We Ranked 26 Classic American Sandwiches From Worst To Best - Tasting Table

Culture, Media, General
29

For me , the article came across as clickbait written for an audience who doesn’t get out much.

I don’t have anything against hot dogs. I love them. Hot Dogs!

The clickbait part for me is that a significant number of Americans and Canadians who use the term hot dogs do not consider hot dogs to be sandwiches. Or hamburgers on buns to be sandwiches.

Including egg salad?
Egg salad is a very typically sandwich in North America, not specific to any region in Canada or the US. Some versions are identical to UK Egg Mayo. Other versions are the posh Tamago on milk bread, or various regional versions with or without celery, pickles, curry powder, lettuce, cilantro, dill, etc.

Egg salad is also slightly controversial - maybe making it clickbait , because of the odor when other people are eating it (at work or while travelling) and the effect it has (causes gas for many people).

I found some choices rather vague. I don’t really know the differences between the Hero, Hoagie, Grinder, Dagwood, Submarine and other loaded Italian deli sandwiches. They’re regional and they have similarities. I suppose I’m interested in knowing about the history of a specific type and what is required to make it a good one. In Canada, most deli sandwiches on a long bun with multiple cured meats would be called submarine or a sub. I am not sure any specific region of Canada is known for its subs.

In Pittsburgh, there are some local sandwich shops that are known for their equivalent type of assorted cold cut sandwich. I’ve attended a family wedding where the meal was sandwiches from a specific local sandwich shop (it was 9 years go, let me look up the name of the shop) and cookies from a Pittsburgh cookie table.

I can see the chopped cheese, Reuben, Hollywood Club, Italian Beef, etc being included in the list. I don’t understand the more generic sandwiches like egg salad being included.

Now this is a good list of sandwiches, specific to Pittsburgh

2 Likes
30

As far as I’m concerned, they’re pretty much the same - if I’m in the mood for an Italian cold cut. It depends on the quality and composition of the individual sandwich, and not its name. I love them all… within my cardiologist-imposed limits. Sigh.

Dagwood, in case there is anyone here too young to know :joy: is named after the comics character Dagwood Bumstead, who would go to the fridge and concoct a huge sandwich of everything he found in there. And eat it.
IMG_0169

6 Likes
31

It is just clickbait. The photos are good and as an overview of popular US/CA sandwiches (unranked!) it’s not bad. It does feel to me sort of like she flipped the rankings on purpose to generate OUTRAGE! :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth: :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

5 Likes
32

Seems to have worked, judging from this thread :joy:

5 Likes
33

According to Wikipedia, the British Sandwich Association (the main industry body) defines a sandwich as “any form of bread with a filling, generally assembled cold”. Definition includes wraps and bagels but excludes items assembled and served hot, such as burgers. Which may well suit the industry body’s needs but is absolute bollocks.

3 Likes
34

There’s also the cube rule.

I’ve been posting on foodie discussion boards since 2002. I am too tired to get into debates. LOL.

1 Like
35

For me it’s the top four that are wrong. I don’t believe any American over age 10 seeks out pb&j or a fluffernutter. I certainly wouldn’t expect to see them available on a standard deli/sandwich shop menu. Much the same as including a bagel and cream cheese on a sandwich menu–much more likely to be a quick breakfast offering.

Speaking of breakfast, the inclusion of “breakfast sandwich” is overly broad. There are so many variations in bread (white toast? bagel? croissant? muffin?) and filling (fried egg? scrambled? bacon? sausage) plus condiments and toppings that the term has no meaning. In New Jersey, pork roll on a kaiser is the ultimate breakfast sandwich while in Philadelphia you can find scrapple on white bread.

Whole threads have been devoted to whether a hot dog or hamburger are a sandwich. And I believe I’ve seen more than one discussion concerning breakfast sandwiches, which vary from region to region.

The rest of the article is probably pretty representative of sandwiches you would be likely to encounter on American lunch menus.

4 Likes
36

Given how many people protest films they haven’t seen, or books they haven’t read, I’m not sure why you think the author has actually eaten these sandwiches.

6 Likes
37

. . . . and given the billions and billons of ways to totally screw-up a BLT . . .
looks more like AI generated fluff&stuff.

within the city limits of Philadelphia, you can find utterly miserable hoagies, and utterly superb hoagies. same with cheese steaks.

the ‘proclaimed’ caveat of ‘being fixable at home’ is utter nonsense.
there’s a real d*mn good reason people go to their favorite hoagie / pizza / burger place.
being born and raised in the Phila area . . . a grinder is a ‘grilled’ (modified) hoagie -
grinder and hoagie are not the same thing, in Philadelphia…

it appears to me the author has actually never lived a sandwich . . .

5 Likes
38

I don’t. I said as much upthread.

39

How do they categorize a grilled cheese?

1 Like
40

I recall my (East) German friend’s confusion when she ordered a grilled cheese at Luke’s Lobster (she’s vegetarian) and ask for a side of bread. She was expecting something along the lines of halloumi, not a sandwich with melted cheese inside.

2 Likes
41

Yes, I could see that being confusing if the menu left off the word “sandwich.”

42

I didn’t really read it.

As you may know, I usually find terms like “classic American” worthy of an eyeroll at best. Your milage, and the milage of others may vary.

I’ve decided I come here to learn about others, and not to make others learn about me.

2 Likes
43

And while some might dispute it’s “sandwichness”, a taco is the ultimate “American” sandwich, predating all the others. (If a hot dog in a one-piece bun is a sandwich, so is a taco. And so is anything in a pita pocket.)

1 Like
44

As a general thing we don’t do grilled cheese in the UK. Mrs H makes herself one now and again but I can’t recall ever seeing it on a cafe menu. We do “cheese on toast” instead but that’s definitely exactly what it says - a bit like a Welsh Rarebit but simpler., so deffo not a sandwich.

1 Like
45

And yet here we go again.:slightly_smiling_face:

46

image
image1500×1875 186 KB

i had to look up a few of these.

9 Likes
47

Hot dogs are DEFINITELY tacos.

1 Like
48

Yes, for sure.

And a Pop Tart is most definitely a ravioli.

4 Likes