Did you know that the Reuben was first dreamt up in an Omaha hotel kitchen? Or that the Masters golf tournament in Georgia is famous for its pimento cheese sandwiches? Some of the world’s greatest sandwiches were created in the US, and there are so many mouth-watering options to try. Here, we've ranked America's best original sandwiches, from state delicacies you may not have tasted (or perhaps even heard of) to timeless classics that everyone loves – and reveal the best places to try them.
Click or scroll on to discover the fascinating stories behind America's favourite sandwiches, as we count down to the best of them all.
We've based our ranking on the enduring popularity of each dish in its place of origin and beyond, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. The list is unavoidably subjective.
This meaty mash-up is relatively unknown outside of Virginia, but it has a dedicated local following around the state – particularly at Richmond’s Jewish delis. The sailor sandwich consists of hot pastrami, melted Swiss cheese, mustard and grilled knockwurst sausage served on rye bread. The New York Deli, a Jewish deli founded in 1929, claims to be the originator of the dish, which was apparently a favourite of navy seamen stationed in the area during World War II.
Today, the bustling New York Deli (which is also said to be Richmond’s oldest restaurant) is a trendy hotspot known for its rooftop bar and massive menu, but it remains the go-to joint for those wishing to try the old-school sandwich. Another spot famous for its sailor sandwich is Dot's Back Inn in Richmond, a retro diner that was praised by Guy Fieri on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
For most Americans, Christmas dinner typically involves roast turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings – but in a small corner of the Midwest, it’s all about the cannibal sandwich. A historic Milwaukee, Wisconsin staple that’s traditionally enjoyed at Christmas, this dish isn’t quite as sinister as its name suggests. Also known as tiger meat or wildcat, it consists of super-fresh, raw ground beef, thickly spread on slices of rye bread and topped with nothing more than chopped onion, salt and pepper.
The exact origins of the cannibal sandwich are unknown, but it's been a holiday treat in Wisconsin’s German communities since the 1800s. It's very similar to a German delicacy called mett or hackepeter, which sees raw ground pork seasoned with salt and pepper, then spread on a halved bread roll. Many of the Germans who emigrated to Milwaukee in the 19th century worked in agriculture and dairy farming, so had access to the kind of extremely fresh meat needed to make the dish. Today, the sandwich is a must at events like family gatherings, weddings and Christmas in particular.
It’s certainly a divisive dish, and one that tends to make most Wisconsinites either squirm or salivate. Because of the risks involved in serving raw meat, it’s understandably something that people enjoy at home rather than in restaurants; locals say Bunzel's Meat Market and Ray’s Butcher Shoppe – both in Milwaukee – are the spots to buy the best-quality meat to make this delicacy.
The signature sandwich of Buffalo, New York, is a cross between a Boston roast beef and a French dip. It's made by slotting juicy slices of rare roast beef into a kummelweck (a German-style roll topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds). Traditionally, the top bun is dipped in beef jus and spread with horseradish. It’s unclear who first sold beef on weck, but everything leads back to German baker William Wahr, who brought the kummelweck roll with him to the States in the late 1800s. One story has it that the recipe was invented by a Buffalo bar owner, who thought the roll's salty top would encourage his customers to buy more drinks.
In Buffalo and its suburbs, there’s no shortage of excellent spots specialising in beef on weck. Locally loved joints include Charlie The Butcher’s, a carvery where you can watch your roast beef being hand-carved in front of you, and Swiston's Beef & Keg, a no-frills bar that's been making the sandwich the same way since 1953. Buffalo even has its own beef on weck trail, taking in some lesser-known neighbourhood restaurants that have been dishing out quality sandwiches for years.
Not for the faint hearted, New Jersey’s fat sandwich is exactly what it sounds like – a belly-busting combination of ingredients ranging from French fries to gyro meat and chicken tenders, served inside a sub with plenty of condiments. These hearty sandwiches originated at Rutgers University in New Brunswick in the 1970s, where they were originally served out of so-called grease trucks to provide sustenance to hungry students in the wee hours.
The original incarnation – called the Fat Cat – consisted of a double cheeseburger, fries, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and ketchup. These days, R U Hungry? (pictured) is one of few original grease trucks left from the 1970s, and it remains the go-to place to try the dish in New Brunswick. However, newer restaurants like Nelly’s and Adrian's Jersey Pizza Co serve all kinds of creative versions, including the Fat Sinatra, which boasts a chicken cutlet and a cheesesteak among its many fillings.
Cleveland’s native sandwich is a real feast for the senses; grilled or deep-fried kielbasa sausage is piled on a bun and topped with mounds of French fries, coleslaw and a generous slathering of barbecue sauce. Details about the dish's invention are surprisingly scarce, but it's generally agreed that Virgil Whitmore, the resourceful owner of Whitmore's Bar-B-Q in Warrensville Heights, came up with the sandwich in the 1940s when he decided to combine the ingredients on a whim.
These days, some of the finest Polish boy sandwiches you can eat are dished out from unassuming Cleveland food truck Seti's Polish Boys, which has been operating for over 20 years. Or, for something a bit more high-end, head to Banter, where the Polish boys are made with gourmet, house-made kielbasa sausages and can be enjoyed with local craft beers and delicious wines.
A true classic from the American South, pimento cheese is a deliciously spreadable combination of grated cheese, mayo and diced red pimento peppers, seasoned with a zingy spice blend. It’s most closely connected to the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia, where players traditionally enjoy a post-round pimento cheese sandwich. It was first served at the tournament sometime in the 1940s, and remains famously cheap at $1.50 per sandwich.
At the Masters, the affordable food has become an integral part of the experience. This is particularly true of its iconic pimento sandwich, sold alongside a similarly popular egg salad version – which crafty golf fans sometimes combine to create a delicious super sandwich. Known as the ‘caviar of the south’, pimento is used in creative ways in restaurants all over Georgia. Acclaimed spots putting their own spin on the sandwich include Dakota Blue, which has a gourmet grilled cheese version, and Bomb Biscuit Atlanta, which serves sausage biscuits smothered in pimento.
Few sandwich recipes are as exacting as the recipe for Boston’s iconic roast beef sandwich; the roll must be soft, squishy and slightly toasted, while the beef must be served rare and very thinly sliced. When it comes to toppings, there are only three acceptable additions: plenty of Cains mayo, James River Barbecue Sauce and melty American cheese (or Cheddar).
It’s generally accepted that regional fast food chain Kelly's Roast Beef invented the Massachusetts delicacy in 1951 at its original Revere Beach location, a longtime local favourite that still has lines all year round. While Kelly's is a must-visit, you can also sink your teeth into the juicy sandwich at joints all over Boston’s North Shore, including Nick's Famous Roast Beef in Beverly and Billy’s Roast Beef & Seafood in Wakefield. Over at Jamie's Roast Beef in Peabody, founder Matt Marquis puts gourmet twists on the classic recipe by adding the likes of Boursin cheese, Cajun aioli and beer-battered onion rings.
One of the least-known sandwiches on our list, the spiedie (pronounced 'speedy') is the pride and joy of Binghamton, New York. This simple, yet very satisfying, dish consists of skewered cubes of marinated, chargrilled meat – chicken, pork, beef or lamb – served in a hoagie roll or on fresh Italian bread. Those who make spiedies keep their marinade recipe a closely guarded secret, but it generally contains olive oil, vinegar and a variety of Italian herbs and spices. Locals love the dish so much that it has its own festival, The Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally, held in Binghamton every August since 1983.
The origins of the spiedie are widely disputed, but the idea for the sandwich was reportedly brought to upstate New York by Italian immigrants in the early 1920s; the name comes from the Italian word spiedini, which translates to 'skewers'. It was popularised in its classic form by Italian brothers Camillo and Augustino Iacovelli, who began serving the dish at their Endicott restaurant, Parkview, in around 1938. The dish was an instant hit, with restaurants and home cooks alike tweaking the marinade recipe to their liking. In 1975, Rob Salamida became the first person to bottle the sauce, and it remains popular to this day.
Unfortunately, two of Binghamton's most historic spiedie spots recently shuttered for good – Lupo's S&S Char Pit in early 2023, and Sharkey’s Bar and Grill in 2020 – so getting your hands on the sandwich is harder than it once was. One of the few remaining restaurants specialising in the dish is Spiedie & Rib Pit, which offers a less traditional twist on the sandwich with lots of different toppings, breads, condiments and sauces to choose from. You can also get spiedies at fast food spots Binghamton Hots and Pudgie's Pizza.
A gloriously messy affair, Chicago’s legendary sandwich recently came to worldwide attention after playing a central role in Hulu series The Bear, but this iconic dish has been eaten with pride since its invention in the 1930s by Italian immigrants working in Chicago's Union Stock Yards. Making an Italian beef is a real labour of love and it takes time and real attention to perfect the dish: seasoned beef (typically chuck roast) is wet-roasted in a meaty broth until tender, then thinly sliced and served on a French roll with extra meat juices either spooned on top or soaked into the bread.
An essential component of the sandwich is the garnish – it usually comes either ‘hot’ (topped with Chicago-style giardiniera pickles) or ‘sweet’, finished with Italian sweet peppers. Natives of the Windy City will have strong opinions on who sells the best, but Al's Italian Beef has been 'home of the great Chicago sandwich' since 1938 and is pretty unbeatable. The story goes that Al Ferrari, his sister and brother-in-law came up with the recipe during the Great Depression. These days there are multiple locations in and around Chicago, but the original spot, on West Taylor Street, is always a must-visit.
The po' boy may be New Orleans’ most famous sandwich, but the muffuletta is the choice for those in the know. The name refers to the type of bread used – a hearty, round Sicilian loaf that’s similar in texture to focaccia, but has a crispier crust, and comes sprinkled with sesame seeds. Served warm or cold depending on where you go, the sandwich is traditionally filled with a stack of mortadella, salami, mozzarella, ham and provolone, plus the key ingredient: a signature olive salad made with olives, herbs, olive oil, vinegar and pickled vegetables.
Historians generally agree that the muffuletta was invented in 1906 at Central Grocery and Deli in New Orleans, Louisiana by owner Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant. The story goes that he noticed local Italian workers buying cold cuts, cheese, olive salad and bread to eat for lunch, making for a messy and hard-to-eat meal. He suggested combining all of the various antipasti inside the bread like a sandwich, and the muffuletta was born. Today, the store is still the go-to spot to try the sandwich, alongside other local favourites like Verti Marte and World Deli.
It doesn’t get much simpler than peanut butter and fruit jelly spread on bread – but did you know this lunchbox staple actually dates all the way back to 1901, and was originally only eaten by the upper classes? The PB&J first featured in The Boston Cooking School Magazine, in a recipe that called for 'three very thin layers of bread and two of filling, one of peanut paste, whatever brand you prefer, and currant or crab apple jelly for the other'. At this point in history the nutty spread was very expensive to produce, so the exclusive sandwich was only really served at fancy parties and high teas.
Happily, the price of peanut butter dropped in 1922, when chemist Joseph Rosefield invented a process for making a smooth variety with a much longer shelf life (he eventually went on to create Skippy peanut butter in 1933). This – along with the invention of sliced bread in 1928 – made the dish much more accessible to ordinary Americans, especially children, who could easily make a PB&J themselves. During the Second World War, both peanut butter and jelly were even part of the military rations list for United States soldiers.
Today, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a snack you’re more likely to make at home than eat out, but you can still find plenty of restaurants giving this childhood favourite a gourmet twist. The South Philadelphia Tap Room in Philadelphia takes the sandwich to the next level by crusting it with frosted flakes and frying it in French toast batter, while Wisconsin's Peanut Butter & Jelly Deli specialises in unique creations like the PBJ Quesadilla, and the Peanut Butter & Yeli: a hot dog on a hoagie bun with peanut butter, jalapeño jelly and bacon.
The only thing French about this classic sandwich is the bread it's traditionally served on; it was actually invented in LA at one of two historic restaurants – either Phillipe's or Cole's, depending on who you ask. The decadent dish consists of thinly sliced roast beef, melted Swiss cheese and onions, stuffed into a baguette or French roll, and accompanied by a bowl of jus (a thin gravy) to dip it into. However, there are plenty of variations, with some joints serving the bread or meat (sometimes both) also dipped in gravy.
Both Phillipe's and Cole's were founded in 1908 – and both claim to have originated the French dip. The Phillipe's story goes that, in 1918, owner Philippe Mathieu unintentionally dropped a sandwich into a roasting pan full of juices, then served it to a hungry policeman. The next day, the policeman returned with friends, asking for more – and a legend was born. Cole's claims to have invented the French dip by accident a decade earlier in 1908, but the details are sketchy. In any case, you can drop into either Los Angeles institution for a world-class sandwich.
This sandwich is all about the dip. At Phillipe's, you have the option of having your sandwich single-dipped, double-dipped or wet – which means it gets a thorough dunking in meat juices. Meanwhile, Cole's popularised the idea of serving a pot of gravy on the side for dipping. Outside of California, there are some superb restaurants dedicated to the French dip. Pony Up in Denver, Colorado offers global twists on the recipe with sandwiches like The Saigon, which consists of roast garlic pork on ciabatta, with spicy mayo and a pho broth.
This overstuffed sandwich is a New Orleans obsession, available everywhere from dive bars to sit-down restaurants. Originally known as a 'poor boy', this historic dish is said to have been invented during the 1929 New Orleans streetcar strike, when restaurant owners Benny and Clovis Martin (former streetcar conductors themselves) would hand out free sandwiches to their former colleagues. Local lore says that, whenever a striker would walk into the restaurant, Benny would shout to Clovis: “Here comes another poor boy!” Cheap, filling, and extremely tasty, the dish soon caught on across the city.
A traditional po’ boy can be filled with a virtually limitless selection of ingredients, from roast beef and sliced ham to fried oysters and crispy catfish – as long as they’re served on New Orleans French bread, which is known for its crispy crust and fluffy centre. When a po’ boy is ‘dressed’, it means the sandwich comes with shredded lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise. New Orleanians will all have their favourite spot, depending on the filling they like best; Short Stop Poboys is loved for its roast beef, while Liuzza's by the Track does an incredible barbecue shrimp version.
When it comes to pure indulgence, Florida’s legendary sandwich is tough to beat. What makes a true Cubano is an exact combination of ingredients: thinly sliced ham, juicy roast pork marinated in mojo (a mixture of sour oranges, olive oil, garlic and herbs), melted Swiss cheese, pickles and yellow mustard (plus salami, if you're in Tampa). The filling is piled inside buttered slices of crunchy Cuban bread and grilled to gooey, juicy perfection on a plancha griddle.
Miami and Tampa have a friendly (and long-running) rivalry over which city invented the sandwich – but it's largely agreed it was first made in Tampa's Ybor City neighbourhood to feed Cuban workers at local cigar factories in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Word quickly spread to Miami, where it became the city's quintessential dish. Sandwich lovers are spoiled for choice with delicious options in both cities, but for a truly classic rendition, Tampa’s La Segunda Central Bakery and Sanguich De Miami both come highly recommended.
Lobster rolls are a quintessential Maine delicacy, but did you know they were actually invented in Connecticut? A dish of hot lobster meat, drenched in butter and piled onto a soft roll, was first served in around 1927 at a restaurant called Perry's in Milford, when owner Harry Perry made it for a customer. Word soon spread up the coast to the rest of New England and, nowadays, you’ll struggle to find a seafood restaurant in the region that doesn’t serve lobster rolls.
There are two main versions of the sandwich: the original Connecticut-style lobster roll, served warm with melted butter, and the more common Maine-style roll, which is traditionally dished up cold. To make the Maine version, lobster knuckle, claw and tail meat is lightly seasoned and dressed with mayo, then piled into a split-top, New England-style hot dog bun. Some restaurants add crunchy greens like finely chopped celery or scallions, but the idea is to keep the extras to a minimum to let the freshness of the lobster really shine through.
Cold or hot, the lobster roll is an essential part of New England dining, and most joints will serve the sandwich both ways. In Boston, foodies wait for up to two hours to get a table at Neptune Oyster, a tiny oyster bar famous for its lobster rolls, raw bar and johnnycakes. Over in Maine, popular food truck and restaurant Bite Into Maine serves six different types of lobster roll, including ‘picnic style’, with homemade coleslaw, celery salt and butter. For an old-school Connecticut lobster roll experience, head to Lobster Landing in Clinton, a charming seafood shack overlooking the marina.
A staple at diners and sandwich shops across the country, this world-class sandwich consists of tender corned beef, melted Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing, on rye bread. Although it's often associated with New York City’s Jewish delis, the hearty dish is rumoured to have its roots in Omaha, Nebraska – specifically, the city’s Blackstone Hotel. The story goes that, in 1925, hotel chef Bernard Schimmel created the dish for card player Reuben Kulakofsky, a local grocer who requested a corned beef and sauerkraut sandwich at his weekly poker game.
The Reuben gained local fame when Schimmel put it on the Blackstone's lunch menu – and word spread even further when a former employee of the hotel, Fern Snider, won a national sandwich contest with the recipe in 1956. The Blackstone Hotel (pictured) recently underwent a massive renovation and is now known as the Kimpton Cottonwood Hotel but, happily, the Reuben is still on the menu. Not convinced by the Blackstone Hotel story? Another account credits the sandwich to Arnold Reuben, the German-Jewish owner of NYC’s Reuben's Delicatessen, who apparently created the 'Reuben Special' in around 1914.
Arguably the most famous rendition of the Reuben sandwich is served at New York City institution Katz's Delicatessen. The no-frills Jewish deli has been around since 1888 and is famous for its towering version of the classic sandwich, as well as a wildly popular twist made with pastrami instead of corned beef. Over in Ann Arbor, Michigan, diners are willing to travel from far and wide to get a bite of one of the generously filled Reubens at Zingerman’s Delicatessen. There’s usually a line, but it’s so worth it.
A favourite of five-star resorts, this room service staple is one of America’s oldest sandwiches, traditionally made with layers of toasted white bread, sliced roast turkey or chicken, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. It's widely believed that it was first served at the Union Club in New York City in 1889 – though some claim it was invented at the Saratoga Club in Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1894. Either way, by the early 20th century it was a must-order at America's fashionable clubs and restaurants. It was even a favourite of England’s King Edward VIII and his wife, Wallis Simpson.
The beauty of the club sandwich is that it's basically the same wherever you go in the world, making it a comforting option for travellers pining for a taste of the familiar. Minor tweaks on the classic recipe usually involve the addition of ham, cheese or egg – but there are plenty of inventive interpretations, too. The Tattooed Moose in Johns Island, South Carolina is famous for its triple-decker confit duck club, even featuring on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, while NYC’s Golden Diner serves a chicken katsu version.
It’s impossible to think of Philadelphia without picturing its famous cheesesteak: a mouth-watering feast of chopped beef smothered in vibrant melted cheese and stuffed into a soft sub roll. The dish was invented by two South Philadelphia hot dog sellers, brothers Harry and Pat Olivieri, who, having thrown some beef onto the grill to make a sandwich, were asked by a passing cab driver if he could try it too. Word spread, and the creation proved so popular that the duo opened Pat's King of Steaks in 1930. It's still one of Philly's best known steak sandwich joints today.
For dedicated cheesesteak aficionados, the definitive cheese of choice is Cheez Whiz (referred to simply as 'whiz' on menus), though white American and provolone are acceptable alternatives. Other common cheesesteak toppings include long and sweet hot peppers, and fried onions; 'wit' and 'witout' are both acceptable choices. One thing that's key to a proper cheesesteak is the ‘drip factor’ – ideally, you should get a little greasy while eating it. Lots of napkins are a must!
While the original joint, Pat's King of Steaks, is a must-visit for cheesesteak newcomers, every Philadelphian inevitably has their own favourite spot – and there are so many to choose from. The best sandwiches can often be found at unassuming neighbourhood joints; no-frills pizza parlour Angelo's Pizzeria regularly tops lists of brilliant cheesesteak spots, as does Dalessandro’s Steaks and Hoagies, which is known for its particularly hefty portions.
Many regions on America's East Coast have their own variation on the sub – a long, Italian-style roll, filled with various types of cold cuts and vegetables. The story goes that it was Italian immigrant Dominic Conti who first came up with the name ‘sub’ around 1928. The trailblazing sandwich seller started making traditional Italian rolls (filled with cheese, cold cuts, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, onions and Italian seasonings) at his grocery store in Paterson, New Jersey in around 1910. According to his granddaughter, he came up with the name 'sub' after seeing a recovered 1901 submarine called Fenian Ram at The Paterson Museum in New Jersey.
The hero is New York’s version of the sub, and comes stuffed with everything from deli meats to eggplant parmigiana and meatballs. Some say the name was coined in the 1930s by New York Herald Tribune food writer Clementine Paddleford, who apparently described the sandwich as being so large, 'you had to be a hero to eat it'. Over in Pennsylvania, it’s all about the hoagie. There are countless stories about how the sandwich got its name, but one of the most colourful dates back to the Depression era, when Al De Palma, a jazz musician and sandwich shop owner, started calling his sandwiches 'hoggies' because you 'had to be a hog' to eat a sandwich that big.
Local legend says that Maine’s version of the sub, the Italian sandwich, was invented in around 1902 by baker Giovanni Amato, who owned a small shop on Portland’s waterfront and would sell loaves of freshly baked Italian bread, loaded with meat, cheese and vegetables, to local dock workers. The name of the sandwich refers to the nationality of the inventor and his original customers rather than its ingredients, so anything goes when it comes to fillings. Amato’s sandwich shop is still thriving to this day, with 45 branches across the East Coast.
Oozy and gooey on the inside, golden and crunchy on the outside, the perfect grilled cheese sandwich is a thing of beauty. The idea of serving melted cheese and bread together goes back centuries; it even featured in early Roman cookbooks. But the version we know and love today started cooking in the 1920s, when Depression-era Americans had to be economical with their grocery purchases. At this point, the dish was better known as ‘melted cheese’ or ‘toasted cheese' and was more of an open-faced sandwich.
The components of the classic recipe – sliced white bread and American cheese – can be credited to two legendary inventors, James L. Kraft and Otto Rohwedder. In 1916, Canadian American Kraft applied for a patent to make processed cheese that could be transported without spoiling. Then, in 1928, Iowa-born Otto Rohwedder first put his experimental bread slicing machine to the test, creating a product that would take the nation (and the world) by storm. By 1950, Kraft Singles were introduced, and the two time-saving inventions were combined, with cooks eventually adding an extra slice of bread to make the grilled cheese we know and love today.
Now a staple in homes, cafeterias and diners across America and beyond, the humble grilled cheese has experienced a gourmet makeover in the last decade, with chefs experimenting with fancy cheeses, exciting breads and all kinds of extra additions, from kimchi to mac 'n' cheese. There are endless options to explore, but highly rated spots include the multi-award-winning American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco, and former food truck The Grilled Cheeserie in Nashville.
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