Ranking 13 Of The Best Regional Sandwiches Across The United States

If you ask people from across the world what the American food scene is most known for, you’ll get plenty of answers. Some will say portion sizes, others will say fried food, and many will just say fast food.

But the staple of the American food scene is simple: the humble sandwich. From coast to coast, almost every city and town, big or small, has its own regional sandwiches that it takes pride in.

Today, we’re going down 13 of the best regional sandwiches across the United States.

America’s Best Regional Sandwiches

If we were simply making a list of great regional sandwiches, this list could easily stretch into the hundreds.

So we’ve decided to lay some ground rules. First, no city or region gets more than one sandwich, which means some famous sandwiches are going to be left off the list. Secondly, to keep all else as even as possible, we’re going off the average version of the sandwich that you can get across the city or region.

Sure, you can go find a place that sells regional sandwiches with wagyu or foie gras, but are those really a good indicator of how good the sandwich is across the area?

So with that said, let’s dive into our list!

13) Loose Meat Sandwich – Midwest

With origins in Montana and a home mostly in Iowa, the loose meat sandwich certainly isn’t much to look at. But that’s exactly the point.

Those who haven’t traveled to the Midwest may not even know about this culinary delicacy.

The loose meat sandwich falls somewhere between a deconstructed hamburger and a sloppy joe. It typically involves seasoned, crumbled ground beef with onions, served on a bun with options such as pickles, mustard, ketchup, or cheese.

Who doesn’t want to eat a lazy man’s version of a burger?

12) Hot Brown  – Kentucky

The Kentucky Hot Brown, also known as a Louisville Hot Brown, was created at the Brown hotel in 1926 in Louisville and is an absolutely decadent open-faced sandwich.

It begins with thick slices of toasted bread, piled high with turkey, a Mornay cheese sauce, tomato, bacon, and finished off with paprika and either parsley or chives to garnish.

Not only does the sandwich look absolutely incredible, but it tastes delicious as well. Perhaps the only thing holding the Hot Brown back on this list is the fact that it’s extremely rich and can leave you feeling pretty lethargic afterward if you eat the whole thing.

11) Pit Beef – Baltimore

While we could’ve gone with a crab cake sandwich here, we opted to go with the lesser-known Pit Beef for Baltimore, due to its distinct regionality and lack of availability outside the region.

The irony of that fact is that the pit beef is pretty simple and very tasty.

The sandwich is traditionally made with a cheap cut of beef, such as top round, grilled over a charcoal “pit” until almost burnt. The top layers are then sliced off, and the beef is placed back on the grill until it reaches a finished, yet rare state.

It’s then piled onto a bun with Tiger Sauce, a mix of mayo and horseradish, and topped with raw onion. The pit beef is relatively new compared to others on this list, with origins in the 1970s before rising to popularity thanks to the hit show The Wire on HBO, which was set in Baltimore.

10) Nashville Hot Chicken – Nashville

The name gives away the area for the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich, which has seemingly exploded in popularity in recent years.

The Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich begins with a classic, seasoned and marinated fried chicken sandwich that is then dipped into a hot sauce that is made from cayenne pepper and other spices mixed with the hot frying oil from the chicken. It’s topped with pickles to cut through some of the heat and served on a basic roll.

In recent years, Nashville Hot Chicken has spread to restaurants across the country, as every chain now seems to have its own variety of “Nashville Hot” items.

9) Pork Tenderloin Sandwich – Indiana

The fried pork tenderloin is popular across the midwestern United States, but has its roots in Indiana.

It involves takes a pork tenderloin and pounding it out to an almost paper-thin consistency and a size that is several times larger than a standard bun. The tenderloin is then dredged and fried, and served on a traditional hamburger bun.

It’s often accompanied by traditional toppings such as lettuce, tomato, and onion, as well as the condiments of your choosing.

While the Nashville Hot Chicken sandwich may be a bit more unique, the pork tenderloin sandwich goes one spot ahead due to its appeal to both spicy and non-spicy lovers.

8) Po’ Boy – New Orleans

The one sandwich per region rule meant that we had to make a choice here, opting for the Po’ Boy over the Muffaletta for New Orleans.

The beauty of the Po’ Boy is both in its financial accessibility, initially created for striking workers in the 1920s, and for its variety, as it can be served with fried shrimp (or other seafood) or roast beef, and topped with lettuce, tomato, and onion.

While a Po’ Boy is unlikely to knock your socks off, you’re never going to be disappointed with one (in New Orleans), and it will leave you feeling plenty full.

7) Beck on Weck – Buffalo

What if you took the pit beef sandwich and made it just a little bit better? Well, you’d have beef on weck, the famed roast beef sandwich from Buffalo and Upstate New York at large.

Like pit beef, this sandwich starts with rare roast beef and also involves a horseradish spread. But it also typically includes au jus for dipping and, most importantly, is served on a kummelweck roll, which is topped with kosher salt and caraway seeds and provides both additional flavor and texture.

The beef on weck is a wildly underrated and under-talked about regional sandwich that is a delight each and every time.

6) Lobster Roll – Maine/New England

Whether you like yours served on a toasted bun with drawn butter, or tossed in mayo with a little lemon juice, salt and pepper, there’s nothing like a good lobster roll.

The sandwich itself isn’t anything flashy, and typically contains four ingredients or fewer. But the star of the show is fresh-caught lobster off the coast of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

The tender, buttery lobster adds an incredible richness to the sandwich. The only downside is that even where lobster rolls are found in abundance, they’re going to cost you a pretty penny.

5) Pulled Pork – North Carolina

We may catch some heat here from readers in Kansas City and other southern states. But we’re awarding the pulled pork sandwich to North Carolina on this one.

North Carolina not only provides the most pork of any state in the south, but it also has its own style of vinegar-based barbecue sauce that sets it apart from the pulled pork sandwiches you’d get anywhere else.

Add in some crunchy slaw for texture and to cut the acid, and you have yourself one of the best sandwiches you’re going to find anywhere in the nation.

4) Cuban Sandwich – Miami/Tampa

BroBible editor Cass Anderson insists that you will find the best Cuban sandwiches in Tampa, not Miami, even if fellow staff member Jorge Alonso, a Miami native, may not agree.

Everything about the Cubano, which became insanely popular nationwide after the 2014 hit movie Chef, works perfectly in tandem.

You get wonderful slow-roasted pork, sweet and salty glazed ham, acidic pickles and slightly spicy mustard, all that goes with rich, melted Swiss cheese and sandwiched between traditional Cuban bread that is then pressed on a plancha.

It hits every flavor profile at once with a great crispy outer texture and soft interior. Just reading about it is enough to find your closest place that sells Cubanos to get one of your own.

3) Italian Beef – Chicago

Even before the hit show The Bear on FX made it as popular as it has ever been, the Italian Beef sandwich was well-known as one of the best regional sandwiches in the country.

I mean, who doesn’t love slow-cooked beef, sliced, then dropped back into delicious jus to reheat, put into a pillowy soft roll, and topped with peppers and giardinera?

Then you add in the fact that you can get the sandwich either with a side of the delicious jus or the whole thing dunked in it? It’s absolute heaven on earth.

And if you’re gonna go the chain route with Portillo’s, make sure to grab a cake shake to follow it up with a delicious, decadent dessert.

2) Pastrami/Corned Beef On Rye – New York City

As someone who grew up in a Jewish family with a grandmother from New York, how could I not have the traditional pastrami or corned beef on rye high on the list?

Traditional Jewish delis can be found all across New York City, but they’re hard to find anywhere else.

This sandwich is simple, well-flavored, and slow-cooked corned beef (or pastrami) brisket, piled high on thick rye bread, and lathered with as much (or as little) mustard as you like (although I will commit a sin here and admit that Dijon mustard, rather than the traditional spicy brown, really takes things to the next level.

This sandwich is as popular for its taste as it is for its incredible portion sizes, as almost every good deli in NYC piles high the seeded rye with copious amounts of meat.

1) Roast Pork – Philadelphia

Surely you were all reading this, just waiting to get to the iconic Philly cheesesteak. After all, it’s the sandwich that most people associate with Philadelphia.

But while I love a good Philly cheesesteak and could easily recommend a number of my favorite places, it’s the roast pork sandwich that is the real star of the show.

Large pork shoulders are roasted for hours in the oven before being cooled, sliced, then reheated in their own drippings, piled onto a nice (preferably seeded) Italian roll, and topped with either spinach or my personal favorite, broccoli rabe, and sharp provolone to create a truly magical bite.

The bread is crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside to soak up the juices. The pork is tender and flavorful. The broccoli rabe adds just a slight bitterness, and the sharp provolone adds a nice saltiness for balance.

Next time you’re in Philadelphia and only have time to choose one, maybe skip the cheesesteak and head on over to Tommy DiNic’s or John’s Roast Pork and try this sandwich, it may just change the way you view Philadelphia as a sandwich city for good.