Download our sandwich bracket here and play along on our Facebook page!









I love sandwiches, in part because they demonstrate the creativity that comes from restraint: You’ve got two pieces of good bread … now what?

In this issue, you’ll find 32 of our favorite creations in Nashville. You won’t find any burgers, dogs or wraps here, because they are their own distinct animals. Instead, there are three from Mitchell Deli, the city’s reigning sandwich king, but also lunchtime masterpieces from food trucks, Mexican joints operating out of old gas stations, start-ups in strip malls and barbecue hotspots.

That’s where you come in.

Since it’s March, we’re going to engage in a little bracketology to determine the best sandwich in Nashville. We’ve divided our field into four groups of eight — Pig & Cow, Fish & Fowl, Barbecue and Vegetarian — and created matchups that appear in the center of this issue. You can go to our Facebook page and vote for your favorite sandwiches, and in four weeks we will crown the champion at our annual Iron Fork event.

So, start eating, Nashville. There’s never been a better time to be a fan of sandwiches.

—Steve Cavendish, Editor

Pig & Cow

Asian Flank Steak: Mitchell Deli

Hibachi, hoagie, Italian beef — only a psycho or a genius combines those flavors, and Mitchell Deli represents the latter. The soy-based marinade on the grilled steak brings umami the way only Asian flavors can; the mayo-smeared hoagie roll keeps it classic; and the melted provolone and giardiniera (made with green olives for a bright, earthy burst) evoke Italian comfort food with their cheesy, tangy finish. A full food court in one sandwich. —ASHLEY BRANTLEY

1306 McGavock Pike

615-262-9862

mitchelldeli.com

Banh Mi: InterAsian Market & Deli

Not even to mention the special roasted pork belly version available on weekends (OK, we mentioned it, can’t be helped), this delicious bargain of a sandwich is made with love and homemade pork pâté topped with julienned vegetables that look like they came from the knife of a mise en place master, and fragrant cilantro picked fresh from the market’s own produce department. At under $5, it’s tough to beat. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

2160 Nolensville Pike

615-742-3268

interasianmarket.com

Salami with cornichons: Dozen Bakery

I’m not sure whether it’s the shallot butter with little mustard grains or the crunch of the baguette, but if you close your eyes on the first taste of this sandwich, you might end up in Paris. A layer of salami is the nominal raison d’être, but damn if the cornichons — crisp tiny pickles — don’t steal the show here. It’s a tangy, salty, buttery bite on the most perfect bread in Nashville. —STEVE CAVENDISH

516 Hagan St., No. 103

615-712-8150

dozen-nashville.com

Churrasco Sandwich: Subculture Urban Cuisine and Cafe

“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan / A stately pleasure-dome decree,” wrote Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and he could easily have been talking about this carefully constructed mound of decadence. Atop a foundation of tomatoes and aioli are sliced churrasco (marinated skirt steak, cooked medium), an over-easy egg and fragrant green chimichurri. The bun’s top half is smeared with avocado — perfect for dipping in the glorious river of juices should you accidentally eat all the filling. —STEPHEN TRAGESER

5737 Nolensville Pike

615-955-1223

Torta Milanesa: El Amigo

All the flavors you love on a taco, but transported to a sandwich. Thin slices of pork are crisped up in the fryer, then piled high on bread that’s been toasted on a flat top. Add in avocados, refried beans and tomatoes, and choose from two different hot sauces and pickled onions to get things just how you like it. It’s cool, hot, crispy and comforting all at once. —STEVE CAVENDISH

3900 Nolensville Pike

615-833-6434

Buckboard Bacon Melt: Cochon Butcher

Collard greens, Swiss cheese and coppa bacon smashed between grilled and greasy white bread may not sound like the best sandwich you’ve ever had, but that’s only because you haven’t had it. The tangy greens (cooked with banana peppers) offset the smoky meat to perfection, and the gooey cheese seals the deal. The only way to make it better is a dash of CB’s sweet potato hot sauce. —CARI WADE GERVIN

1120 Fourth Ave. N., No. 101

615-567-5887

cochonbutcher.com/nashville

The Ed Pontieri: Savarino’s Cucina

It’s hard to envision a more perfect Italian cold-cut sandwich than the Ed Pontieri, named for a beloved longtime regular at Savarino’s who died in 2009. A healthy portion of thinly sliced mortadella, sopressata, capicola and provolone topped with shredded lettuce and tomato, sits upon the perfect Italian sandwich bread, baked in house. It’s all made even more irresistible with a dollop of bomba calabrese, a heavenly Italian condiment made with hot peppers, oil and variety of vegetables. If you’re used to Italian subs from your generic sub shop franchise, the Ed Pontieri will be nothing short of a revelation. —JACK SILVERMAN

2121 Belcourt Ave.

615-460-9878

Cubano: Cochon Butcher

A classic Cubano is tantalizing on the tongue and lays delightfully heavy on the belly, thanks to the tangy mustard and layers of pork products between buttered Cuban bread. Add culinary inspiration from Cochon Butcher’s creators Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski, plus the execution of the local staff, and it becomes something truly special. Juicy smoked pork, tender ham from the shoulder, swiss cheese, dijon and a mustard/cilantro vinaigrette combine for near perfection. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

1120 Fourth Ave. N., No. 101

615-567-5887

cochonbutcher.com/nashville

Fish & Fowl

Turkey Avocado Bacon: Mitchell Delicatessen It isn’t rocket science, just a straight-up well-constructed sandwich that comes precisely as advertised. Braised turkey, Benton’s bacon and fresh avocado, not to mention cheddar, tomato and mayo for flavor, with some sprouts for texture. While a lot of Mitchell’s house sandwiches come on hoagie rolls, this one arrives between a couple slices of Silke’s whole wheat bread, cut diagonally. As far as turkey sandwiches are concerned, it’s quite possibly the best in town — hearty, flavorful and perfect to eat in the deli or pack in a cooler for a hiking trip. This is a classic. —D. PATRICK RODGERS 1306 McGavock Pike 615-262-9862 mitchelldeli.com Hot Chicken Sandwich: Hattie B’s Hattie B’s makes the best chicken sandwich you’ve ever had, period. The crispy, hot and juicy breast; the tart comeback sauce; the impossibly fluffy, buttery bun — it’s like a Chick-fil-A sandwich grew up to be a little nasty. Cole slaw and kosher pickles balance the heat, but even if you go mild, the warm, salty spice blend (garlic powder, paprika, brown sugar) is a standout. My mom liked it, and she hates everything. — ASHLEY BRANTLEY West Side location: 5209 Charlotte Ave. 615-712-7137 hattieb.com Fried Oyster Po’boy: Rudie’s Seafood and Sausage That pesky 450-mile gap between the ocean and us thwarts our seafood cravings no more, thanks to spots like Rudie’s Seafood and Sausage. Sourced directly from farmers and fishermen across the country, the meaty oysters on the po’boy are fried to perfection — not too mushy or too crispy, with just the right amount of breading — and served on a hoagie roll piled high with lettuce, tomato and chowchow and drizzled with remoulade. You’re gonna want to knife-and-fork this bad boy, but it is such a breath of fresh, salty air that it’s totally worth the extra effort. —NANCY FLOYD 1402 McGavock Pike 615-645-5167 rudiesnashville.com Lobster Roll: Cousins Maine Lobster food truck Lobstah rolls? In Nashville? From a food truck? For 16 bucks? “That’ll never work!” said the disbelieving guy who didn’t want to stand in the long line of fans waiting to order one of these rolls made with lobster shipped directly from the boats in Maine to this popular mobile eatery. Either traditional Mainer-style, served chilled with just a swipe of mayo, or Connecticut-style, warmed with lemon butter, these are Cousins you want to kiss. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN cousinsmainelobster.com/nashville Hot Fish Sandwich: Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish Like Grandma letting you pick your own switch, Bolton’s leaves you to assemble the long, thin whiting fillets — fried in a crunchy breadcrumb batter, coated with the restaurant’s famous dry rub and topped with onion, pickle and mustard — between two slices of plain white sandwich bread, the only correct accompaniment. No matter how you orient the parts, it looks just as dangerous as it is, and its burn lingers like good whiskey. — STEPHEN TRAGESER 624 Main St. 615-254-8015 boltonsspicy.com Fried Whiting Sandwich: Ed’s Fish and Pizza The formula is simple: fried cornmeal-crusted whiting lashed with hot sauce, scraped with yellow mustard, scattered with dill pickles and onion slivers, then sandwiched between slices of white bread from the market across the street. Ed’s doesn’t truck with this “hot fish” trend — it’s classic crunchy fried fish that doesn’t need to be fancied up, and the line at the drive-thru and the crowd inside the store would agree. Fried fish sandwiches are a thing of the moment — the crust that crunches so nicely, the hot fish flaking into bite-size pieces, the pillowy white bread. —NICKI PENDLETON WOOD 1801 D.B. Todd Blvd. 615-255-4362 East Nasty: Tower Market & Deli The East Nasty proves there’s more than one right way to make hot chicken. A fiery, fried golden-brown breast is topped with capicola, jalapeño, bacon, pepper-jack cheese and Sabi sauce. Similar to the horseradish-mayo you get with prime rib, Sabi sauce adds a smoky tomato twist that cuts through the hot porky goodness, which is just what you need with a sandwich turned up to 11. — ASHLEY BRANTLEY 1305 Gallatin Ave. 615-650-1005 towerdelimarket.com East Nasty: Biscuit Love If you want to start a fight among Scenesters, ask this question: Can you make a sandwich out of a biscuit? Ultimately, we say yes (it’s a quick bread), and you have to consider Karl and Sarah Worley’s East Nasty one of the best in the city: a slightly crunchy but oh-so-soft-in-the-middle biscuit, fried chicken, sharp cheese and rich sausage gravy that would make your mother proud. It’s a messy, glorious, nap-inducing thing. —STEVE CAVENDISH 316 11th Ave. S. 615-490-9584 biscuitlove.com

Barbecue

Tuck Special: Edley’s Bar-B-Que The Tuck Special feeds the fat kid in us all: Juicy smoked brisket, an over-easy egg, spicy pimento cheese and dill pickles are drenched with red and white barbecue sauces. It’s a messy, meaty, charming disaster that oozes flavor out every side. Like Whitesnake or US Weekly, it’s bad for you and embarrassing to consume in public, but it also satisfies that deep need to stop giving a shit and do what you want. — ASHLEY BRANTLEY West Side location: 4500 Murphy Road 615-942-7499 edleysbbq.com BBQ Turkey with white sauce: Hog Heaven It’s all about the sauce. The turkey is succulent and the onion roll zesty, but both play second fiddle to Hog Heaven’s white BBQ sauce. A nine out of 10 on the tang-meter, the creamy condiment is almost overkill, but then comes the richness from the thick-cut cheddar (usually a sin against BBQ but needed here) and the crunchy pickles, and boom: Suddenly it’s that salty/smoky/sour combo that makes your mouth water for more. —ASHLEY BRANTLEY 115 27th Ave. N. 615-329-1234 hogheavenbbq.com Pulled Pork Sandwich: Peg Leg Porker Ask Carey Bringle, the Peg Leg Porker, why he only has two sauces, and he’ll tell you: “Because this ain’t no damned Famous Dave’s. We have one sauce! My sauce! The sauce I like on my sandwiches! And another one I added some hot shit to.” And he’s right, because his spicy, tangy Memphis-style sauce perfectly complements the sweet hickory nuances of his shoulder sandwich. Get it with slaw on top or be prepared to be mocked. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN 903 Gleaves St. 615-829-6023 peglegporker.com Rib Sandwich: Mary’s Old-Fashioned Pit Bar-B-Que Admittedly, we’re stretching the definition of “sandwich” with this one, but if you can call a bone-in breast quarter on two slices of Wonder Bread a hot chicken sandwich, then Mary’s Rib Sandwich deserves similar special dispensation. The sandwich is a short rack of slow smoked ribs, bones and all, including two slices of bread, covered by a third, and smothered in spicy hot barbecue sauce and tangy pickles. Some rules are meant to be broken. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN 1106 Jefferson St. 615-256-7696 Beef Brisket Sandwich: Jack’s Bar-B-Que Some people deride Jack’s as “tourist barbecue” because the Lower Broad location is usually packed with visitors wearing pink cowboy hats and one of the three pairs of boots they bought for the price of one. But the neon pigs at Jack’s have been flying since long before Nashville achieved “It City” status, and the fact that they serve an excellent and authentic version of smoky and tender Texas brisket in pig-centric Tennessee is admirable. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN Downtown location: 416 Broadway 615-254-5715 jacksbarbque.com Beef Brisket Sandwich: Shotgun Willie’s Truly great brisket can be hard to find in Tennessee, but take one bite of Shotgun Willie’s sandwich and you realize the Texas hill country has come to you. The salty, peppery bark on the outside of each piece is a good marker that this is something special, a simple creation — bread, meat and just a touch of sauce — that is driven by the pure flavor of smoke and the tenderest of beef. Find this food truck today. —STEVE CAVENDISH shotgunwilliesbbq.com Pigsket: The Gambling Stick To eat a Pigsket is to taste genius, because Matt Russo caught lightning in a jar when he dreamed it up. No one cuts pork into brisket, but Russo “figured every animal’s got a brisket. And it was kind of a life-changing moment.” Co-signed. The little treasures are cooked over cherry wood — also pretty rare in barbecue production. Red-tinged slices are fanned over warm Charpier’s Bakery rolls and topped with habanero-garlic-dill pickle slices. Every bite has softness, resistance, sweetness, tang, smoke, heat, chew and crunch. —NICKI PENDLETON WOOD 501 Gallatin Ave. 615-521-9742 thegamblingstick.com Pulled Pork Sandwich: Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint There are a lot of good pulled pork shoulder sandwiches in Nashville, but only Martin’s offers the option to order your meat from a whole hog cooked over a 100 percent hickory wood fire. And you should. Practically, whole hog sandwiches offer the chance to blend the unctuous strands of belly meat known colloquially as “redneck spaghetti” with the denser hams and shoulders. Esoterically, you’re eating the true heritage of Tennessee barbecue on a bun. —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN Downtown location: 410 Fourth Ave. S. 615-288-0880 martinsbbqjoint.com

Vegetarian

French Quarter Dip: The Wild Cow

The French dip sandwich is one of the few things I miss since becoming a vegetarian, but fortunately, The Wild Cow scratches that itch. The base for the sandwich is hearty strips of locally made BeHive seitan (wheat gluten formed into a chewy mock meat) piled onto a wheat hoagie roll and topped with grilled mushrooms and onions marinated with Creole seasoning and vegan mozzarella. It’s accompanied by a faux jus that perfectly re-creates the French dip experience. —LESLEY LASSITER

1896 Eastland Ave.

615-262-2717

thewildcow.com

Black Bean Arepa: Caracasville

The arepa is the unofficial sandwich of Venezuela, a disk made of cornmeal that is fried, baked, and then cut open to create a pocket and stuffed with anything from beans and cheese to ham and chicken salad. The black bean arepa at Caracasville is stuffed with seasoned beans, cheese, avocado and sweet plantains. The combination is equal parts savory and sweet, chewy and crispy. It’s best when topped with house-made ajo (garlic) sauce. —LESLEY LASSITER

Caracasville is a pop-up

615-668-3581

caracasville.com

Lemongrass Tofu Banh Mi: Vui’s Kitchen

Tofu often gets a bad rap for being bland and flavorless. And for good reason — it is bland and flavorless. But Vui’s Kitchen proves that it doesn’t have to be. They marinate the tofu with lemongrass and grill it before tucking it into a French roll and topping with arugula, mayonnaise, cucumber, pickled daikon and carrots, cilantro and jalapeño, making an immensely satisfying vegetarian sandwich. For carnivores, non-vegetarian house-made pâté lends an extra (but unnecessary) umami kick. —LESLEY LASSITER

2832 Bransford Ave.

615-241-8847

vuiskitchen.com

Slow-Roasted Veggie: Sloco

It’s not easy to love a sandwich that doesn’t make good use of at least one of life’s great indulgences — heavy sauce or gooey cheese. But Sloco’s Slow-Roasted Veggie manages to impress, despite being “healthy.” Seasonal veggies are cubed and roasted until tender, only lightly seasoned to bring out their full, fresh flavor, and finished off with freshly plucked microgreens, whole-grain mustard and a tofu spread that has a sinus-clearing kick. It’s hearty and filling without leaving you feeling like a bloated food monster covered in grease. —MEGAN SELING

2905 12th Ave. S., Suite 104

615-499-4793

Slocolocal.com

BBQ Asian Tofu: Mitchell Deli

Dense, savory slabs of baked tofu are layered with avocado, crispy sprouts and zippy pickled cucumber, and it’s all drenched with a sweet ’n’ tangy sesame ginger dressing that starts dripping down your hands the instant you take your first bite. But don’t worry, the crusty, tender Silke’s hoagie roll it’s served on is the most wonderful vehicle for sopping up that excess sauce, so you don’t have to lose a drop. —MEGAN SELING

1306 McGavock Pike

615-262-9862

mitchelldeli.com

Rosemary-Garlic-Cream-Cheese and Egg Bagel: Proper Bagel

Garlic bread for breakfast — the dream is real at Proper Bagel. A perfectly scrambled farm egg tops a delightfully squishy bagel (kettle-boiled to set the crust while leaving the inside pillowy). It’s smeared with roasted-garlic-and-rosemary cream cheese, which has a rich, toasty comforting flavor you’ll crave. Order it vegetarian with a side of seared tomatoes; I’ve never said this before, but it’s better without bacon. — ASHLEY BRANTLEY

2011 Belmont Blvd.

615-928-7276

properbagel.com

Spinach & Artichoke Melt: The Grilled Cheeserie

Remember the days before Food Network when we thought serving spinach artichoke dip in a hollowed-out bread bowl was an idea so novel that it was akin to Ferran Adrià’s cutting-edge presentations at El Bulli? Yeah, we were all so young and dumb back then. But the geniuses at The Grilled Cheeserie have gone ahead and mashed that idea into a melt featuring a swiss/gruyere blend, marinated artichokes, spinach dip, garlic and leeks. ¡Brillante! —CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

2003 Belcourt Ave.

615-203-0351

grilledcheeserie.com

Pimento Cheese: The Picnic

I suppose you can grill pimento cheese. Or slather it on barbecue. Or add bacon. But The Picnic’s elegant alchemy of shredded cheddar and mayo is pure gold on its own. And don’t confuse the ladylike lunchroom’s signature sandwich — flecked with pimentos and parsley and mortared between fluffy slabs of wheat — for a flimsy finger food. You’ll need both hands to slam that generous stack into your face. —CARRINGTON FOX

4320 Harding Pike

615-297-5398

thepicniccafe.com