The Instant Leftover

The Instant Leftover

homemade

B-

The Instant Leftover happens when you don't wait until Friday, or even Thursday night, to eat your Thanksgiving turkey sandwich. You assemble that bad boy right there at the dinner table. I used a a dense, buttery, utterly wonderful home-baked roll somebody's mom brought to the festivities this year, slapped it with homemade cranberry sauce, slabs of white meat, a spoonful of mashed potatoes, two spoonfuls of gravy and a couple chunks of smooth roasted garlic. It was a flavorful success but a textural dilemma: all mush and no snap. But honestly, this is the leftover turkey sandwich problem of our time, isn't it? Some people put stuffing on the sandwich, which is over-breading. This thing was tasty but needed some more thought. That's what happens when you don't wait until the natural sandwich-making hour.

Sandwich Sundays Presents: The Fake-Cago Dog

The Fake-Cago Dog

homemade

C+

It was just supposed to be hot dog-grilling day at bro's house, but then we saw the big dill pickle spears and got a stupid-tasty idea. So, big-ass pickle goes into the bun with the all-beef frank with tomatoes, mustard, crunched-up Ruffles and some home-made fries. Really needs some onions and relish. But hey, it works. Sorta. 

C.B. Hash

C.B. Hash at The Goodwich

the-goodwich.com

A

Is the breakfast menu at The Goodwich the greatest thing ever? Six sandwiches for $3, $5 or $7, impossible to choose a favorite, each crafted with love and talent. We are determined to work our way through what is surely the best breakfast sandwich selection ever assembled, starting with house-made corned beef hash plastered between two tasty, toasty slabs of marble rye with melty Swiss cheese, a fried egg and liberal splashes of green Tabasco. The hash is melt-in-your-mouth lovely, a blend of salty, fatty, and toothsome, flavor-absorbing potato morsels. And look at that cheese stretch! It's a work of art, and it tastes beautiful, too.

Pork Butt Torta

Pork Butt Torta at Truck U Barbecue

truckubbq.com

A+

Allsandwich was lucky enough to get one of the very first tastes of the new Las Vegas food truck Truck U Barbeque, owned and operated by former Border Grill chef Mike Minor, whose tasty treats have made a few appearances in this space already. Now he's doing his own thing, and if this incredible pulled pork sandwich is any indication, his own thing kicks much ass. Truck U is all about melding classic, sticky-sweet-spicy American barbecue flavors with the Mexican and southwestern cooking the chef has been focusing on for a decade, and though this sandwich is most definitely true 'cue, there's a little Latin influence. The pork is simply incredible, perfectly smoky, sweet and tender, a generous portion forced onto this puffy, delightful brioche bun. We're talking big, biteable chunks with a well-spiced, crispy crust on the outside, magically falling apart in your mouth. The meat is saturated in  plenty of the truck's signature Negro Modelo and molasses barbecue sauce, and the sandwich gets extra decoration from an ancho chile and honey aioli. Those crispy potatoes are actually duck fat fries, a wonderful bed for all that piggy goodness, with some creamy, crisp coleslaw on top. You really couldn't plan a better barbecue sandwich. We were expecting a lot from Truck U, and this first taste over-delivers. Hopefully the truck's beef short rib or chipotle brisket torta will be next up.

Crunch Burger

Crunch Burger at Bobby's Burger Palace

bobbysburgerpalace.com

B+

In the pantheon of famous chefs doing burger joints, Bobby Flay falls securely into the "not fucking around" category. Note the sesame seed bun, no brioche or ciabatta or other, well, fuckingaroundness. Note the massive amount of American cheese—straight-up, tangy, processed—melted all over this simply seasoned burger patty, which is, by the way, medium rare and super juicy. Of course, he's Flayed it up by adding Lay's potato chips, his own personal touch. It's nice, lending salt and texture to a basic, delicious burger. If you order this instead of one of the creatively topped sandwiches at Bobby's Burger Palace, you're gonna have to sauce it up at the table with jalapeño green stuff, the A-1ish burger sauce, chipotle ketchup or something else. This burger is a bit too basic, but what's there is executed perfectly. We'll be back to the new Vegas location to try the other burgers soon.

Chicken Crinkle

Chicken Crinkle

homemade

B

This homemade sandwich is a byproduct of a recent menu taste testing for Pterodactyl, a project we're very excited about. Anyways, the meat here is grilled chicken thigh that had been marinated in a gochujang-based sauce. The spicy-sour-sweet flavors were not quite strong enough on this attempt, but that's easily remedied. Even so, the chicken is tender and juicy and delicious—thigh meat is so forgiving—even if it's piled a bit sloppily on this potato bun. Those are butter lettuce leaves and crinkle cut French fries, adding some nice, fresh textures. Invisible is a smear of the homemade cognac mustard. So there's plenty of bite here, though the fries muddle things a bit. It could be refined a bit into a killer sandwich … but this is not the creation this particular chicken was made for. Stay tuned.

French Fry Burger

French Fry Burger at Burger King

bk.com

F

I don't know who should be more embarrassed—Burger King, for putting this on their menu, or me, for buying it. It only cost a dollar, so maybe it's on them. But I didn't just buy it, I ate it. So I guess I'm the loser. Does it look tiny? Because it is. Any other restaurant in the world would call this a slider. Dry bun, drippy ketchup and mayo, shitty baby patty, lettuce flakes, and four or five crispy fries. They were crispy. I'll give you that, Burger King. Despite the classic American flavor of burgers and fries together, this sucker should have been aborted.

Vegetable Masala Burger

Vegetable Masala Burger

homemade

B

Veggie burgers: not boring. This is Trader Joe's Vegetable Masala Burger, a vegan patty sold frozen made of potatoes, carrots, green beans, bread crumbs, bell peppers, onions, corn, ginger and a significant bit of spice. It's kind of the filling from a delicious samosa molded into burger form. So it's good, and we don't have to do much to make it so ... just grilled it up and dropped it on a kaiser roll with red leaf lettuce, tomato, red onion and spicy garlic mustard. Just another reason not to hate TJ's.

The Cheffini

The Cheffini at Cheffinis Hot Dogs

Cheffinis Facebook

A

It's late Saturday night, and you're drinking. You're on East Fremont Street in Downtown Vegas. You stumble out of your favorite bar looking for something to munch (knowing there are few restaurants in the area) and then you catch sight of this little hot dog cart. So of course, gimme one with everything.

The guy serving it up called it a Columbian Dog, but it turns out it's the specialty of the house. Er, cart. Let me try real hard to remember everything on this dog, besides the always tasty Hebrew National weiner and the soft sesame seed bun: There were jalapenos, onions and tomatoes. Definitely mustard and relish. Was there lettuce? Bacon? Not sure. Crushed up tortilla chips, yes, and also pineapple sauce. Wait, what? Yes, pineapple sauce. And shit, I think there was mayo and avocado, too.

Look, sometimes you just gotta go with it. Was it crazy? Yes. But it was delicious, a textural delight, sweet and spicy and soft and crunchy. Kinda makes you wanna find any old hot dog stand and just tell 'em you want everything they got, huh? It won't be the same, though. Not everybody has pineapple sauce.

The Elliot Ness

The Elliot Ness at Eddie D's Famous Italian Sandwiches
edsworldfamoussandwiches.com

C+

Okay, we are a little obsessed with Eddie D's sandwich shop. And yes, it is close to headquarters, but that doesn't change the fact that it's overall delicious. (We had a little something to do with this.) It's currently ranked as our top shop in Vegas, trailed by Johnny McGuire's, 'Wichcraft, Capriotti's and more. These rankings can change at any time, so stay tuned ...

You're not going to find the Elliot Ness on the menu. It's a recurring special on the chalkboard up front. It's got a great name, but it's an average sandwich -- pastrami, melted cheese, coleslaw, Russian dressing -- with the exception of one element: French fries. Maybe this is Pittsburgh-style, a la Primanti Brothers? The chewy roll brings enough starch to this party, and these thick (and tasty) steak fries are a carb overload. The potato-ness overpowers what turns out to be pretty good pastrami, very lean and thinly sliced.

This grade is probably a bit low for this sandwich. But there are too many A-level options at Eddie D's to stick with this. For example, if you want a true untouchable, try the meatballs.