Eating Like An Earl - Talking Time's Top Sandwiches

[RT-55J]

 

[WildcatJF]

 

[JBear]

The Burger King Whopper is truly the king of burgers. I hate it when burgers are too tall (I'm looking at you, every pub burger ever, and an increasing number of fast food burgers), but this one grows in surface area instead of height, which is great! Genius! Why has literally no one else learned this lesson? It's just so satisfying to pick one up and have it fill your hands. Easily my favourite fast food burger.

 

[Torzelbaum]

The Burger King Whopper is truly the king of burgers. I hate it when burgers are too tall (I'm looking at you, every pub burger ever, and an increasing number of fast food burgers), but this one grows in surface area instead of height, which is great! Genius! Why has literally no one else learned this lesson? It's just so satisfying to pick one up and have it fill your hands. Easily my favourite fast food burger.

Did you feel the same about the BK long burgers?

 

[Daikaiju]

Did you feel the same about the BK long burgers?

Oh, I liked those...

 

[Kirin]

@Kirin likes cheeseburgers in general but his ideal version is made with good local meat. And maybe has bacon or something. (But maybe isn't definitely so I didn't include his pick in the bacon cheeseburger entry.)

This is fair, as while I *do* enjoy a bacon cheeseburger (and it’s often my go-to fast food burger joint pick where the basic burger is usually pretty boring), I will take a good hand-made local cheeseburger with, much like Issun, any of a near-infinite variety of additional fun toppings. The cheese is pretty key though, almost every fancy burger I enjoy has *some* kind of cheese on it even (or especially!) if it’s something non-traditional like goat cheese.

 

[Torzelbaum]

This entry reminds me to lament my favorite version of the cheeseburger that was sold at a regional drive thru spot that only had two locations. It was my Platonic ideal of a fast food cheeseburger - not too thick and not too thin, juicy but not greasy. I ate there quite often with friends and family when I was younger. When I went back to visit them after graduating college and moving away I would often stop to pick up a meal from there whenever I left. ... But at some point they either changed their recipe or food changed or my taste buds changed and the burgers stopped tasting as good. I will put this but no simple frowny face can truly capture the sense of loss that I feel about this.

(They also had nice hot golden cripsy fries there.)

The Burger King Whopper

The Whopper and Big Mac might be the "signature" sandwiches of BK & McDonald's but I generally prefer their other burgers.

a near-infinite variety of additional fun toppings

Something I've experimented with a couple times is adding sour cream to a burger. It wasn't bad or disgusting but it didn't really work that well either.

Sure, even if it's not in your short list of favorites.

 

[Falselogic]

I'm not a fan of a burger without tomatoes and superfluous bread (Big Mac? No thanks) and the whopper is good but if Im going to drive to a fastfood place for a burger its either going to be In n' Out's (I'll spare you my very specific order) or a Famous Star from Carl's Jr. (Hardees in some places.)

I do concur that the best burger is often the one you grill in your own back yard.

 

[Kirin]

Something I've experimented with a couple times is adding sour cream to a burger. It wasn't bad or disgusting but it didn't really work that well either.

Funny you should mention that but it’s actually something I regularly do and enjoy at home. Technically on a Beyond burger since we don’t do meat at home, but on those I put a couple slices on mozzarella, some crispy fried onions, and a sauce made of a combo of sour cream and spicy brown mustard.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Deep Slice #1

Sandwich	Place	Points	Supporter
open face bean and bacon	54*	30	Lokii (#6)

*Tied for 54th place with Honorable Mention #2 : church basement/potluck mini sandwiches

 

[JBear]

The cheese is pretty key though, almost every fancy burger I enjoy has *some* kind of cheese on it even (or especially!) if it’s something non-traditional like goat cheese.

I am a huge slut for goat cheese (and, less relevantly to this discussion, although not entirely irrelevant, mango). Put either of those two items on something and I am sure to try it, and will probably pleased with the results.

As far as favourite fast food burgers go, the BK whopper will always be my number 1 (and although I've never personally verified this, I've often wondered if American whoppers are different, since no American I speak ever seems to agree), but a close number 2 is Harvey's, an exclusively Canadian chain (kind of like Subway for burgers, where they assemble the burger in front of you with the toppings of your choice) with absolutely unique-tasting burgers. I wish I could better characterize the taste, but I all I can say is that there's nothing else like it, and I encourage any Americans who have the opportunity to give one a try.

 

[Kirin]

Well dang, I dunno how the base burger may be different, but as soon as you mention that concept (build your own burger) Iind myself shocked that it’s not a common thing in the US. I mean not just subs, but the same thing is already ubiquitous for fast Mexican and also wraps and bowls and other things. Why not burgs? Odd that nobody’s run with it here yet.

Edit because I’m sure someone will mention: it’s true that many burger places will let you heavily customize if you ask and some even encourage it in their marketing… but still, there’s something about having a wide array of topping options laid out in front of you that hits differently.

 

[Patrick]

Didn't Fuddruckers have a topping bar? IIRC that's their whole gimmick, but I haven't been to one since I was about 10.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Didn't Fuddruckers have a topping bar?

Please, let's keep this family friendly

 

[Patrick]

OK, now I am down the Wikipedia rabbit hole.

Fuddruckers (sometimes abbreviated as Fudds)

I was just going to quote the first sentence below, but I kept adding more sentences until I just decided to quote the whole paragraph.

Fuddruckers was founded as Freddie Fuddruckers in 1979 by Philip J. Romano in San Antonio, Texas, at a location converted from an old bank to a restaurant. He started the chain because he thought that "the world needed a better hamburger". The name derived from "Fudpucker World Airways", a fictional airline using steam-powered aircraft that was an in-joke among pilots and aviation enthusiasts. The Fuddruckers concept was to offer large hamburgers in which the meat was ground on site and buns were baked on the premises, and hamburgers and other dishes were offered with "lots of fresh sliced tomatoes, onions, lettuce, and vats of cheese sauce". In California, Fuddruckers competed at the high end of the fast-food market against chains such as Flakey Jake's, sometimes with head-to-head competitions in places such as Northridge, California. By 1988, there were 150 restaurants in the chain. Romano left the chain in 1988 to form Romano's Macaroni Grill. In an interview, Romano stated: "I just felt I had done all I could for the concept."

And finally:

In August 2014, Fuddruckers opened the first of its new stores called Fuddruckers Deluxe in Newport News, Virginia, a full-service, sit-down restaurant serving traditional and new menu items, with a wait staff, full bar, and multiple TVs, although it did not offer different-sized burgers or a "produce and fixings bar" like its traditional restaurants. As of 2018, the restaurant has been closed

This is the only mention of a fixings bar in the Wikipedia article, but I guess my hazy memories were correct.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Well dang, I dunno how the base burger may be different, but as soon as you mention that concept (build your own burger) Iind myself shocked that it’s not a common thing in the US. I mean not just subs, but the same thing is already ubiquitous for fast Mexican and also wraps and bowls and other things. Why not burgs? Odd that nobody’s run with it here yet.

Yes, but aren't the subs and fast Mex in those cases mostly made with pre-cooked or pre-processed meats? And if anything is cooked it's done in like a set and forget fashion?

 

[Torzelbaum]

We've been on this tasty trip through our favorite sandwiches for a while now but we are finally at the last bite.

We got here thanks to the 11 contributing Eating Epoch partners and consultants who chose their 248 favorite sandwiches. I then arranged those picks into 74 different groups / categories and 63 of those made the final cut (with ties not being counted separately)*. Along the way we also found room for 2 honorable mentions, 9 deep slices and 1 signature sandwich.

And we finish this all with a simple sandwich. This sandwich can be made with just one ingredient other than bread. But if we are being pedantic and generous with the concept of an ingredient then you could say that the sandwich requires 1 or 2 more ingredients.

*If I had counted the ties then the list would probably have started with the fish/pita/steak trio and left out 11 entries. But I maybe could have combined things differently to include some of those.

 

[jpfriction]

I like a big mac much better than a whopper. I prefer burger sauce to just mayo. BK burgers taste a bit to smoky to me in general anyway.

Fast food burger rankings go something like

Culver’s single with cheddar, lettuce, tomato and pickle: #1 with a bullet

In n out, Freddy’s or Shake Shack: Solid choices all around, seldom disappointed.

McD Big Mac: Gets the job done. Kids want their happy meals and I don’t want to go to a second place.


Anybody else: Probably getting chicken.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Culver’s single with cheddar, lettuce, tomato and pickle: #1 with a bullet

Excellent choice. My go to there is a double with lettuce and onion. And maybe I'll add bacon and/or mustard if I'm feeling feisty.

Culver's also has fries that are about the closest I can find that match my memory of these fries that were served at this little diner/cafe in the small town I grew up in.

 

[Issun]

As far as favourite fast food burgers go, the BK whopper will always be my number 1 (and although I've never personally verified this, I've often wondered if American whoppers are different, since no American I speak ever seems to agree)

A lot of Americans just seem to hate BK in general, it seems. I tend to prefer the taste of their burgers to most other fast food burgers, though I'm more a fan if the bacon double cheeseburger myself.

 

[Torzelbaum]

#1

grilled cheese

273 points, 9 votes
Staunchest Sandwich Supporters: Kirin, nataeryn, RT-55J (#1)

Tour Locations:
Stowe, Vermont
Ottawa, Ontario
Manchester, New Hampshire
Eel River Crossing, New Brunswick
Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Oʻahu, Hawaii
Charlotte, North Carolina
Faribault, Minnesota​

Ah, grilled cheese - you are humble and lovable. It can be made simply with just a few widely available, mass-produced ingredients. Or it can be made with finer ingredients for a more premium sandwich. It can be enhanced with other ingredients and accompanied by many different side dishes. In its most basic form it can be prepared quickly and easily - which makes it a blessing for busy parents, tired students and weary workers who are all trying to make their way through another day. It is truly a sandwich for all seasons (but not all seasonings) and a worthy choice for our #1 sandwich. Let's all give it a round of applause. *claps*

@Kirin likes grilled cheese but awards bonus points if you add fried onion.

@nataeryn likes a regular grilled cheese but also likes the version from the Bojangles restuarant chain that they make with cheddar cheese and one of their biscuits - the Cheddar Bo.

@WildcatJF likes his grilled cheese with turkey.

Not as much of a childhood staple for me as most folk I speak to, but my SO makes a good one and there's something that feels innately childish and comforting about it to me.

@RT-55J @Alex @Johnny Unusual @JBear

(Grilled cheese was #13 on my list. The cafeteria where I used to worked served a three cheese grilled cheese on Texas toast that was tasty but could be quite rich and greasy. Still a nice lunch though.)

 

[WildcatJF]

This was a very fun list. Definitely made me hungry a few times, haha. Thanks Torzelbaum for running it!

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Yum. I feel like even with lesser quality bread and cheese (re: Wonder Bread and processed cheese), you can make a pretty delicious treat for yourself. And with the higher quality stuff, it gets even better.

I never actually had the Grilled Cheese/Tomato Soup combo until a few years ago when we had, for a time, a gourmet grilled cheese food truck in town (the soup was nearly sauce-level thick). It didn't last but it was good stuff!

It wasn't my number one but it's so perfect in its simplicity, I think it really earned it's spot.

 

[Daikaiju]

The Luigi of Sandwiches

My list

1. Roasted turkey with lettuce, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and honey mustard on a jalapeño cheddar bagel
2. Turkey Club on Rye
3. Chicago Dog
4. Marinated Grilled Chicken Hoagie
5. Nathan's hot dog with mustard and relish
6. Turkey hoagie
7. Roy Rogers Bacon Cheddar Burger
8. Cheesesteak
9. McDonald's Cheddar Melt
10. Banh Mi
11. Big Mac
12. Ham & Swiss panini
13. Genoa Salami hoagie
14. Hot sausage on a long roll
15. Peanut butter and honey
16. Fluffernutter
17. Almond butter and any berry jam

 

[Issun]

Can't believe I forgot grilled cheese.

Anyways thanks for the list, Torz!

 

[Torzelbaum]

My list:

1. patty melt
2. Sausage McMuffin with Egg
3. French dip
4. cheeseburger
5. Italian meatball sub
6. fried fish
7. biscuit breakfast sandwich
8. pulled pork
9. breaded tenderloin
10. chicken bacon swiss
11. cracker sandwiches
12. Arby's Beef 'n Cheddar
13. grilled cheese
14. Polish sausage
15. fried chicken
16. gyro
17. peanut butter & jelly
18. fast food "roast beef" sandwich
19. pigs in a blanket
20. hot ham & cheese
21. hot dog
22. Subway Spicy Italian
23. peanut butter graham cracker sandwich
24. bratwurst
25. McRib

The Luigi of Sandwiches

But then what's the Mario (and others)?

I just remembered another sandwich I forgot but I'll wait until it shows up. The cost of throwing your list together last minute, I suppose.

Was grilled cheese the sandwich you forgot, @Issun? Or was it something else?

 

[Issun]

There were several and that was a long time ago but it might have been grilled cheese.

 

[RT-55J]

A deserving winner if there ever was one!

Good job tabulating such a difficult list.

 

[WildcatJF]

My list was short but sweet:
1. Turkey dip (like a french dip but with turkey and a special au jus)
2. Hamburger (turkey burger specifically)
3. Grilled cheese (with turkey)
4. Chicken (breaded with cheese)
5. Bánh mì
6. Wrap (chicken or turkey)
7. Turkey sandwich (with lettuce, pickle, and cheese)
8. Shawarma (chicken)
9. Pilgrim (turkey, cranberries, cheese)
10. Peanut butter and jelly

 

[Johnny Unusual]

1. Club Sandwich
2. Buffalo Burgers
3. Meatball Sub
4. Grilled Cheese
5. Aussie Burger/ Kiwi Burger (when I was a kid we called it “Hamburgers with the Lot”)
6. Bacon Cheeseburger
7. Pulled Pork
8. Panini
9. Hot Turkey Sandwich
10. Dagwood
11. Bacon Egg and Cheese
12. BLT
13. Shwarma
14. Cheeseburger
15. Breakfast Sandwich
16. French Dip
17. Souvlaki
18. Donair
19. Turkey Wrap
20. Egg Sandwich
21. Turkey Sandwich
22. Tea Sandwich
23. Slider
24. Ribwich
25. Yakisoba-Pan