft bun gets squishy, there's a slight snap of the link, and a satisfying feeling that you've eaten one of the best things you can find while waiting at an airport terminal. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: LAX International Dog.

Grill 'Em All's Behemoth Burger (Los Angeles)

You're familiar with the concept — a burger whose buns are two grilled cheese sandwiches. That's right, four pieces of bread. Friendly's has been doing Grilled Cheese BurgerMelts for a while now, or you may have also seen Adam Kuban's Hamburger Fatty Melt, which cites the "Chubby Melt" at the Mossy Creek Cafe in Fisherville, Va., as one precursor.

In this case, chefs Ryan Harkins and Matthew Chernus of Grill 'Em All sidestep a potential problem that could arise from using so much bread, a dry burger. Besides the gooey smoked Cheddar between the slices, there's more shredded cheese atop the burger and apple wood smoked bacon. But what really makes all the meat and bread work are the very wet beer-soaked onions. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Grill 'Em All's Behemoth Burger.

Num Pang's Ginger Barbecue Brisket (New York City)

This is a messy, messy sandwich. Juices drip down your fingers, there's mayo on your palms, you can't really put it down once you start, and you need at least three napkins once you're done. But you just don't care. Tang, sour, sweet, creamy plus deep earthy meat on slightly toasted bread. It's a Sunday sandwich — something to eat when you don't have to be anywhere. "This isn't typical of what you'll see anywhere else," chef Chaupoly noted. He's right. So be wise. Take note of the recipe.

Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Num Pang's Ginger Barbecue Brisket

Ponto Chic's Bauru (São Paulo, Brazil)

Traditionally, the sandwich features roast beef, but ham is also used. And while mozzarella is often cited as the cheese, Ponto Chic actually uses a blend of four cheeses, which are melted in a bain-marie before being poured over the meat. Besides tomato slices, it also contains pickles. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Ponto Chic's Bauru.

Beach Street Sandwiches' Smoked Ham and Cheese (Connecticut)

Pork butt slow-smoked over chile-infused woodchips from old Tabasco barrels, then roasted with pickled green apples and pulled into savory shreds. Next, it's piled on a six-inch hero roll that's been slathered with garlic butter and quickly grilled, then topped with slabs of provolone and presented for your delectation. And delectate it you will, unless you actually like mystery meat. It's a little salty, a little spicy, a little garlicky, and very meaty — the kind of sandwich that deserves to be eaten with two hands.

Alas, Beach Street's site says that their truck is closed. But if you're looking for food by chef Greg, he's supposedly headed back to New York City this fall. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Beach Street Sandwiches' Smoked Ham and Cheese.

White House Special (Atlantic City, N.J.)

The White House Special is everything you want in a good sub. Superior bread. Good meat. Textural variation from the crust, cheese, lettuce, and meat. And great flavor from the sliced onions and chopped peppers. It's a sandwich worth a three-hour detour. Anyone who tells you otherwise just doesn't know what they're talking about. Shake your fist at them and tell them so. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: White House Special.

Cuz's Blue Marlin Cutter (Barbados)

This is a fish sandwich with a following. Beach bums, locals, taxi drivers, kids off from school, they all line up for Cuz's blue marlin sandwich. It consists of salt bread, lightly pan-seared blue marlin, tomato, lettuce, and pickle, with an option of either a fried egg, or cheese. You put the sauces on: mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, and, of course, Scotch bonnet sauce.

The salt bread (named thusly because many other Bajan breads are sweet) has a thin crust and a chewy interior. Inside, the juicy fish steak has a very light, peppery breading and wet flakes. You get a choice of fried egg, or cheese (Anchor New Zealand Cheddar, the cheese found everywhere in local grocers). Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Cuz's Blue Marlin Cutter.

Ipswich Clam 'Burger' (Rockville Center, Long Island, N.Y.)

Ignore the "From the Grill" options, you're here for golden-brown goods. There's fried shrimp, flounder, whiting, scrod, scallops, oysters, and more, all served with cole slaw or fries. But it's the "Famous Ipswich Clams" that you have to get. The best way to do them is burger-style, or as the menu says, "Done on a Bun" (which costs a little less). Crispy, crunchy, juicy clams falling out all over the place as you pick up the sandwich. A spritz of lemon, a few spoonfuls of the homemade tartar sauce, a few liberal dashes of Tabasco, and you'll be more than satisfied. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Ipswich Clam 'Burger.'

Richard's Bake & Shark (Maracas Bay, Trinidad)

Ignore the "From the Grill" options, you're here for golden-brown goods. There's fried shrimp, flounder, whiting, scrod, scallops, oysters, and more, all served with cole slaw or fries. But it's the "Famous Ipswich Clams" that you have to get. The best way to do them is burger-style, or as the menu says, "Done on a Bun" (which costs a little less). Crispy, crunchy, juicy clams falling out all over the place as you pick up the sandwich. A spritz of lemon, a few spoonfuls of the homemade tartar sauce, a few liberal dashes of Tabasco, and you'll be more than satisfied. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Ipswich Clam 'Burger.'

The Noble Pig's Smoked Duck Pastrami (Austin)

The sandwiches arrived one-by-one on cafeteria-like trays covered with brown wax paper, accompanied by those fresh pickles and crunchy, ruffled chips. The first bite of the duck was an explosion of texture and flavor, at just the right temperature. The bread, lightly toasted and buttered, was soft and thick, but not overpowering. The duck was tender and soft with a hint of smokiness balanced by a silky pickle and crunchy raw strips of green and red cabbage. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: The Noble Pig's Smoked Duck Pastrami.

Defonte's Hot Roast Beef (New York City)

Go to Defonte's for a hot roast beef #20 according to the specs of The Daily Meal's regular contributor, the Gutter Gourmet: "Ask for Nick Defonte. Tell him you want roast beef, bloody-heart-still-beating-red rare, on a soft egg roll, and to dip the roll in the au jus. Fresh mutz, hold the eggplant, and add sweet and hot peppers to taste. No lettuce or tomato!"

It's a hell of a sandwich — thin-sliced, pink, juicy roast beef, jus dripping all over your fingers and onto the sandwich paper. Tang, spice, and sweetness with savory jus that sops into the bread. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Defonte's Hot Roast Beef.

Gott's Western Bacon Blue Ring Burger (San Francisco)

Call it Taylor's, call it Gott's... you have to call it one of San Francisco's great burgers. Their Western Bacon Blue Ring Burger is thick and juicy — best right in the center, where that crumbled blue is soft and stinky, accented with the occasional sour crunch of the ridged pickles. There's a hint of sweetness from the BBQ sauce and the egg bun, nothing cloying, just enough for a hint, and to take a bit of the cut off the cheese. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Gott's Western Bacon Blue Ring Burger.

Round Hill's Escoveitched Snapper Sandwich (Jamaica)

At the legendary Round Hill resort just outside Montego Bay, chef Martin Maginley, who likes working variations on local specialties, turns escoveitched snapper into the perfect beachside lunch sandwich.

He serves a generous slab of the fish on a big, soft bun moistened with grilled scallion mayonnaise, then adds a wisp of lettuce, a couple of thin slices of the kind of red, ripe tomatoes you don't see north of Florida this time of year, and — this really makes the sandwich — a tangle of shredded pickled onion, carrot, and both sweet and hot peppers. The flavors are bright, clean, and politely spicy, and the pickled vegetables add a satisfying crunch. Everything blends  perfectly, which is the sign of a great sandwich. Washed down with a heady rum punch at the palm-frond-shaded bar just off the sand, it's pretty much the definition of tropical paradise. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Escoveitched Snapper Sandwich at Round Hill, Jamaica.

Olive Oil Roll with Cured Iberian Pork Shoulder at Mas Gourmets (Madrid)

The torta de aceite con paleta ibérica (olive oil roll with cured Iberian pork shoulder) served at the Mas Gourmets charcutería in the stylish, recently refurbished Mercado de San Miguel near Madrid's Plaza Mayor, is irresistible. The bread is a crisp, olive oil-soaked round bun not much more than three inches in diameter, faintly bagel-ish in appearance though not in flavor or consistency — a type of bread typical of the region of Burgos. The filling is a generous heap of thin wisps of paleta, pork shoulder cured like ham, from the famous black Iberian pigs that also yield the best Spanish jamón. The paleta came from Carrasco, one of the best producers in the Guijuelo region of Salamanca, which now rivals Jabugo as premium ham country. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Olive-Oil Roll with Cured Iberian Pork Shoulder at Mas Gourmets, Mercado San Miguel, Madrid.

Chicken Shawarma at Phoenicia Deli (Houston)

Vertical spits of stacked marinated chicken breast do a slow circling dance in the open rotisserie oven. Chicken is carved to order, and gets wrapped in thin, crisp, fresh pita with soft, diced potatoes, and slices of tomato. Let's not forget the garlic sauce — glorious gobs of rich, thick garlic sauce. You could drink the stuff. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Chicken Shawarma at Houston's Phoenicia Deli.

Grease Burger Bar's Grease Beast (West Palm Beach, Fla.)

Grease Burger Bar's signature cheeseburger starts with two American cheese grilled cheese sandwiches — but not just any grilled cheese, applewood bacon grilled cheese sandwiches. There's tomato and shredded lettuce, a thick, griddled 10-ounce patty covered in dripping Cabot Cheddar cheese sauce. It doesn't stop there. It's also topped with ranch dressing, french fries, and thin crispy-flaking onion rings. As the menu notes, it's "not for the faint of heart." Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: West Palm Beach's Grease Beast.

Bowery Beef (New York City)

New Yorkers need a new Boston interloper like they need five more months of winter. But here's the deal: New York City has room for another style of roast beef sandwich. And that's what the guys behind Bowery Beef brought — a different style of roast beef. Is it Defonte's? Is it Roll-N-Roaster? Brennan and Carr's? This Little Piggy? No. It's its own beast — and covered in BBQ sauce. That said, both with sauce and without, it's pretty damned good — minus the generic bun, that is (though you have to love the 'BB' branding on top). Hopefully they'll be able to reboot the concept after having to close due to robberies. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Bowery Beef in New York City.

La Carreta's Medianoche (Miami)

There are at least seven locations of La Carreta in Miami, and there's one in the North Terminal at the airport. So, if you have a half an hour before boarding, the key to solving your hunger issues is to skip the long line at La Carreta and go straight to the sandwich counter. Get a Cuban and a medianoche. For the unintiated a medianoche (literally, "midnight") is a ham, pork, pickle, and cheese sandwich in a toasted sweet roll. Skip the fried yucca sticks, but ask for a side of the cilantro and garlic aioli in which to dip your sandwiches. In fact, make sure you hit it with hot sauce before running to your gate.

These are by no means Miami's best renditions, but the bread is warm and toasted, the meat/pickle/cheese ratio works, and the buttery medianoche will have the guy in the aisle seat wishing he was you, crammed into that middle seat if only he could have a bite. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: La Carreta's Medianoche.

America’s Top 20 New Sandwiches

Brendan Spiegel of The Endless Simmer and his readers highlighted the top 20 new sandwiches in America. A top pick? Churchkey's The New Luther in Washington, D.C. Named for its alleged creator, Luther Vandross, the original Luther sandwich consists of a bacon cheeseburger wedged between two halves of Krispy Kreme donut. But that now seems simple in comparison. At ChurchKey, a housemade brioche donut is glazed in savory maple-chicken jus and topped with warm pieces of oven-baked pecans. While that sounds like a meal already, the brioche is cut in half and stuffed with a hunk of buttermilk fried chicken, and wedges of applewood smoked bacon. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: America's Top 20 New Sandwiches.

New York's Best Bauru

There are three good renditions of this São Paulo original in New York City, but one that's clearly above the others. Casa only serves their rendition of the Bauru on the weekends for brunch. Two small rolls with airy insides, and a thin, flaky crust. The melted cheese is spread over Applegate Farm's ham, tomato, and pickle. It's served with a lightly dressed side salad with hearts of palm, and a ramekin of a jalapeño hot sauce. The kind of bread, the amount of cheese — the ratio of bread to cheese, it's New York's best version, no contest. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: New York's Best Bauru.

La Brea Bakery's Marinated Artichoke and Ricotta (Los Angeles)

The perfect blue sky, warm weather sandwich — the fluffy ricotta is cool and creamy while the pesto spread provides a nod to summer. The peppery arugula keeps the combination from being too one-note, and then there's the bread... Flecks of black olive that aren't too big and leathery; a rustic crust; spongey and moist inside but not heavy. Sturdy despite the holes that the ricotta pokes through, nothing too-too. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Marinated Artichoke and Ricotta.

New York's 10 Best Burgers to Eat Outdoors

A list of interesting, pleasant, and top-notch burgers to be eaten al fresco in New York City obviously includes Shake Shack, but which others? JG Melon, Resto, and Dumont Burger made the list. So did Mother Burger... surprisingly. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: New York's 10 Best Burgers to Eat Outdoors.

Pane Bianco's Tuna Sandwich (Phoenix)

Red onion, Gaeta olives, lemon, and arugula on bread. It's a very simple sandwich that all starts with Pane Bianco's thin, crackery, crispy bread. There's a good ratio of tuna to bread and a representative layer of peppery baby arugula. And consider, the tuna was wet with oil and that thin bread stood up to it. Tangy, crispy, wet, without that roof-sticking quality you normally find with tuna, this is a winner. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Pane Bianco's Tuna Sandwich.

Bar Pinotxo's Pa amb Tomàquet amb Anxoves (Barcelona)

Of the 10 bars and food kiosks scattered around the Boqueria market on the Ramblas in Barcelona, none is more celebrated than Bar Pinotxo. A lively breakfast-and-lunch counter just inside the main market entrance, presided over by Juanito Bayén, an effervescent sprite whose whole face seems implicated when he smiles. At Bar Pinotxo, some regulars like their pa amb tomàquet sandwich style: An elongated French-type roll is split lengthwise, smeared with tomato juice, anointed with oil, layered with plump, glistening Costa Brava anchovy filets, reassembled, and then toasted briefly in a sandwich press. The result is utter simplicity, a wake-up call of crunch and salt and faint sweetness. It even goes surprisingly well with a shot of Bayén's rich, dark coffee — or with a glass of the Cava Bayen will be only too happy to serve you. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Pa amb Tomàquet amb Anxoves.

Which is Better, Shake Shack or In-N-Out?

It's not even a close call. Quality-wise, taste-wise, Shake Shack is better than In-N-Out. The burger is better. The fries are better (stop with this talk about In-N-Out's "well-done" fries animal-style not beating out Shake Shack's — it's patently ridiculous — they're woody duds). And the shakes are better. The only things In-N-Out has that Shake Shack doesn't are the reach (259 locations to the Shack's 13), the history (est. 1948 vs. 2004), and of course, the "secret menu." Though you can even make a "Shake Shack secret menu" of your own. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Which is Better, Shake Shack or In-N-Out?

Exploring New Mexico's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail

Sampling three distinct styles of green chile cheeseburgers reveals that Bobcat Bite is the greatest green chile cheeseburger you're likely to ever experience. Their unique huge, ciabatta-like buns are soft but sturdy enough to sop up the Christmas-colored mix of red blood and green chiles on my perfectly cooked rare burger. If you choose to explore the New Mexican green chile cheeseburger trail, you can be assured of striking gold at Bobcat Bite. Read the article: Sandwich of the Week: Exploring New Mexico's Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail.

Dixson Bar-B-Que's Pig Burger (Knoxville, Tenn.)

The pig burger might not sound like much, and it doesn't look like much when it arrives wrapped in foil. It's just two slices of white bread containing some grilled onions, barbeque sauce, and a pork patty. But it sure tastes like a heck of a lot. That barbeque sauce is tomatoey and sweet with a great smokiness. And the pork patty is juicy — made right there in front of you by awesome people in about two minutes. To be honest, you don't need much else. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Dixson Bar-B-Que's Pig Burger in Knoxville, Tenn.

The Dwarf House's Spicy Chicken Sandwich (Atlanta)

Did you know there was an original Chick-fil-A? It's called The Dwarf House and it's in Atlanta. The main difference between The Dwarf House and other Chick-fil-A locations? It's a full-service restaurant in addition to the fast food. You can find chicken pot pie, fried okra, ribeye steak, and the hot brown platter (chicken in a thick cream sauce topped with Cheddar, paprika, sliced bacon, and toast).

Sandwiches? The spicy chicken platter with waffle fries comes with a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips. The bottom bun half gets condensed to become thin and a little sweet. Crunchy, crispy, salty, with a little mustard and zest. It's a tasty fast-food sandwich. There's also a bottle of vinegar-soaked hot peppers to add some heat, and of course, sweet Chick-fil-A sauce and buttermilk ranch dressing. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Dwarf House Chick-fil-A.

Enriqueta's Cubano (Miami)

The hairnetted Cuban women work furiously to press fantastic sandwiches at Enriqueta's, and make Cubanos, medianoches, croquetas, and frothy batidos. All this while mainstreaming Café Cubanos to caffeine addicts who line up at 6 a.m. at the take-out window to get their fix. The made-to-order Cubanos use classic ingredients: sweet ham, léchon, Swiss, pickles, mustard, and mayo. They're placed on Cuban bread that is made with lard in the flour to complete what I call, "the holy jamon trinity": ham, pork, and lard in a single sandwich. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Enriqueta's Cubano.

New Orleans' Best Sandwiches

New Orleans has too many good sandwiches to count, but if you were to, you'd have to note the great things between slices of bread that Sam's Good Meats did in this guide to the best sandwiches in the Crescent City. Central Grocery's muffuleta, the Famous Ferdi Special at Mother's, and Cochon's oyster and bacon sandwiches are just a few of the must-eats featured here. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: NOLA Between Two Pieces of Bread.

Merchants' Fried Green Tomato Sandwich (Nashville, Tenn.)

This should actually be called a BAT, as it consists of smoky country bacon (nice and crisp), leafy arugula, and the green tomatoes — plump, acidic, and crisp-fried — on multi-grain bread. Little wisps of raw red onion add texture and a dressing of malt vinegar-spiked mayo etches a fine sharp line around the other elements. It's a great mouthful of southern flavors. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Fried Green Tomato Sandwich at Merchants.

Baguette Box's Pork Loin Baguette (Seattle)

Each bahn-mi style sandwich comes on a half-loaf of crusty French baguette and is topped with shredded carrots and fresh cilantro. The bread that flanks the roasted pork loin baguette is slathered with a sweet and tangy apricot aioli — which balances delightfully alongside the white wine-marinated pork. The meat is sourced from Carlton Farms, located in the Yamhill Valley of Oregon. Because the pork is extra juicy, make sure to grab extra napkins when ordering this sandwich. The sandwich makers top off their creation with sweet caramelized onions, carrots, and cilantro. Read the full article:

Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Baguette Box's Pork Loin Baguette.

Hocca Bar's Belíssima Sandwich (São Paulo, Brazil)

Open since 1952, Hocca Bar appears to have two claims to fame: the pasteis de bacalhau (a fried pastry filled with salt cod) and the Belíssima sandwich. Order both. The description of the sandwich sounds simple enough — sliced mortadella, melted cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and oregano — but it's a behemoth. The reality: a fat stack of salty meat, a thin layer of gooey cheese, and a couple of sweet tomatoes, all contained between two pieces of thick, crusty bread. There's so much mortadella, too much probably, but the excess seems almost appropriate given the surroundings, São Paulo's Paulistano Municipal Market is a glorious mess of distractions for the food-focused traveler. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Hocca Bar's Belíssima Sandwich.

Old Doc's Ham Sandwich and Frosty Pepper (Dublin, Texas)

Soda isn't the only thing on the offer at Old Doc's soda shop. There are sandwiches. Not fancy ones mind you, but ones made on white, wheat, and jalapeño cheese rolls with good old-fashioned American ingredients — deli meats and cheeses that your grandmother might have assembled for you as an after-school snack when you were a kid — roast beef, smoky turkey, and honey ham.

The moist, airy jalapeño cheese roll topped with honey ham, pepperjack, bright green lettuce, fresh juicy red tomato, pickles, jalapeño, onion, mayo, mustard, and horseradish make for a satisfying example. Salty, tangy, spicy with a little bit of zip, it's best washed down with the fountain soda-flavored milkshake, The Frosty Pepper. It's creamier than the more conventionally-known fast-food Frosty at Wendy's, but marbled with sweet Dr Pepper flavor. Read the full article:  Sandwich of the Week: Old Doc's Ham Sandwich and Frosty Pepper.

X-Tudo Burger (Queens, N.Y.)

Pão de Queijo's burgers will not set the world on fire — while the patty is still moist, it is a bit overcooked compared to New York's most well-regarded quick-service joints. But overall, this is a really interesting sandwich. The combination of cooked corn and potato sticks, while perhaps initially puzzling, combines with kitchen-sink enthusiasm. There are a lot of different flavors and textures, whose combination of sausage, bacon, and ham will give salt lovers a little thrill. A pão de queijo while you wait, the X-Tudo washed down with a Guarana Antarctica, followed by a bowl of açai, and you will be ready to be rolled out happy, without needing much more to eat for the rest of the day. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: X-Tudo Burger.

Maine's 10 Best Lobster Rolls

Red's ranked #1 in this quest for Maine's best lobster rolls. But not too far behind was Five Islands Lobster Co. in Georgetown. There's a regular lobster roll, and then there's The Big Boy. This is about the same size as Red's, but not quite as good (and twice as expensive). Buttery-toasted bun. Lettuce leaf-layering. The meat was naked, full of lobstery-salty flavor, but it's not as wet as Red's. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Maine's 10 Best Lobster Rolls.

Love Shack's Dirty Love Burger (Fort Worth, Texas)

When it comes to chef Tim Love's burgers, the Dirty Love Burger is the way to go — lettuce, tomato, pickles, "Love Sauce," American cheese, bacon, and a fried quail egg. The patty is on a fresh bun with an excellent cheese-to-meat ratio. The perfect burger? No. Needs more sauce, a touch more seasoning, and it could stand to be juicier. But these are the finer points of burger debate. You're still going to want to go back for bite after bite. And it sets up the real star at Love Shack quite nicely: the nachos. Read the full story: Sandwich of the Week: Love Shack's Dirty Love Burger.

Hot Dog Nation

This roundup of more than 30 of America's favorite regional styles of hot dogs and iconic franks didn't pick a winner, but it's hard to go wrong by choosing a Chicago dog to represent the genre. And Murphy's is a pretty damned good Chicago rendition. Snappy, smoky from the grill, and on great bread. You can't go wrong. Unless, that is, you use ketchup, of course. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Hot Dog Nation.

 

A Week of Eating Eataly's Sandwiches (New York City)

Eataly, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's Italian emporium, has a Rosticceria that serves a daily rotation of sandwiches. They're all assembled in a very straightforward, simple fashion. They're sometimes made on small Italian loaves, sometimes on focaccia. The bread is sliced open, there's a drizzle of olive oil on the inside of the bread, the meat is layered inside, there's a scattering of large-flake salt, freshly-ground black pepper, another drizzle of oil, and that's it. The best one?

You can't go wrong with Wednesday's brisket bollito with salsa verde, or Friday's braised brisket meatballs with spicy tomato marmalata, but the star of the rotation is the prime rib (served daily). The rub is made with porcini powder, brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and chile flakes. It creates a slight crust, but the inside is very moist, like the best rare roast beef. Read the full story: Sandwich of the Week: A Week of Eating Eataly's Sandwiches.

Burgers, Shakes & Fries (Darien, Conn.)

This sandwich was simple, with no frills to hide behind — just an expertly grilled patty with skillfully melted American cheese, pickles, and onions. Comfort food at it's very finest.

The "bun," which in this case is two slices of perfectly toasted Pullman-style white bread, is one of the marvels of this sandwich. Somehow it maintains its crisp and toasty integrity despite the juicy patty and fillings inside. The patties are juicy and surprisingly thick; the meat is beautifully seasoned with salt and pepper and grilled, not griddled on a flattop. The exterior of the patty is distinctly crunchy, as it should be, and the interior is so moist that juice runs down your forearms as you eat. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Burgers, Shakes & Fries.

Oinkster's Pastrami Sandwich (Los Angeles)

The pastrami is crusted with crushed black peppercorn and coriander, then smoked for four hours before being sliced and piled onto toasted French bread with caramelized onions for sweetness, Gruyère for tang, and red cabbage coleslaw for fresh crunch. The motto for the Oinkster is slow fast food and the time put in to slow-cook the meat is so apparent in the end product. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Oinkster Pastrami Sandwich.

Cutty's Pork and Fennel Sandwich (Boston)

This is a slow-roasted pork sandwich (a Saturday special), with pickled fennel, and roasted garlic piled onto a soft, but yeasty sesame seed roll. The fennel adds an interesting dimension to the pork without overpowering the meat. The baker at Cutty's used to work at Clear Flour Bakery in Brookline, which explains why the roll was more than just a hot dog bun. It's also a detail that should convince you to purchase their Taza Chocolate brownie, an excellent finish. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Cutty's Pork and Fennel Sandwich.

Eastern Market's Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich (Washington, DC)

The chef will recommend his crab cake sandwich. The crabmeat usually comes from the Chesapeake Bay area (and occasionally South America if the market needs it). The crab cakes are delicious — more crab than anything else and light as can be. However, if you are hankering for something different and a little extraordinary, you should try the soft-shell crab sandwich. The crispiness of the outside of the crab, with the fresh, rich, meaty interior, sitting atop a soft bun, is a combination that is hard to beat. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Eastern Market's Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich.

Flour Bakery's Grilled Tofu Sandwich (Boston)

How could a grilled tofu sandwich possibly be a dish worth noting? Somehow the magicians over at Flour Bakery in the South End neighborhood of Boston have made it so. The tofu is sliced into half-inch thick sheets and grilled lightly, so that the outside is crisp and the inside is still creamy. Usually when tofu is prepared as simply as it is here, the flavor is nonexistent — however, in this case it is boldly seasoned with salt and pepper, and gets a citrusy kick from a squeeze of lemon. 

But enough about the sandwich (as delicious as it is), the star of the show at Flour Bakery is the sticky buns. These are the kinds of buns that you'll want to eat with a fork. They're just too messy to pick up with your hands. The soft, elastic dough, which has a subtle yeasty flavor, is baked and then coated with a syrupy brown glaze that tastes like caramel. Topping off the bun is a blanket of chopped, roasted pecans. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Flour Bakery's Grilled Tofu Sandwich.

The Take 5 Reuben (Seattle)

An excellent Reuben. The bread was toasted on the outside, giving it a wonderful crunch, and the corned beef was wonderfully tender and juicy with just the right amount of saltiness. The meat was sliced a little thick; however, it was tender enough that you don't have to worry about pulling all of the meat out of the sandwich in one bite. But unlike a traditional Reuben, this version didn't have sauerkraut and Russian dressing. Rather, it was topped with coleslaw and a spicy mayo. Both ingredients worked incredibly well, offering another textural dimension, with a bit of freshness and acidity. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: The Take 5 Reuben.

Flour Bakery's Breakfast Sandwich (Boston)

Although Flour Bakery was already featured as a Sandwich of the Week, this breakfast sandwich is outstanding enough to warrant headlining the bakery a second time.

This sandwich is served on a warm, freshly baked roll that doesn't overpower the fillings (too much bread can be a disaster). Inside is a soft omelette, topped with crispy bacon and arugula, and smothered with cheese and Dijon mustard. Why is it such a great sandwich? Well, take all the elements separately and they would be delicious — but, put them altogether and the dish becomes a tour de force... definitely worthy of an encore. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Flour Bakery's Breakfast Sandwich

Tortas Frontera's Cochinita Pibil Torta (Chicago)

The Cochinita Pibil Torta features a generous portion of smoky, juicy, well-seasoned pulled pork, topped with a thin smear of black beans and tangy pickled onions, sandwiched between two pieces of fresh, crusty bread. Heat-seekers are invited to slather on some of the roasted habanero salsa that's provided on the side, but be advised, the stuff is no joke — like, capital "S" spicy. Read the full article:  Sandwich of the Week: Tortas Frontera's Cochinita Pibil Torta.

Reblochon and Jambon Cru at La Fermette (Annecy, France)

You know those long, plump baguettes you always see tucked under the arms of cartoon Frenchmen? The shop takes approximately half of one of those, splits and toasts it, then layers on thin-sliced smoky ham. A huge hunk of reblochon, meanwhile, is melting in a pot;  a broad spatula's worth is scraped up and spread molten onto the baguette. Then come sliced tomatoes and what looks like a whole jar's worth of crunchy French pickles. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Reblochon and Jambon Cru at La Fermette in Annecy.

Boston Sandwich Search

A look at sandwiches in Boston nets three highlights. First, La Verdad's storied chile relleno torta, is actually a sandwich to avoid. The restaurant's sign claiming it serves the "Best Mexican Food in the U.S." should have been a warning.. Bottom-line, the bread was excellent, the rest of the sandwich? Forgettable.

The second is Kelly's thin-sliced roast beef sandwich. It's moist with a light BBQ sauce topping, mayonnaise, and if you're smart, horseradish.

The third, Hungry Mother's open-faced, fried oyster sandwich on pain de mie with remoulade and bacon, is one to seek out. Crusty, light exterior, juicy oyster inside, light, pickupable bread, and tangy remoulade. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Boston Sandwich Search.

Food & Wine's Best Burgers in the US

The burger, America's quintessential comfort food, can now be enjoyed in an impossibly endless number of ways. There are round-the-clock burgers at 24-hour-roadside joints and ephemeral late-night burgers sold out in mere minutes; burgers grilled in hundred-year-old cast-iron broilers and burgers steamed in state-of-the-art ovens; burgers crafted from Kobe beef imported from Japan and burgers made with Black Angus beef from just down the road. It's clearly a great time to love the burger. Here, Food & Wine singled out the 25 best burgers around the country. They went unranked, but highlighted Iron Chef Michael Symon's Lola Burger from his Ohio-based chain, B-Spot. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Food & Wine's Best Burgers in the US.

Garden Catering's Buffalo Chicken Wrap (Stamford, CT)

One of the signature dishes at Garden Catering is their chicken nuggets, which are made from large, tender chunks of breast meat and fried to golden perfection per order. Traditionally the nuggets are tossed in a bag with either fries or cones (tater-tot-sized morsels of fried mashed potatoes) and a sprinkle of Garden Catering's "secret seasoning" (essentially a blend of salt and Cajun spices) — the combination is available in four sizes, the junior, the special, the big boy, and the boss.

To create the wrap, an order of nuggets is fried up and tossed in a bowl with hot sauce, to coat. The tangy chicken is then piled onto the warm tortilla, topped with bleu cheese dressing (or ranch, if you request it) and rolled up. It's as simple, and delicious as that. Read the full article: Sandwich of the Week: Garden Catering's Buffalo Chicken Wrap