Best Sandwich Shops

By Food & Wine
Updated May 10, 2017
For the past decade, we've lived in an era of pumped-up burger cooks, who have done impossibly good—and not so good—things with ground beef and a bun. Now, finally, there's good news for those who have had more than enough of the burger trend. It's time to make way for the sandwich chefs and their incredible creations.
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Xoco; Chicago

Photo © Jeff Maimon

Iconic chef Rick Bayless uses his wood-burning oven to make sensational Mexican tortas.

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Fozzie's Sandwich Emporium; St. Louis

Photo © Laura Ann Miller

Chef Mark Lucas uses his own homegrown vegetables for recipes like the black-bean burger with roasted peppers.

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Cochon Butcher; New Orleans

Photo © Chris Granger

Chef Donald Link's acclaimed Cochon muffuletta, with house meats and olive salad, is always on the menu.

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Cutty's; Brookline, MA

Photo courtesy of Cutty's

One of the specialties of chef-couple Rachel and Charles Kelsey: The Spuckie, with salami, mortadella and olive-carrot salad.

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Ink.Sack; Los Angeles

Photo courtesy of Ink.Sack

The specialty here: flavor-packed 4-inch sandwiches. "I get bored eating a big sandwich," chef Michael Voltaggio says.

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Pane Bianco; Phoenix

Photo © Omer Kamran

Pizza genius Chris Bianco takes on sandwiches; his bread is spectacular.

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Star Provisions; Atlanta

Photo © Lauren Rubenstein

At their food-hall-style market, chefs Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison offer glazed-pork-belly banh mi.

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Bunk; Portland, OR

Photo courtesy of Bunk

Co-chef Tommy Habetz cooked at NYC's Mesa Grill; partner Nick Wood, at Brennan's in New Orleans—inspiration for their muffuletta.

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Wise Sons; San Francisco

Photo courtesy of Wise Sons

Chefs Leo Beckerman and Evan Bloom's modern Jewish deli with house-cured pastrami.

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Parm; New York City

Photo © Ryan Lee

Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi (two of F&W's Best New Chefs 2012) have created two of the city's best sandwiches: the meatball parm and the Saratoga Club.

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Zingerman's Roadhouse; Ann Arbor, MI

Photo © Ryan Stiner

Chef Alex Young uses justly famed Zingerman's ingredients for sandwiches like the pit-smoked Cornish hen.

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Fundamental; Los Angeles

Photo © Justin Sullivan

Chef Brandon Baptiste changes his menu frequently; look for the slow-cooked veal breast.

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No. 7 Sub; New York City

Photo © Katherine Pangaro

Chef Tyler Kord has made liverwurst hip at outposts in Brooklyn and Manhattan's groovy Ace Hotel.

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Be'wiched; Minneapolis

Photo courtesy of Be'wiched

Chefs Matthew Bickford and Mike Ryan are alums of the city's best restaurants and collaborate on fillings like tuna confit.

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Bäco Mercat; Los Angeles

Photo © Dylan James Ho

Chef Josef Centeno makes his own chewy version of flatbread and fillings such as beef tongue schnitzel.

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Butcher & Bee; Charleston, SC

Photo courtesy of Butcher & Bee

Hours are limited (11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.); chef Stuart Tracy's sandwiches are unrestrained.

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Revival Market; Houston

Photo courtesy of Revival Market

The heritage, all-natural meats in chef Ryan Pera's sandwiches come from the market's own Revival Farms.

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Neal's Deli; Carrboro, NC

Photo © John Kernick

On chef-owner Matt Neal's Jewish-Southern menu: grilled pimiento cheese on rye.

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Bakesale Betty; Oakland, CA

Famous fried chicken sandwiches, filled with crispy buttermilk-soaked, cayenne pepper-spiced fried chicken, sell out fast. Bakesale Betty is only open for three hours a day—even less if there aren't enough sweet torpedo rolls to keep making sandwiches.

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Sloco; Nashville

Roughly 90 percent of the ingredients used at this standing-room-only sandwich shop are locally sourced within a few hundred miles.

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