well made cole slaw (not too sweet) is an elite side for reuben, along with jewish pickle (salt brine) and fries.

likewise, i always think of a cuban sandwich as a tandem with potential sides and it is almost always served with sides. i think that has to be taken into consideration.

i am not eating a philly cheese steak or meetball sub or chicken parm with sides because they do not go well with sides, which makes them fail in comparison.

great sides to a cuban, red beans / tostones / cuban coffee / plantains / etc

Peanut butter and pickle sandwich is surprisingly not disgusting.

Lol at some of the Reuben takes itt.

A side of Rolaids seems like a good idea

I prefer oyster po boys to shrimp po boys. I suspect oyster poboys are low in the tier list because El D doesnt like oysters.

Roast beef po boys are actually really good if the shop makes a good gravy.

Reuben sandwich is most definitely in the elite tier. Anyone who thinks they are not good should probably be disqualified from any kind of sandwich voting

Amoeba,

False. Well, half false.

I don’t love the texture of fried oysters and prefer shrimp then roast beef/debris then other then oyster when it comes to po-boys.

But shrimp is top of the po-boy list not because of that but because of general popularity.

Here’s my strategy for deciding the bracket which will go out Monday:

First pass: my guess based on combo of my judgment and general sandwich popularity.

Second pass: use feedback from this thread (you’ll see some changes shortly based on that) to adjust that.

It’s all about the people, not me.

For example, I’m inclined to agree with stinky that a great pastrami or corned beef on rye can often superior to a Reuben. But the thread consensus looks to be Reuben, so that one will stay elite 8 for now.

OMG has convinced me to elevate Cubano, so that’ll happen. Steak sandwich gonna be in the mix too.

Actual steak sandwiches are amazing. That trash they serve at tourist traps in Philadelphia, no.

El D, have you had garlic shrimp banh mi? I imagine you have since you are from Houston but I actually prefer that over shrimp po boys. Its kind of like preferring Vietnamese/Cajun style crawfish over straight cajun.

Nothing beats a freshly fried oyster po boy for me though.
Something like the following just gives me a huge craving.

ED,

How is the BLT going to be treated? If I make it a BJALT is it still a BLT for the purposes of the poll?

Gotta agree on the Reuben from a popularity standpoint since everyone apparently has a boner for them but you better specify ONLY SWISS, CORNED BEEF, KRAUT AND SAUCE - NO SALAD!!!!

I remember the first time I went to Schwartz's and heard smoked meat sandwich, I was expecting the Texas stuff. What I got was way better (and I like Texas smoked Brisket quite a bit).

Sandwich lovers,

OK, moved some stuff around based on thread feedback.

Top 8 are pretty close to locked now, so it's gonna take a lot of convincing to change those now.

Mainly looking for suggestions of sandwiches from "The rest" (or non-listed) that you think should bump sandwiches off the "Contenders" list.

Elite tier one sandwiches:
Combo pork banh mi
Reuben
Fried shrimp po-boy
BLT(preferably BLTA)
Lobster roll
Cuban
Italian sub
Fried chicken

Contenders (looking for 16 total):
Breakfast sandwich (egg + bacon/sausage + cheese)
Patty melt
Chicken parm
Pastrami on rye
Rare cold roast beef
Pulled pork
Grilled cheese
Brisket (chopped or sliced)
Cheesesteak
Meatball
Porchetta
Italian beef
Egg Salad (including curried egg)
Muffaletta (might be too regional to merit a spot)
tuna melt
corned beef (might be too similar to pastrami on rye, reuben to merit a spot)

The rest:
Fried fish
Grilled chicken breast (kinda boring but very popular)
Steak sandwich (non-cheesesteak, non-roast beef, non-french dip steak sandwiches. This is prob too narrow and too close to others to merit a spot. But I love a good steak and cheese or a good thick sliced steak sandwich like a prime rib sandwich.)
Hot turkey (incl with Thanksgiving fixings)
meatloaf
Caprese
Primanti bros all-in-one Pittsburgh (with fries and coleslaw inside)
Peanut butter and jelly
Oyster po-boy
BBQ beef
Hot roast beef
Sausage & peppers
Chicken salad
French Dip
Club
Turkey
Ham and cheese
tuna salad
Peanut butter and honey (and bacon for the King)
Sloppy joe (barely qualifies as a sandwich, really)
Monte Cristo
Croque madame/monsieur
Crab roll

Some good sandwich lists (with some clear non-sandwiches included):

https://www.thrillist.com/food/natio...l-sandwich-day

http://www.foodrepublic.com/2016/12/...rite-sandwich/

I think steak & cheese is more popular than fried chicken, unless you're counting fast food sandwiches. (And by steak & cheese I mean all the variations such as philly style, steak bombs, pepper steak, etc. They just variations of the same, some better than others.)

I don't know if you've specified this already, but when voting is the voter to just consider a random sandwich of X type, or the best one they've had.

For example, the best Banh Mi I've had is a little better than the best Reuben than I've had. However, the average Reuben I've had is clearly better than the average Banh Mi I've had.

So what am I supposed to vote for in this case?

dth:
I love them both.

amoeba:
Yes. I love them both.

stinky:
BLT: Anything with bacon, lettuce, and tomato as core ingredients counts.

Reuben: the reuben family of sandwiches. That means subbing pastrami for the corned beef is fine. Subbing coleslaw for the sauerkraut and making it a Rachel or whatever you want to call it is fine.

I understand your hatred of coleslaw in a sandwich, that's fine. I also prefer kraut. However, it's stupid and sandwich ignorant to say it's terrible.

You've obv never been to Canter's or Langer's in LA. If they can get behind coleslaw as being a valid choice, it's good. Not a reuben, but absolutely a valid choice.

I thought it was bread lettuce and tomato


Rachel is a *unt

J:
Thx. I'll consider flipping cheesesteak and fried chicken sandwich. They're both obv gonna make it into the bracket, though.

Melk:
Average.

Here is my ranking.

Elite sandwiches:
Reuben
BLT(preferably BLTA)
Lobster roll
Italian sub
Fried chicken
Pastrami on rye
Rare cold roast beef
Pulled pork
Brisket (chopped or sliced)
Cheesesteak
Porchetta
Cuban
tuna melt
pesto chicken (grilled chicken)

Tier 2:
Breakfast sandwiches
Po Boys
Banh mi
French Dip

Tier 3:
Chicken parm
Patty melt
Grilled cheese
Meatball
Italian beef
Egg Salad (including curried egg)
Muffaletta
Fried fish
meatloaf
Caprese
Chicken salad
Hot turkey (incl with Thanksgiving fixings)
Primanti bros all-in-one Pittsburgh (with fries and coleslaw inside)
BBQ beef
Sausage & peppers
Peanut butter and honey (and bacon for the King)
Club
Hot roast beef
Turkey
Ham and cheese
tuna salad
Peanut butter and jelly
Sloppy joe
Monte Cristo
Croque madame/monsieur

Larry,

I def put fried shrimp po-boy and banh mi up there too, but that top dozen of yours is a murderer's row of sandwiches. Not a weak spot in the bunch.

bacon egg cheese > blt
sausage peppers > any banh mi
any parm (chicken, veal, eggplant, shrimp, steak, etc...) > italian sub
fried fish > tuna melt > lobster roll
grilled chicken > italian sub
bbq beef > pulled pork > cuban > banh mi

Top tier looks completely out of whack with regional (banh mi, po boy, cuban ) and or inferior choices (reuben, blt, lobster roll, italian sub). Chicken parm is a fried chicken cutlet, so fried chicken is relevant, but redundant. A few slices of garden tomato with cheese and fresh basil on good bread beats out a majority of these so called contenders.

Btc,

Excellent post. While I don’t agree with most of it, there are good points in there that will influence some changes. Toughest challenge for me is I’d really love to see caprese in the mix, but I don’t think it really has enough support for that to be reasonable.

Grilled chicken over Italian is crazy talk tho!

The problem with an Italian sub is half the country or maybe more cannot make a good one for some reason.

It's not just dry grilled chicken. That isn't much of sandwich... Grilled chicken with fixins > italian. For example, grilled chicken caprese. Juicy chicken, creamy cheese, sweet tomato or pepper, pungent basil... Isn't that more appetizing than a plain ol' italian combo?

I've lived outside of the US for a long time, and I can make myself a good cheesesteak, but I crave a Reuben, and I can't do it well at home. I almost want to buy plane tickets to NYC just thinking about it. With good pickles on the side.

Still don't get the BLT love. You immediately make it better by putting a burger on it (like wookie said), so how can it be elite by itself?