You’ve Got To Be Loafing
Two slices of bread. A few fillings. How strange could it get? Apparently, very. Across America, regional favorites and old food traditions have taken sandwiches in directions most of us never saw coming. Some might make you hungry. Others definitely will not.
Which would you actually try?
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Massachusetts: Chow Mein Sandwich
Around Fall River, chow mein doesn’t always arrive with chopsticks. It can come piled onto a bun, with crunchy noodles, vegetables, and gravy spilling out everywhere. This local Chinese-American specialty has been around for generations. Trying to eat it neatly might take you just as long.
Ohio: Polish Boy
Cleveland’s Polish Boy starts with a kielbasa sausage in a bun, then adds french fries, coleslaw, and barbecue sauce. The side dishes have effectively moved into the sandwich. It’s messy, filling, and probably best eaten somewhere that won’t charge you for staining the furniture.
stu_spivack, Wikimedia Commons
Indiana: Fried Brain Sandwich
Southern Indiana is one of the places where an old tradition of fried brain sandwiches survives. At Evansville’s Hilltop Inn, pork brains are battered, fried, and served on a bun. Some people hear “crispy fried sandwich” and get hungry. Others hear the next ingredient and reconsider.
Tim Schapker, Wikimedia Commons
Maryland: Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich
A Maryland soft-shell crab sandwich can look like somebody forgot to finish preparing the seafood. The cleaned crab is cooked whole, usually fried, and served with its legs sticking out of the bread. The shell is edible at this stage. That doesn’t make the first bite any less startling.
(Oinkers42), Wikimedia Commons
Missouri: St. Paul Sandwich
Despite its name, the St. Paul sandwich is closely associated with St. Louis Chinese-American restaurants. An egg foo young patty goes between white bread with mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. It sounds like two different lunch orders got mixed together—and nobody bothered separating them.
Lucas Robert Caragiulo, Wikimedia Commons
Illinois: Ham Horseshoe
Springfield’s horseshoe starts with toast and ham, then piles on french fries and cheese sauce. The original version used ham, although other meats followed. It’s an open-faced sandwich that requires a fork—and makes you wonder whether the bread underneath is really getting enough credit.
Louisiana: French-Fry Po’boy
New Orleans found a way to make a sandwich out of the thing normally served beside one. A french-fry po’boy packs fries into French bread, often with brown gravy and the usual dressed toppings. It’s potatoes inside bread. Nobody involved appears particularly concerned about your carb intake.
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North Carolina: Livermush Sandwich
Livermush combines pork liver, other pork ingredients, cornmeal, and seasoning into a loaf that can be sliced and fried. In parts of western North Carolina, those crisp slices belong in a sandwich. The name does very little advertising work, but longtime fans don’t need a sales pitch.
New Jersey: Fat Sandwich
New Brunswick’s grease-truck tradition produced sandwiches that seem designed to settle several cravings at once. One famous version, the Fat Darrell, combines chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, french fries, and marinara sauce in a roll. Ordering an appetizer would be redundant. You’ve already got several inside your lunch.
Maine: Baked Bean Sandwich
Maine’s baked bean sandwich gives leftovers another assignment. Beans go between slices of bread, with variations ranging from cold beans and mayonnaise to warmer versions with cheese or onion. It’s a familiar old-fashioned meal in some households. Elsewhere, people are still wondering where the meat went.
Nevada: Beef Tongue Sandwich
Beef tongue is part of northern Nevada’s Basque dining tradition, and sandwiches give it another way to reach the table. Elko’s Star Hotel is one familiar example. Sliced tongue turns a cut some diners avoid into a local favorite—although newcomers might need a minute before ordering.
Tennessee: Fried Peanut Butter And Banana Sandwich
Elvis helped make peanut butter and banana sandwiches part of Memphis food lore. The Arcade Restaurant keeps a fried version on its menu. The filling might sound perfectly harmless, but frying the sandwich moves it firmly out of lunchbox territory. The King apparently liked his comfort food extra comfortable.
Caballero1967, Wikimedia Commons
Alaska: Reindeer Breakfast Sandwich
Reindeer sausage is a familiar Alaska ingredient, and breakfast sandwiches give it another setting. Anchorage’s Sandwich Deck pairs it with scrambled eggs and American cheese on toast. Your breakfast might look ordinary—until you notice reindeer on the menu.
Wisconsin: Cannibal Sandwich
Some Wisconsin families have a holiday tradition involving raw ground beef, onions, and rye bread. Known as a cannibal sandwich, it’s certainly memorable—but raw ground beef can carry dangerous bacteria, and health officials advise against eating it. This is one tradition better read about than sampled.
Tjeerd Wiersma, Wikimedia Commons
Kentucky: Hot Brown
Louisville’s Brown Hotel created the Hot Brown in 1926, and Kentucky never really let it go. Turkey and tomato sit on toast under Mornay sauce, then get broiled and finished with crisp bacon. It’s called a sandwich, but picking it up would be an ambitious mistake.
IluvatarEru, Wikimedia Commons
Iowa: Loose-Meat Sandwich
Iowa’s loose-meat sandwich fills a bun with seasoned, crumbled beef, commonly finished with mustard, onion, and pickles. There’s no tomato sauce holding everything together, so the filling has considerable freedom of movement. It’s a regional favorite that makes a strong argument for eating directly over your plate.
Jonathunder, Wikimedia Commons
Hawaii: Spam And Egg Sandwich
Spam and eggs are familiar partners in Hawaii, and bread gives them another way to travel together. Fried Spam brings salty, crisp-edged meat to a breakfast sandwich that might otherwise seem ordinary. If your only experience with Spam involves avoiding it, Hawaii may have a few objections.
Pennsylvania: Primanti-Style Sandwich
Pittsburgh’s Primanti Brothers helped make sandwiches stuffed with french fries and coleslaw a city signature. Its familiar combination includes grilled meat, provolone, and tomato between thick slices of Italian bread. For anyone who usually eats the sides first, having them inside the sandwich creates an interesting logistical problem.
Adam Stone from Fort Worth, TX, USA, Wikimedia Commons
Kansas: Bierock
A bierock tucks beef, cabbage, and onions inside dough before baking the whole thing into a stuffed roll. Brought to the region through immigrant food traditions, it became a Kansas favorite. There’s no sandwich assembly required at lunchtime. Somebody has already sealed everything inside its own edible package.
Nebraska: Runza
Nebraska’s Runza wraps beef, cabbage, and onions inside baked bread, with the namesake restaurant chain helping make it a state institution. It’s related to the bierock, but Nebraska has made this version especially recognizable. Cut one open and the entire sandwich is already waiting inside.
Alabama: White Barbecue Chicken Sandwich
Alabama’s white barbecue sauce uses mayonnaise and vinegar instead of the familiar tomato base. Closely associated with Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, it makes an unusual topping for chicken sandwiches. Visitors expecting sweet red sauce might need a moment. Locals have had considerably longer to get used to it.
Sirsendu.mohanta, Wikimedia Commons
Vermont: The Vermonter
The Vermonter brings turkey, cheddar, and apple together, with variations found at different Vermont eateries. Stone Corral in Richmond adds cranberry mayonnaise and grilled sourdough. It’s one of the gentler combinations here, although anyone committed to keeping fruit out of sandwiches may still have questions.
Mack Male from Edmonton, AB, Canada, Wikimedia Commons
Utah: Fried Scone Sandwich
Utah’s scones are puffy fried bread, which makes them rather different from the crumbly things served with tea. The former Sconecutter chain used them for sandwiches with fillings such as turkey and cheese. A perfectly reasonable lunch, once you accept that the bread took a swim in hot oil.
Virginia: Sailor Sandwich
Richmond’s Sailor sandwich combines hot pastrami, knackwurst sausage, Swiss cheese, and mustard on rye. Found at several area restaurants, it doesn’t ask you to choose between a deli sandwich and sausage. It simply gives you both and trusts that you’ve brought enough appetite.
South Dakota: Pheasant Salad Sandwich
During WWII, Aberdeen’s railroad canteen became known for feeding troops pheasant sandwiches. The filling turned cooked pheasant into a salad with ingredients such as eggs, vegetables, relish, and mayonnaise. It’s an unusual sandwich with a meaningful local history—and a considerably more distinctive bird than your usual chicken salad.
Montana: Fried Pork Chop Sandwich
Butte’s pork chop sandwich puts a battered, fried boneless pork chop inside bread, with Pork Chop John’s among its best-known names. A pork chop might usually arrive on a dinner plate, but here it gets a more portable assignment. Montana found a way to take supper along for the ride.
Georgia: Peanut Butter And Mayonnaise Sandwich
This old Southern combination reaches well beyond Georgia, but it has memories attached to the state too. Georgia farmer Brandon Chonko recalled his grandmother in Covington adding mayonnaise to his peanut butter sandwich. Plenty of people grew up with it. Others are still waiting for someone to explain why.
Texas: Houston-Style Po’boy
Houston’s Antone’s helped establish a local po’boy tradition featuring ham, salami, provolone, mayonnaise, pickles, and chowchow. That last ingredient—a tangy vegetable relish—gives the sandwich its distinctive twist. If you arrive expecting a New Orleans seafood po’boy, Houston has a different lunch waiting for you.
Washington: Dungeness Crab Melt
Along Washington’s coast, Dungeness crab can turn a grilled sandwich into something considerably richer. Merino’s in Westport pairs crab salad with aioli, slaw, and cheddar on sourdough. Seafood and melted cheese might divide the table, but the people ordering this one have apparently settled the argument.
Quickspicerecipes, Wikimedia Commons
West Virginia: Pepperoni Roll
West Virginia’s pepperoni roll bakes the meat directly inside soft bread, making a compact meal that became associated with coal miners. It doesn’t need separate slices or much preparation when lunchtime arrives. The filling is hidden until you bite in—which is a much better surprise than some sandwiches offer.
User: (WT-shared) Haem85 at wts wikivoyage, Wikimedia Commons
Rhode Island: Dynamite Sandwich
Woonsocket’s dynamite sandwich fills a roll with a spicy mixture of ground beef, tomatoes, peppers, and onions. It has something in common with a sloppy joe, but its local identity and heat set it apart. The name gives you fair warning: This probably won’t be your neatest lunch.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/girl_named_fred/, Wikimedia Commons
Which One Would You Actually Order?
Some of these sound surprisingly good. Others might require a very persuasive friend—or a promise that you don’t have to finish. Which one would you actually order? And did your state’s sandwich make you hungry, or make you wonder who came up with it?
InDefenseOfToucans, Wikimedia Commons
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