What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term “Sloppy Joe?” Is it not ground beef in tomato sauce on a roll, but rather a double-decker cold cut sandwich on rye? Congratulations, you’re a true New Jerseyan.

The New Jersey Sloppy Joe features two types of meat (of your choice) with coleslaw, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing on thinly sliced Rye bread. Leave it to New Jersey to take a sandwich with toppings from two different countries, a bread with European origins and make it our own.

It’s certainly sloppy. It’s probable a guy named Joe made it. And it’s definitely delicious.

You can find Sloppy Joes at delis, diners and sandwich shops throughout the Garden State, especially in the northern region. But two delis in particular are so known for the Joes that they were named among the 33 best sandwich shops in America by Thrillist this summer. A little more than three and a half miles separate them, both in Essex County — Town Hall Deli in South Orange, which boasts to have invented the sandwich, and Millburn Deli in, you guessed it, Millburn.

But which sandwich shop truly knows their way around a Joe? I went to both delis to find out, sampling a turkey and roast beef Sloppy Joe at each delicatessen. It was sloppy. It was delicious. And then I needed a nap. But before I did that, I prepared this tale-of-the-tape breakdown.

Location

Town Hall Deli: 74 1st St. in South Orange

Millburn Deli: 328 Millburn Ave. in Millburn

When they opened

Town Hall Deli: 1927

Millburn Deli: 1946

Bread

Town Hall Deli: Seedless Pullman Rye, thinly sliced and crust partially cut off.

Millburn Deli: Seedless Rye, crust on.

Meats

Town Hall Deli: Roast beef, turkey, Town Hall turkey (roasted on-site), ham, corned beef, tongue, nova lox, egg salad and tuna salad.

Millburn Deli: Turkey, honey maple turkey, salsalito turkey, peppercorn turkey, mesquite turkey, baked ham, smoked ham, roast beef, corn beef, pastrami, egg salad and tuna salad.

A top view of the Town Hall Deli Sloppy Joe.Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Cutting style

Town Hall Deli: Quarters.

Millburn Deli: Thirds (diagonally).

A top view of the Millburn Deli Sloppy Joe.Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Price

Town Hall Deli: $12.99 for a half (easily enough for one person) and $24.99 for a whole.

Millburn Deli: $10.50 to $10.95, depending on which meats you get.

The Town Hall Deli Sloppy Joe.Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

What Thrillist says:

Town Hall Deli: “In New Jersey, you can get a pork roll anywhere. Only at Orange’s Town Hall can you get the original Sloppy Joe, which has inspired the aforementioned Millburn Deli and countless others to aspire to greatness. It’s just a bunch of ground beef and ketchup. It’s actually more akin to a triple-decker Reuben, with ham, tongue, and Swiss. If tongue makes you nervous, better not look at what goes into your go-to Manwich. Or just go with the steak sandwich or the best damn muffaletta north of the Mason-Dixon. Barring that, go with the classic Gobbler, which crams an entire Thanksgiving meal -- sides and all -- into a bun. That, too, gets sloppy. Everything here does. Have your sandwich and wear it too."

Millburn Deli: “In a state practically drowning in a sea of mom-and-pop delicatessens -- each one claiming to be the sandwich king of New Jersey -- Millburn Deli has crafted a legacy that stretches far beyond the Garden State lines. When you go to Millburn Deli, a tiny storefront on the ground floor of what could easily be your grandma’s house, you definitely go for the sandwiches it’s been slinging since 1947. And even though the shop changed hands in the early ’90s, the Fluke family has upheld the deli’s tradition as a place for consistent local cheer and even more consistent(ly delicious) sloppy Joes. Now, these probably aren’t the “sloppy Joes” that conjure images of lunch lady Doris slapping ground beef and tomato sauce into a kaiser roll. They’re triple-decker sandwiches stuffed with various combos of turkey, corned beef, roast beef, Virginia ham, and pretty much every other meat variation known to man... or at least Jersey. And lucky you, they’ll deliver them all over the US. Good luck getting the mailman to speak in a Jersey accent, though.”

The Millburn Deli Sloppy Joe.Jeremy Schneider | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Wildest Sloppy Joe

Town Hall Deli: “The Smokin’ Joe” with egg salad, cream cheese, Nova Lox and cream cheese.

Millburn Deli: "The Friday Joe” with egg salad, tuna salad, lettuce and Russian dressing.

Best non-Joe sandwich:

Town Hall Deli: “The Muffuletta.” Ham, Genoa salami, provolone, muffuletta olive spread on fresh focaccia bread.

Millburn Deli: “The Gobbler.” Roast turkey, homemade stuffing, cranberry, lettuce, mayo and black pepper on rye.

The verdict

Town Hall’s presentation — cut into quarters, bread thinly sliced and the crust partially cut off, made me feel like I was eating finger sandwiches at a fancy tea party. And I loved it. Cutting it into quarters made it less messy and easier to share. The Russian dressing and slaw had a nice sweetness to them, and helped make for a thoroughly enjoyable sandwich.

Millburn Deli was ... sloppier, in a good way. There was more dressing and slaw on it compared to Town Hall. Some might not like that, but I absolutely loved it. It made the sandwich creamier, more flavorful and frankly, better. The bread was on the thicker side as well, which made the sandwich feel more substantial.

So there you have it — Millburn Deli wins the day!

It’s likely a matter of personal preference. But according to my tastebuds, Town Hall invented it, and Millburn Deli perfected it. Because if you have a Sloppy Joe and there isn’t Russian dressing and coleslaw all over your face, did you really have Sloppy Joe?

Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @J_Schneider. Find NJ.com on Facebook.