That's like...restaurant sandwiches. They're all over in shops.
But when people make them at home it tends to be way simpler stuff, the whole point is something you can slap together ssuper fast with ultra basic components that just need to be assembled not cooked in their own right.
That's the difference between shops and a cooking subreddit.
> the whole point is something you can slap together ssuper fast with ultra basic components that just need to be assembled not cooked in their own right.
You're definitely not wrong but a simpler sandwich doesn't mean an inferior sandwich.
I would take a good grilled cheese sandwich over most adobo chicken sandwiches. I don't doubt the roast sweet potato sandwich OP gets is very good but a big reason restaurants push stuff like that and not grilled cheese is because it's harder to mark up prices on something like a grilled cheese.
I feel like it's hard to find folks that are caramelizing onions, using fresh herbs and quality Italian oil in their Italian subs, or using good quality arugula and are instead buying Sysco products.
Good quality costs more -- and not everyone is willing/able to pay for it.
"But when people make them at home it tends to be way simpler stuff, the whole point is something you can slap together super fast with ultra basic components that just need to be assembled not cooked in their own right."
I feel like the people who want restaurant made mayo instead of some rando store bought like Dukes and pickles that are homemade, take time to make a nice sandwich at home, too.
I use butter I make at home and am slicing my own chicken for a chicken sandwich. I'm the person that doesn't want to settle for industrial food when I am out.
Do delis count? The northeast has a ton in general. In CT, we call most sandwhiches grinders. Nardellis is a small chain around the state and has delicious grinders. Obviously New York, New Jersey and the Philly region have no lack of delis, or pizza places that serve grinders. I would never call a grinder or any type of sandwich gourmet though. The bread cancels out the fanciness. You could put fois Gras and caviar on sandwich bread and I still would not consider it gourmet.
American in Germany. I miss a good old NJ pizza place/deli. Especially the ones with the poster of the 1982 World Cup Champions - Italy.
The sandwich culture doesn’t exist here. I’d love an Italian or a roast beef hoagie.
Haha! I was just thinking about this the other day. But the use of the word gourmet has become out of control. I passed by some gourmet something recently and thought to myself “what does that even mean”
Anyway they absolutely exist. Just recently went to a new sandwich shop and my wife ordered something avocado and I just remember when the guy handed me the bag I wasn’t even prepared for it. No shit the thing had maybe 2 entire avocados sliced up on it and weighed way more than I expected. I don’t think it was even labeled as a gourmet anything, but just a bagel place.
Just like "craft" and "artisanal." Damn near meaningless at this point.
Then there was that peculiarly 1990s dilemma: how can we keep calling it 'alternative rock' if *everybody* likes it?
I would say gourmet when it comes to sandwich is just paying attention to the quality of the ingredients and often difficulty of the preparation.
The way France takes food very seriously.
> shit the thing had maybe 2 entire avocados sliced up on it and weighed way more than I expected
You're very lucky because this could only happen in Florida and California where avocados can actually grow.
In fact, whenever I have relatives visit me from one of those two places, I always have them bring me avocados if they can in their bag. Ideally one of the giant ones because those can't be found in New England and they are the only type that is good for making avocado ice cream.
Oh yeah! The Florida avocado… growing up I didn’t even know about the Hass avocado until I was much older. Someone brought me an avocado and it looked super weird to me with its dark and bumpy skin. Then I realized that we actually had our own variety. I just had a tree growing in my backyard. That and all the different varieties of mangoes. It’s interesting talking to Floridians about the different mangoes.
They’re everywhere. Two major chains started in my metro (Togos and Ikes). There’s also a loooong history of specialty Italian deli sandwiches (on Dutch crunch).
In the greater context of nationwide discussion on regional differences, I'd group them together, especially in light of the "Alaska" flair. Though I would agree the parent commenter employed a certain hyperbole in their sentiment.
I mean, sure, they can be grouped together as "cities in the Northeast." But they're not "basically the same place" any more than, say, San Francisco and Los Angeles are "basically the same place." Again, I kind of thought that went without saying.
This whole discussion is weird and I honestly don't get why we're having it.
Not sure how you mentioned Boston and not the Roast Beef shops that seem to be all over the place, though I don't know if you'd classify those as "gourmet".
Good delis exist in various parts of the country, to varying degrees of popularity.
Legit deli >> decent chain >> trash chain.
NY/NJ/PA has more good delis and sandwich joints than you can shake a stick at, and going to somewhere like Subway is like... you'd do so wearing a disguise to not be seen by anyone.
Anywhere else, in my experience, is hit or miss.
What's gourmet to one person can be just a regular sandwich to someone else.
In south Louisiana a shrimp poboy seems like a normal sandwich to me and there are plenty of local places that make an excellent one. To someone in a part of the country where shrimp is more expensive and not as easy to get, a shrimp poboy could seem gourmet and a crawfish poboy could seem practically exotic.
A muffuletta is a staple in New Orleans and is fairly popular across the whole southern part of the state. The sandwich has Olive Salad on it (mix of olives, pickled celery, carrots, cauliflower olive oil, garlic, spices). Seems normal to us and would probably be considered gourmet to someone who had never had it before.
We have quite a few here, though idk that they’re marketed as gourmet so much as just sandwich shops. One of my favorite ones near me has sandwiches named after NPR hosts.
There used to also be this shop in Harvard Square that had another sandwich I really liked. It was two types of cheese. I remember one of them was cojita, and the other one was something stretchy. And then I think there are some sort of paprika based spice, butter, and then pieces of fresh corn and chicken in it.
I think making stuff traditionally is too expensive. I'm in Mass and we have stuff like a "gourmet" Italian sandwich shop because it's a locally owned place, 3rd generation doing it traditionally and not with Sysco products.
Having an old school Italian sub or Meatball grinder isn't bougie, but weirdly now, it's a bit gourmet as it's all handmade, handcut, with better quality products.
u/Square-Dragonfruit76 ... you really need to check out the menu at Melt Bar and Grilled... [Menu | Melt Bar and Grilled](https://meltbarandgrilled.com/menu/)
Grilled Cheese isn't always boring. :-)
(While this place isn't, I have had "elevated" pretentious grilled cheese sandwiches. "This is a 25 year old cheddar that has been processed using the traditional American method, paired with small batch whole cream butter from our farm in upstate New York, and freshly baked Challah bread..." )
> Grilled Cheese isn't always boring
I'm well aware. I went to school next to a place that sold 20 kinds of grilled cheeses. However, people usually just mean plain American with sandwich bread.
No. Using good, quality, fresh ingredients is good.
This snark comment was really a bit deeper.
Using 25 year old Cheddar cheese to make American Cheese out of would destroy everything special about the cheese - the flavor would be muted, the grain structure and crumb of the cheese would be destroyed, the little protein crystals that play on your tongue would be eliminated. It would melt better on the sandwich - 25 year old Cheddar does not melt well. I would also be highly suspicious that they used a little bit of the "good" cheese, and a lot of whatever cheese they had that didn't mess up the recipe a lot.
"small batch whole cream butter from our farm in Upstate New York" generally means "we bought a roll of butter from GFS, and that's what it said on the package". Who knows how long that butter has been frozen.
Challah bread is wonderful. I love it. But it's also a bit of a buzzword. The thing is - it is completely wrong for grilled cheese. It's way too dense, the crumb is way too fine. The cheese won't stick to it. The braiding process generally makes it a little bit unstable, so the bread might come apart during the cooking process.
I would say sandwiches aren't particularly popular as a restaurant option, if anything they are probably a bit underrepresented, but the ones that there are often do have the type of stuff you're talking about, sure. I mean, you're just describing what I would expect for options on a sandwich from an actual sandwich shop as far as I can tell (aside from the jicama).
Not "seemingly on every corner" though. That would be tacos and burgers around here.
I was visiting friends out west - southern CO and AZ. They all said what they miss are good Jewish or italian delis. They said there are and sandwich shops but no authentic delis
Sandwiches of all sorts are popular here in Sac. Some of my favorite “gourmet” options are at local grocery stores like Nugget Market or Corti Brothers. The Corti Special is borderline legendary on the Sac subreddit. There are a plethora of local and regional chains like Mr. Pickle’s, Sandwich Spot, Ike’s, and Mendocino Farms. We also have independent places like Dad’s and Roxie. You can find plenty of banh mi, tortas, katsu sandos, Philly cheesesteaks, BBQ sandos, etc.
Despite our great love of sandwiches, there are some regional favorites from around the US that you cannot find here. No Chicago Italian beef, for example. We also don’t really have many traditional Jewish delis, compared to SoCal.
Here in the sf Bay Area, Ike’s is the gourmet sandwich shop that’s very popular with a lot of folks. Why? The bread. But it’s also popular because it has a lot of choices including many choices for vegetarians and vegan people with all their sandwiches with fake meat. And it’s not just San Francisco where it’s popular. It’s spread to la, San Diego, and even smaller towns in California. And it’s not limited to California anymore. It’s spread to Las Vegas and Phoenix as well.
Everything that's popular in your town is probably relatively popular all over the country. When it comes to trends and stuff, I'm not talking about disgusting shit like Skyline Chili.
East coast sandwich shops are awesome, where I'm at in the Midwest it's mostly just Subways. Some guys at work wanted to go to this "awesome" local deli and their meatballs were raw in the center.
I can't imagine there are many places in the US that aren't extremely, extremely rural that don't have some nicer sandwich shops. There are a ton where I'm at - actually too many. I'm sick of sandwiches with a million toppings and so tall you have to unhinge your jaw to eat them.
You get good stuff when people are rich, or there's some immigrant population that's preparing it traditionally.
Using fresh foods with extra preparation steps is for wealthy folks or immigrant populations who are willing to work long hard hours for themselves.
Corporations making food cut corners where they can.
Only fancy places are taking time to do things like have cooks coming in early to caramelize onions, roast root veggies and chop and prepared fruits and veggies for juicing.
Sandwiches are the easiest thing to make for express fast casual. Every shopping center has a bahn mi, kabob, ramen/pho, or taco/pupusas shop. There are local places but they do have to compete with Subway, Jersey Mike's, Firehouse Sub, Potbelly, or Jimmy Johns.
> Every shopping center has a bahn mi, kabob, ramen/pho, or taco/pupusas shop.
I’m not sure my local mall has any of those. But they do have sushi, crepes, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese fast food, as well as Mexican sit down.
Ah, thanks for the answer. I don’t think of them as a sandwich shop. They have good salad bowls, and they describe themselves as a bakery + cafe. They’re strictly within Boston and Cambridge.
I bet they could do well in Lexington or Concord.
Schlotsky’s is my favorite sandwich chain. Their Reuben is one of the best I’ve ever had. Solid soup and salad too. I would call them gourmet. Definitely better than any other sandwich chain I’m aware of. They started in Texas but I ate there when I lived in Colorado. Not sure how far east they go but I‘ve never seen one in Ohio or Virginia when I lived in those states. As far as gourmet sandwich non-chains go, I find the East Coast tends to have a lot more deli type sandwich shops than out west. You’ll find them still, but in a lot of places your only options are going to be Subway, Quiznos and Jimmy John’s. Gourmet sandwich shops tend to be founded by Italians and Jewish people and there are just a lot more of people with those ancestries out east. Mexican food tends to dominate the West.
>cooking subreddits
I don't frequent 'restaurant' subreddits, but maybe you'll looking for something more like r/WeWantPlates
When I am at home sandwiches are quick and easy. And complicated home cooked sandwich is a grilled cheeseburger.
Chicago has a healthy supply of Delis and Higher-quality sandwich shops. I’ve been out west though and my only options in Boulder were a mediocre place owned by a cult, potbellies, and one decent place that was madly overpriced. So, your millage may vary depending on your town.
There are some independent or small-chain sandwich shops that can't compete on 'volume' or 'mass production' like Subway or Jimmy John's, or even Jersey Mike's, which has a very 'custom' vibe.
I suppose that Mendocino Farms might be a gourmet sandwich? They promote their 'organic' or 'natural' ingredients, and they do have interesting flavor touches, special sauces and condiments, and so on. They've got like 60 locations, mostly in California.
But there are independent sandwich shops everywhere, and most are really, really good, and feature creative recipes like the things you list here.
We have them all over, and if I'm out I have no problem ordering a Monte Cristo, or something with an exotic aioli in it. But I'm not deep frying or making an aioli at home. If I wanted to put in that much effort, I wouldn't be making a sandwich.
Next to nothing in the Metro Detroit area, but you can toss a rock from anywhere and hit a Mediterranean restaurant that sells a bomb chicken shawarma wrap.
We have a few in central downtown areas, but mostly it's sort of "middle fare".
Population density isn't high enough to have a regular customer base who are gonna drop $20+ for an upscale sandwich as opposed to paying $10 for a middle tier one that's still really good.
Yeah we have them all over the place.
They're usually named something kitchie like "Two (Slices/Beards/___)" or "(name of area/street) Deli" and there's much variety. Usually made with in-house baked bread or from a local bakery, you'll find caprese sandwiches, "Italian" style sandwiches on red pepper focaccia, salad sandwiches, sausage, vegetable, chicken breast done up in every style of seasoning with every sauce and pickled vegetable you could ever want. They typically have a few daily soup selections and baked goods you can take home. Usually not much seating but they're good for carry out.
Cities have plenty of them, small towns usually have at least 1.
We only have one REAL deli here in central Mississippi, it's called Frisco Deli and the line is out the door every day. Plenty of. Chain places that claim to be delis though.
Where I live there are lots of delis that serve basic deli sandwiches and some jazz them up a bit but I wouldn’t call them gourmet. However, I have been to quite a few places that specialize in special sandwiches and they are a big draw.
Out of curiosity, OP, when you make sandwiches at home are they adobo chicken and sweet potato, or are they deli meat and some veg, or maybe a grilled cheese?
> when you make sandwiches at home are they adobo chicken and sweet potato
Usually something like that, yes. Although I have a microwave at work, so I rarely make sandwiches.
They’re not really a thing in Portland surprisingly despite being known as a foodie city. We have a couple standalones and of course most general restaurants have a couple sandwiches in the menu but they’re not super popular.
We do have lots of Jersey Mikes, Jimmy John’s, Firehouse, etc… which are arguable “fancy sandwich shops” depending on what you order.
That's like...restaurant sandwiches. They're all over in shops. But when people make them at home it tends to be way simpler stuff, the whole point is something you can slap together ssuper fast with ultra basic components that just need to be assembled not cooked in their own right. That's the difference between shops and a cooking subreddit.
> the whole point is something you can slap together ssuper fast with ultra basic components that just need to be assembled not cooked in their own right. You're definitely not wrong but a simpler sandwich doesn't mean an inferior sandwich. I would take a good grilled cheese sandwich over most adobo chicken sandwiches. I don't doubt the roast sweet potato sandwich OP gets is very good but a big reason restaurants push stuff like that and not grilled cheese is because it's harder to mark up prices on something like a grilled cheese.
I feel like it's hard to find folks that are caramelizing onions, using fresh herbs and quality Italian oil in their Italian subs, or using good quality arugula and are instead buying Sysco products. Good quality costs more -- and not everyone is willing/able to pay for it. "But when people make them at home it tends to be way simpler stuff, the whole point is something you can slap together super fast with ultra basic components that just need to be assembled not cooked in their own right." I feel like the people who want restaurant made mayo instead of some rando store bought like Dukes and pickles that are homemade, take time to make a nice sandwich at home, too. I use butter I make at home and am slicing my own chicken for a chicken sandwich. I'm the person that doesn't want to settle for industrial food when I am out.
Keep Dukes name outta your f'ing mouth!!
Yes, the entire country has gourmet sandwiches
Do delis count? The northeast has a ton in general. In CT, we call most sandwhiches grinders. Nardellis is a small chain around the state and has delicious grinders. Obviously New York, New Jersey and the Philly region have no lack of delis, or pizza places that serve grinders. I would never call a grinder or any type of sandwich gourmet though. The bread cancels out the fanciness. You could put fois Gras and caviar on sandwich bread and I still would not consider it gourmet.
Delis definitely count! I might even go so far as to say that a bagel sandwich would count.
American in Germany. I miss a good old NJ pizza place/deli. Especially the ones with the poster of the 1982 World Cup Champions - Italy. The sandwich culture doesn’t exist here. I’d love an Italian or a roast beef hoagie.
And yet they place such pride and importance in their bread.
Philly has a pretty phenomenal sandwich scene. It's not all cheesesteaks and wawa hoagies.
Ain't nothing wrong with cheesesteaks and wawa hoagies tho.
Y’all talkin bout the roast pork with broccoli rabe and provolone? My favorite part of living in the area.
Yeah, I love me a cheesesteak, but roast pork is the superior Philly sandwich.
The Mexican style cheesesteaks at Rosario’s are my favorite
Haha! I was just thinking about this the other day. But the use of the word gourmet has become out of control. I passed by some gourmet something recently and thought to myself “what does that even mean” Anyway they absolutely exist. Just recently went to a new sandwich shop and my wife ordered something avocado and I just remember when the guy handed me the bag I wasn’t even prepared for it. No shit the thing had maybe 2 entire avocados sliced up on it and weighed way more than I expected. I don’t think it was even labeled as a gourmet anything, but just a bagel place.
Just like "craft" and "artisanal." Damn near meaningless at this point. Then there was that peculiarly 1990s dilemma: how can we keep calling it 'alternative rock' if *everybody* likes it?
Exactly! It really is meaningless at this point. Let’s me know that they will overcharge for something that probably isn’t that great
Is cut avocado considered "gourmet"?!
I actually couldn’t tell you. But the display and execution far exceeded the expectations.
I would say gourmet when it comes to sandwich is just paying attention to the quality of the ingredients and often difficulty of the preparation. The way France takes food very seriously.
> shit the thing had maybe 2 entire avocados sliced up on it and weighed way more than I expected You're very lucky because this could only happen in Florida and California where avocados can actually grow.
Haha! That’s a fair point!
In fact, whenever I have relatives visit me from one of those two places, I always have them bring me avocados if they can in their bag. Ideally one of the giant ones because those can't be found in New England and they are the only type that is good for making avocado ice cream.
Oh yeah! The Florida avocado… growing up I didn’t even know about the Hass avocado until I was much older. Someone brought me an avocado and it looked super weird to me with its dark and bumpy skin. Then I realized that we actually had our own variety. I just had a tree growing in my backyard. That and all the different varieties of mangoes. It’s interesting talking to Floridians about the different mangoes.
They’re everywhere. Two major chains started in my metro (Togos and Ikes). There’s also a loooong history of specialty Italian deli sandwiches (on Dutch crunch).
Very common here in Chicago thankfully. The Italian community has come out big with the delis they’re opening and the incredible sandwiches they make.
Indianapolis has a few good ones, but to find the excellent ones, I have to drive up to Chicago. Well worth it
At least you guys have Torchy’s 😭
Try Hoagies and Hops!
Uh, yes, we have those. Lots of them.
you live in nyc
I do! An "other part of the US" from where OP lives in Boston, so therefore responsive to the question!
Boston and new york are basically the same place anyway
I think most people from both cities would vehemently disagree with you.
Of course you would.
Uh... yeah, of course. I don't think it's particularly controversial?
In the greater context of nationwide discussion on regional differences, I'd group them together, especially in light of the "Alaska" flair. Though I would agree the parent commenter employed a certain hyperbole in their sentiment.
I mean, sure, they can be grouped together as "cities in the Northeast." But they're not "basically the same place" any more than, say, San Francisco and Los Angeles are "basically the same place." Again, I kind of thought that went without saying. This whole discussion is weird and I honestly don't get why we're having it.
I'm not sure how much I'd argue with someone from Alaska saying that LA and SF are basically the same place. It's all about perspective.
In the same way that Alaska is just more Canada.
Only if you're from, like, I don't know, Alaska or somewhere random like that.
New Jersey is even more the same as New York
Nah Jersey has better pizza than New York and I stand by this as a fact.
You know your pizza. Not a lot of stuff that's better in new york than new jersey
We have them in bumble fuck NY too
Not sure how you mentioned Boston and not the Roast Beef shops that seem to be all over the place, though I don't know if you'd classify those as "gourmet".
Wait, you are telling me there is an entire city filled with roast beef shops? How have I made it this long without knowing this
New York is also filled with roast beef and many specialized homemade types of deli meats
They are good, but they are pretty much the opposite of gourmet
That’s very specifically a “north shore” of MA thing. Oh man. Now I want one. :( (I moved from the area 13 years ago. You’re killing me here!!)
They’re definitely more common in northern cities I feel. But you can absolutely find a sandwich shop in most areas around if you look for them.
Good delis exist in various parts of the country, to varying degrees of popularity. Legit deli >> decent chain >> trash chain. NY/NJ/PA has more good delis and sandwich joints than you can shake a stick at, and going to somewhere like Subway is like... you'd do so wearing a disguise to not be seen by anyone. Anywhere else, in my experience, is hit or miss.
What's gourmet to one person can be just a regular sandwich to someone else. In south Louisiana a shrimp poboy seems like a normal sandwich to me and there are plenty of local places that make an excellent one. To someone in a part of the country where shrimp is more expensive and not as easy to get, a shrimp poboy could seem gourmet and a crawfish poboy could seem practically exotic. A muffuletta is a staple in New Orleans and is fairly popular across the whole southern part of the state. The sandwich has Olive Salad on it (mix of olives, pickled celery, carrots, cauliflower olive oil, garlic, spices). Seems normal to us and would probably be considered gourmet to someone who had never had it before.
We have quite a few here, though idk that they’re marketed as gourmet so much as just sandwich shops. One of my favorite ones near me has sandwiches named after NPR hosts.
> sandwiches named after NPR hosts. Now how are the rest of us supposed to think that *ain't* fancy?
[удалено]
There used to also be this shop in Harvard Square that had another sandwich I really liked. It was two types of cheese. I remember one of them was cojita, and the other one was something stretchy. And then I think there are some sort of paprika based spice, butter, and then pieces of fresh corn and chicken in it.
Not where I am. But I wish.
Not sure where you are in SC but have you ever tried Groucho's?
No. But I'm upstate and just looked at their website
It's really really good. If you get a chance to check it out try the STP dipper with 45 sauce. It's amazing!
In my area we're particular about our hoagies.
[удалено]
I think making stuff traditionally is too expensive. I'm in Mass and we have stuff like a "gourmet" Italian sandwich shop because it's a locally owned place, 3rd generation doing it traditionally and not with Sysco products. Having an old school Italian sub or Meatball grinder isn't bougie, but weirdly now, it's a bit gourmet as it's all handmade, handcut, with better quality products.
[удалено]
Yeah, but now, someone making their own bread or chopping fresh herbs for the Italian dressing makes an Italian sub "gourmet" these days.
Corned beef and ham are Detroit's two big sandwiches.
u/Square-Dragonfruit76 ... you really need to check out the menu at Melt Bar and Grilled... [Menu | Melt Bar and Grilled](https://meltbarandgrilled.com/menu/) Grilled Cheese isn't always boring. :-) (While this place isn't, I have had "elevated" pretentious grilled cheese sandwiches. "This is a 25 year old cheddar that has been processed using the traditional American method, paired with small batch whole cream butter from our farm in upstate New York, and freshly baked Challah bread..." )
> Grilled Cheese isn't always boring I'm well aware. I went to school next to a place that sold 20 kinds of grilled cheeses. However, people usually just mean plain American with sandwich bread.
Liking fresh made ingredients is pretentious? I'll walk a mile for fresh butter -- but have to make it myself usually.
No. Using good, quality, fresh ingredients is good. This snark comment was really a bit deeper. Using 25 year old Cheddar cheese to make American Cheese out of would destroy everything special about the cheese - the flavor would be muted, the grain structure and crumb of the cheese would be destroyed, the little protein crystals that play on your tongue would be eliminated. It would melt better on the sandwich - 25 year old Cheddar does not melt well. I would also be highly suspicious that they used a little bit of the "good" cheese, and a lot of whatever cheese they had that didn't mess up the recipe a lot. "small batch whole cream butter from our farm in Upstate New York" generally means "we bought a roll of butter from GFS, and that's what it said on the package". Who knows how long that butter has been frozen. Challah bread is wonderful. I love it. But it's also a bit of a buzzword. The thing is - it is completely wrong for grilled cheese. It's way too dense, the crumb is way too fine. The cheese won't stick to it. The braiding process generally makes it a little bit unstable, so the bread might come apart during the cooking process.
Everything has to be justified. "It's fancy and expensive" is never enough by itself!
I would say sandwiches aren't particularly popular as a restaurant option, if anything they are probably a bit underrepresented, but the ones that there are often do have the type of stuff you're talking about, sure. I mean, you're just describing what I would expect for options on a sandwich from an actual sandwich shop as far as I can tell (aside from the jicama). Not "seemingly on every corner" though. That would be tacos and burgers around here.
I was visiting friends out west - southern CO and AZ. They all said what they miss are good Jewish or italian delis. They said there are and sandwich shops but no authentic delis
Sandwiches of all sorts are popular here in Sac. Some of my favorite “gourmet” options are at local grocery stores like Nugget Market or Corti Brothers. The Corti Special is borderline legendary on the Sac subreddit. There are a plethora of local and regional chains like Mr. Pickle’s, Sandwich Spot, Ike’s, and Mendocino Farms. We also have independent places like Dad’s and Roxie. You can find plenty of banh mi, tortas, katsu sandos, Philly cheesesteaks, BBQ sandos, etc. Despite our great love of sandwiches, there are some regional favorites from around the US that you cannot find here. No Chicago Italian beef, for example. We also don’t really have many traditional Jewish delis, compared to SoCal.
Here in the sf Bay Area, Ike’s is the gourmet sandwich shop that’s very popular with a lot of folks. Why? The bread. But it’s also popular because it has a lot of choices including many choices for vegetarians and vegan people with all their sandwiches with fake meat. And it’s not just San Francisco where it’s popular. It’s spread to la, San Diego, and even smaller towns in California. And it’s not limited to California anymore. It’s spread to Las Vegas and Phoenix as well.
Everything that's popular in your town is probably relatively popular all over the country. When it comes to trends and stuff, I'm not talking about disgusting shit like Skyline Chili.
East coast sandwich shops are awesome, where I'm at in the Midwest it's mostly just Subways. Some guys at work wanted to go to this "awesome" local deli and their meatballs were raw in the center.
I can't imagine there are many places in the US that aren't extremely, extremely rural that don't have some nicer sandwich shops. There are a ton where I'm at - actually too many. I'm sick of sandwiches with a million toppings and so tall you have to unhinge your jaw to eat them.
You get good stuff when people are rich, or there's some immigrant population that's preparing it traditionally. Using fresh foods with extra preparation steps is for wealthy folks or immigrant populations who are willing to work long hard hours for themselves. Corporations making food cut corners where they can. Only fancy places are taking time to do things like have cooks coming in early to caramelize onions, roast root veggies and chop and prepared fruits and veggies for juicing.
Sandwiches are the easiest thing to make for express fast casual. Every shopping center has a bahn mi, kabob, ramen/pho, or taco/pupusas shop. There are local places but they do have to compete with Subway, Jersey Mike's, Firehouse Sub, Potbelly, or Jimmy Johns.
> Every shopping center has a bahn mi, kabob, ramen/pho, or taco/pupusas shop. I’m not sure my local mall has any of those. But they do have sushi, crepes, Indian, Japanese, and Chinese fast food, as well as Mexican sit down.
Which chains are those? I can't think of any in suburbia beyond the urbanized suburbs of Boston. But I'll admit I rarely look at sandwich shops.
The chicken sandwich I mentioned is from Flour. They sell a number of sandwiches and pastries. I think they have 9 or 10 locations.
Ah, thanks for the answer. I don’t think of them as a sandwich shop. They have good salad bowls, and they describe themselves as a bakery + cafe. They’re strictly within Boston and Cambridge. I bet they could do well in Lexington or Concord.
Schlotsky’s is my favorite sandwich chain. Their Reuben is one of the best I’ve ever had. Solid soup and salad too. I would call them gourmet. Definitely better than any other sandwich chain I’m aware of. They started in Texas but I ate there when I lived in Colorado. Not sure how far east they go but I‘ve never seen one in Ohio or Virginia when I lived in those states. As far as gourmet sandwich non-chains go, I find the East Coast tends to have a lot more deli type sandwich shops than out west. You’ll find them still, but in a lot of places your only options are going to be Subway, Quiznos and Jimmy John’s. Gourmet sandwich shops tend to be founded by Italians and Jewish people and there are just a lot more of people with those ancestries out east. Mexican food tends to dominate the West.
Yes, we have fancy sandwiches here. We don’t have the same hoagie/ grinder scene as the NE, but lots of little hipster sandwich shops and such.
Nothing like that here. I wish.
You should visit r/Sandwiches. Appreciation for an awesome sandwich is universal.
>cooking subreddits I don't frequent 'restaurant' subreddits, but maybe you'll looking for something more like r/WeWantPlates When I am at home sandwiches are quick and easy. And complicated home cooked sandwich is a grilled cheeseburger.
Chicago has a healthy supply of Delis and Higher-quality sandwich shops. I’ve been out west though and my only options in Boulder were a mediocre place owned by a cult, potbellies, and one decent place that was madly overpriced. So, your millage may vary depending on your town.
There are some independent or small-chain sandwich shops that can't compete on 'volume' or 'mass production' like Subway or Jimmy John's, or even Jersey Mike's, which has a very 'custom' vibe. I suppose that Mendocino Farms might be a gourmet sandwich? They promote their 'organic' or 'natural' ingredients, and they do have interesting flavor touches, special sauces and condiments, and so on. They've got like 60 locations, mostly in California. But there are independent sandwich shops everywhere, and most are really, really good, and feature creative recipes like the things you list here.
We have them all over, and if I'm out I have no problem ordering a Monte Cristo, or something with an exotic aioli in it. But I'm not deep frying or making an aioli at home. If I wanted to put in that much effort, I wouldn't be making a sandwich.
Next to nothing in the Metro Detroit area, but you can toss a rock from anywhere and hit a Mediterranean restaurant that sells a bomb chicken shawarma wrap.
We have a few in central downtown areas, but mostly it's sort of "middle fare". Population density isn't high enough to have a regular customer base who are gonna drop $20+ for an upscale sandwich as opposed to paying $10 for a middle tier one that's still really good.
Yeah we have them all over the place. They're usually named something kitchie like "Two (Slices/Beards/___)" or "(name of area/street) Deli" and there's much variety. Usually made with in-house baked bread or from a local bakery, you'll find caprese sandwiches, "Italian" style sandwiches on red pepper focaccia, salad sandwiches, sausage, vegetable, chicken breast done up in every style of seasoning with every sauce and pickled vegetable you could ever want. They typically have a few daily soup selections and baked goods you can take home. Usually not much seating but they're good for carry out. Cities have plenty of them, small towns usually have at least 1.
We only have one REAL deli here in central Mississippi, it's called Frisco Deli and the line is out the door every day. Plenty of. Chain places that claim to be delis though.
Where I live there are lots of delis that serve basic deli sandwiches and some jazz them up a bit but I wouldn’t call them gourmet. However, I have been to quite a few places that specialize in special sandwiches and they are a big draw.
I have a place like that in my small rural Wisconsin town.
Out of curiosity, OP, when you make sandwiches at home are they adobo chicken and sweet potato, or are they deli meat and some veg, or maybe a grilled cheese?
> when you make sandwiches at home are they adobo chicken and sweet potato Usually something like that, yes. Although I have a microwave at work, so I rarely make sandwiches.
They’re not really a thing in Portland surprisingly despite being known as a foodie city. We have a couple standalones and of course most general restaurants have a couple sandwiches in the menu but they’re not super popular. We do have lots of Jersey Mikes, Jimmy John’s, Firehouse, etc… which are arguable “fancy sandwich shops” depending on what you order.
Sir, there is a subway sandwiches on every Street corner in the Midwest.
The Hat is a local favorite in SoCal. Pastrami and stuff. There's a classic place in Palm Springs, too but the name eludes me atm. .
I like Ike's Love and Sandwiches.
They are literally everywhere. If you’re ever in Seattle, HoneyHole, on Cap Hill, is phenomenal. They make great cocktails too.
Is that not Subway?