Billionaire Dog

Billionaire Dog at Haute Doggery

hautedoggerylv.com

A+

A grilled, all-Kobe beef dog. Real-deal torchon of foie gras. Port onion marmalade. Truffle mayo. Boom. So this is the only the first dog we've munched at the brand new Haute Doggery on the Vegas Strip, but already it proves something we already knew: Block 16 Hospitality is the hot dog champion of Las Vegas. These guys brought Pink's to Vegas from LA, and now they bust out their own hot dog concept, a menu loaded with regional favorite American dogs with appropriate toppings as well as their own funky creations, like this over-the-top, flavor-packed, decadent masterpiece. The frank is plump, juicy and savory, grilled to a crispness with a snap in each bite that rivals most natural casing dogs. This frank with just ketchup and mustard would kill, and you can order one that way. But come on, foie on a hot dog? You're not gonna order this? You have to. I crumbled it up and spread it all over the dog for rich liver in every bite, a ridiculously perfect running mate to that creamy mayo and the brightly flavored onions. Even the plain, soft bun was really good. New year, new great hot dog shop.

The Royale With Cheese

The Royale With Cheese at B&B Burger & Beer

venetian.com

B+

The whole point of John Travolta uttering "royale with cheese" in Pulp Fiction is how much more delicious it sounds than a quarter pounder. It sounds like the ultimate burger. Mario Batali's brand new burger joint at the Venetian on the Vegas Strip also seems like it should serve the ultimate burger. Our first taste runs right up to greatness but stops just short, although this creation is certainly deserving of its name. A nicely cooked, medium rare beef patty is absolutely coated in melted robiola cheese, the creaminess factor multiplied exponentially by a slathering of parmigiano and mascarpone cream sauce. Wow. Rich. Caramelized onions add to the indulgence, and slightly bitter, grilled treviso can only hope to offset all this sesame seed-bun based decadence. It's not a balanced bite of burger, and the fantastic cheese and sauce overpower the flavor of the beef. But it's definitely tasty, a welcome addition to the growing pantheon of celebrity chef-created burgers spattered up and down the Strip.

Frenchie

The Frenchie at Aces & Ales

acesandales.com

C-

Everybody loves greasy bar food, and a bar with a special menu section for crazy grilled cheese sandwiches sounds like a wonderful idea. It is. But you still have to execute. A tasty grilled cheese requires thoughtful effort. Adding wacky ingredients is fun but seldom results in delicious success. Such is the case with the Frenchie, which playfully pairs American and cheddar cheeses with bacon and French fries. The rich, buttery toastyness of the bread overwhelms and the only other thing you can taste is the bacon. These cheeses are bland and melt together into a globby, greasy mess, and the fries offer nothing other than more mushy, soggy texture. That's not what you want to add to a grilled cheese. It needs something crunchy and/or crispy, something bright and maybe acidic to cut through the tempting richness of tons of melted cheese. Next time we're feeling cheesy at this otherwise impressive bar, it'll be time to try the Moondog: provolone, salami, pepperoni, olives and jalapeños. 

The Reuben

The Reuben at The Spread

downtowngrand.com

B

Could there be a more fitting first bite of a new Vegas casino than a classic sandwich from its sports book deli? I think not. The Downtown Grand is a true boutique hotel, it couldn't possibly be in a more hip location, and it's got terrific Vegas bones—this joint used to be the Lady Luck. The new operators have squished a whole lotta stuff into a relatively small space, including the sleek, cozy little book with this tiny deli counter connected. It's called The Spread and the menu's got all the basics … except pastrami. How come no pastrami? The Spread almost makes up for that misstep with this meaty, creamy, tangy Reuben. Deli lovers might prefer a more substantial meat pile within these thick, nicely grilled slabs of rye, but the corned beef that is there is solidly savory. Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and sweet Russian dressing and we're good to go. This is a nice first impression of the DTG; now let's go check out the lobster roll and the Cubano at the coffee shop.

Woodfired Chicken Arepa

Woodfired Chicken Arepa at Viva Las Arepas

vivalasarepas.com

A+

There are those who would say a Venezuelan arepa is not a sandwich because its "bread" is not bread but a split cake of corn masa stuffed with delicious ingredients. My response would be that it's simply a different version of bread, flour and water cooked in a different matter, so shut yer yapper. Once you get a bite of this thing, you can call it whatever you want, because it's undeniably fantastic. Viva Las Arepas makes some killer hickory and charcoal roasted chicken, imparting luscious, slightly smoky flavor into your everyday boring bird for lip-smacking results. One of the most popular arepas on the ridiculously cheap menu stuffs this shredded chicken into the crisp, griddled masa with lettuce, tomato and onion, with optional cheese. Blow the flavors into overdrive by squirting on the house hot sauce and/or avocado crema. Is this the best $5 sandwich in all of Las Vegas? Find me a better one.

Denver Po' Boy

Denver Po' Boy at Roadrunner Saloon

roadrunnerlasvegas.com

C-

I feel like I should grade this sandwich on a curve because it's something of a halfway effort: It's on the football game day menu only, a $6 special, so should it count? I'm not sure. It's a pretty hearty meal for $6, but there's not much flavor to speak of. Tender shrimpies fried crisp bring some pretty nice texture, but they're woefully under-seasoned. That's all there is to it. The rest is lettuce, tomato, and a very big, very dry toasted bun. This sandwich is in serious need of moisture. And some salt would be nice.

Porchetta

Porchetta at Echo & Rig

echoandrig.com

B+

The new suburban Las Vegas steakhouse Echo & Rig is a pretty impressive joint; it's fancy but comfy, open for brunch, lunch and dinner, and the menu's stacked with fresh, creative vegetable side dishes and solid steaks priced affordably. Most importantly, there are a handful of stellar sandwiches on that menu. When working your way through a restaurant's sandwich list, start with pork, right? We can assume any restaurant with a built-in butcher shop is going to do some pretty delicious roast pork, yes? Absolutely. It's juicy and savory, tenderloin trimmed with a bit of yummy fatty goodness. There's some slightly pickled shaved red onion, a little red chili and lime juice, and thin slices of sweet potato. It's an interesting, balanced combination of flavors and textures, all piled neatly on a crusty ciabatta roll. Like we said, pretty impressive.

Filet and Egg Slider

Filet and Egg Slider at Honey Salt

honeysalt.com

A

Lord. Whichever chef at Honey Salt came up with the idea to put creamed spinach on what is essentially a breakfast sandwich deserves to be knighted. This slightly sweet, puffy little brioche bun gets a liberal slathering of that rich, utterly indulgent veggie-stuff as its foundation, then it's stacked with medium rare grilled filet mignon, a puff cloud of egg that is described as scrambled but far too texturally perfect to be called that, plus a little white cheddar. This is the next evolution of the killer breakfast sliders chef Kim Canteenwalla used to serve at Society Cafe on the Strip. This is an amazing improvement, decadent and over the top in the best way possible.

Jambon and Pork Roll

Jambon and Pork Roll at Lee's Sandwiches

leessandwiches.com

B-

There's over 1,000 milligrams of sodium in this. What does that mean? You shouldn't eat two of these every day. But in my own personal nutritional strategy, two delicious banh mi sandwiches every day seems like the right prescription. Jambon is pretty much just ham that lasts forever; you don't even need to refrigerate it. That's a little scary. Maybe you shouldn't eat two of these a day. But the salty cured goodness of this ham plus fatty slices of slightly less savory pork roll is one of the meatier banh mi combos you can find at Lee's. The obligatory cilantro, onions, pickled carrots and jalapeños are on board, of course. The determining factor in how good your Lee's banh mi will be depends almost entirely on how fresh the baguette is. We lucked out this time. It's probably a bit better than a 50-50 shot.

Freddy's Original Double

Freddy's Original Double at Freddy's

freddysusa.com

B

So many burgers are so much like In-N-Out. That's not a bad thing. Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a chain with roots in Kansas stretching back to the '50s, may have been doing their "steakburgers" the same way for decades, but they sure do taste like In-N-Out. Fresh (never frozen) lean beef in hand-formed patties sizzled to nice, almost crisp charred-ness, loaded with lots of melty American cheese-type stuff. There's mustard, onions and really nice, thick medallions of dill pickle on this bad boy, all sandwiched in a butter-toasted bun. It's a classic American cheeseburger times two, and it works. Freddy's shoestring fries are good, too. Freddy's frozen custards are good, too. As far as nostalgia burgers go, you could do so much worse.

Gobbly Gook

Gobbly Gook at Avogadro's

avogadros.com

B-

The holidays cometh, and usually that means it's time for the annual allsandwich trip to frosty Colorado to spend time with family and … eat great sandwiches. This year will be different as we have a more tropical destination in mind, so here's a flashback from our last visit to Fort Collins and its outstanding Avogadro's. The Gobbly Gook is a celebration of roasted turkey, loaded with thin slices of tasty bird, slabs of cheddar and mozzarella cheese, sweet red peppers, raw onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mayo and creamy dressing on a fluffy hoagie roll. Like most of Avo's sandwiches, it's simple but delicious. There's a chance that we'll be craving one of these while sitting on the beach come December. Maybe.

Peppermill Pastrami Burger

Peppermill Pastrami Burger at Peppermill

peppermilllasvegas.com

B+

Does this not look amazing? The more I eat at Peppermill, the more I want to eat at Peppermill. Come on! Look at those onion rings! As soon as you put the top bun on this mofo and bite away, you'll get a meaty dose of a half-pound burger, melted Swiss, super-lean griddled pastrami, and a drizzle of mayo-mustard sauce. The toasty buttered buns make it all the sweeter. There's lettuce, onion, tomato and pickle on the side for your own add-on glory. Diner food is supposed to be simple satisfaction, nothing more, nothing less. Peppermill gets it. 

Pretzel Pub Chicken

Pretzel Pub Chicken at Wendy's

wendys.com

B-

Okay, Wendy's is on to something here. Capitalizing on that early 2012 food trend known as pretzel bread, the fast food giant has created a chicken sandwich that almost doesn't taste or look like fast food. The pretzel bun itself is actually a bit of a drawback … though it offers a unique, chewy texture, it doesn't have a lot of fresh pretzely flavor. Still, it scores significant presentation points, and the rest of the ingredients here seem upgraded: A slightly crispy breaded chicken breast filet, nicely spiced but not spicy; spring mix instead of plain green lettuce; tomato; muenster cheese; and "smoky honey mustard," which is not smoky but plenty sweet and gooey. Less sauce would have made this sandwich better. Overall, a pleasant surprise from the pigtailed one.

Roasted Turkey, Ham and Coppa

Roasted Turkey, Ham and Coppa at 'Wichcraft

mgmgrand.com

B+

So the great sandwich shop in the back of MGM Grand, 'Wichcraft, has dropped a new menu since I last visited. The good news is they kept their amazing breakfast sandwiches. The bad news is there are fewer sandwiches in general, making room for more salads. Bleck. Salad. Some of the bigger, meatier sandwich options are gone, replaced by a few more panini choices. We can live with the change, though we will miss some of those flavors. One of the new additions is this chewy ciabatta filled with thick slabs of roasted turkey and great country-style ham, plus coppa (a salty, somewhat light salami), white cheddar cheese, a relish of green olives, red peppers and pickled red onion, and a creamy aioli. The meat is plentiful and fantastic, and the briny, bright relish is a great if unspicy contrast to the richness of the two porks. It's another winner from this spot, even if we might not make it back as often as we used to.

Fresh Morning Sandwich

Fresh Morning Sandwich at SkinnyFats

skinnyfats.com

C-

I wanted to rank this incredibly bland breakfast sandwich—composed of egg whites, sauteed spinach (sauteed in other spinach?), turkey bacon (pure tasteless evil), tomato and agave ketchup on a honey wheat kaiser roll—a full letter grade lower, but the fact is, it's my fault. The menu at this trendy new eatery is divided into healthy alternatives, which is where this bitch lives, and "happy" items, which roughly translates into things that actually taste like food. So the "happy" version of this sandwich has scrambled eggs (Glory! There's probably salt and pepper in them, too!), real bacon, tomato, avocado and a spicy mayo spread, and it's on a brioche roll (which has butter!). So I could have ordered that thing instead of this thing. The healthy breakfast sandwich isn't the worst bite ever; all the ingredients are fresh and it's well-assembled. They just forgot the flavor. That's my favorite part.

Cuban Sandwich

Cuban Sandwich at Lulu's Bread & Breakfast

lulusonthemove.com

A+

At last. At last! There are very few Cuban restaurants in Las Vegas, which means a killer version of the classic Cuban toasted ham and cheese sandwich is almost impossible to find. What you have instead instead is whitewashed (and white breaded) deli shops doing a lightweight Americanized version, which comes up short 99 percent of the time. But not at Lulu's. This bakery, breakfast and lunch joint is fast becoming one of our favorite sandwich spots in town because they just do everything right. Their sandwich lineup changes with the seasons and fall has bestowed upon us the best Cuban we've ever tasted in Vegas. The bread is thick country white, but it's panini-pressed to create the hefty crunch and flavorful chew that must occur in any respectable Cuban. Inside, Swiss half-melts luxuriously around ample portions of pickles and yellow mustard, masterfully avoiding any sort of cheese goo effect. Thick slices of ham and generous mounds of roasted, shredded pork offer a meatier mouthful even that what appears. It's simple savory perfection. Thank god for Lulu's.

Double Chili Cheeseburger

Double Chili Cheeseburger at Original Tommy's

originaltommys.com

F+

Nope. No, no no. Not a chance. The plus on this grade is because the bun was fresh and the vegetables were crisp, but they were smothered in beef grease and the dirt-flavored brownsauce characterized as "chili." I remember stopping around Barstow on family road trips to eat at Tommy's as a sort of joke, or a dare, really, as in "Can we make it all the way to LA without having to stop and use the bathroom after eating a chili burger?" You can see why. But you know what? It's not funny. Not at all.

Le Burger

Le Burger at L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

mgmgrand.com

A+

If ever there was an obvious A+ sandwich, here ya go. As you can tell by this photo, this baby burger was not consumed inside L'Atelier, hands down of the best restaurants in Las Vegas (and beyond). Food & Wine magazine's annual All-Star Weekend brought many mega-events to the Strip this month, including a burger contest featuring restaurants of the MGM Grand judged by Mr. Robuchon himself, among other celeb chefs. All eight of the burgers were delish, but it's tough to beat this tiny masterpiece. It's very small, and each of the ingredients are basically the best, most fresh version of standard burger accoutrement ... except for that unbelievable, perfectly seared slab of foie gras perched atop the juicy mini-patty. Yeah, kinda hard to hang with that. The problem now is we can pretty much never eat another slider again.

Turkey Club

Turkey Club at Grand Cafe

redrock.sclv.com

B

Should I stop writing about club sandwiches? There's really not a lot to say about a club sandwich if it's made with honor and decency, as is the case with this triple-stacked thang at the Red Rock Resort's totally honorable, decent coffee shop. Plenty of bird, nice, thick strips of pig, fresh veggies. It's all good. Does that make it boring? Hmm. Sounds really good right now, actually.

Waffle Sandwich

Waffle Sandwich at Bread & Butter

breadandbutterlv.com

A-

Is this even a sandwich? Waffles are not bread, but these waffles are sweet and light, and would be nice and crispy if they weren't saturated in old-school white sausage gravy and a pre-drizzle of maple syrup. Layered in between them are ham (or you can order yours with turkey), scrambled eggs and melty cheddar cheese, basically everything you need to make an ideal breakfast sandwich. Just because you need a knife and fork to take it down doesn't mean it's not a sandwich, right?