Steakhouse Burger

Steakhouse Burger at The Barrymore

barrymorelv.com

A

I don't know if there's a better burgermeister in Vegas than Chef Anthony Meidenbauer. Dude started up both LBS Burger in the Red Rock and Holsteins in the Cosmopolitan, and at his latest restaurant creation --boutique throwback joint The Barrymore inside the Royal Resort -- the burgers are simply outstanding.

Behold the Barrymore's Steakhouse Burger, a juicy grass-fed beef patty resting on a delicious, almost flaky muffin-style bun, topped with bacon marmalade, a bit of fresh frisee, oven roasted tomatoes, garlic mayo and melty gruyere. It fits snugly between the concept of a back-to-basics, all-about-the-beef burger and a creatively crowned, wildly flavored burger. Besides the sturdy bun and the unbelievably tasty cow, my favorite element is the roasted tomatoes, adding a bit of fresh garden richness to every bite. Bravo, burgermeister.

The Rave

The Rave at Johnny McGuire's

johnnymcguires.com

A+

In honor of the endless leftovers and turkey sandwiches being consumed today, allow us to introduce you to a proper Thanksgivingy masterpiece. The Rave, ordered here on a whole wheat sub roll, is packed with sliced turkey, cranberry sauce, provolone, sprouts, tomatoes, lettuce, green bell pepper, sunflower seeds, red onion, horseradish and hot pickled peppers. It is outstanding, vinegar-spicyness and nostril-burning horsey action mingling with fresh vegetable crunch and sweet-sour crantasticness. It is a bite of beauty and definitely our favorite Thanksgiving tradition buster. Johnny McGuire's continues to consistently amaze.

Clubhouse

Clubhouse at Peppermill

peppermilllasvegas.com

D

Time to rant: I love the Peppermill. The restaurant and the bar. They're great. You can't beat the old-school Vegas awesome atmosphere. But the food is just okay, never great. And you know what? Fuck a club sandwich. Who invented this thing? Is it not just an excuse to force you to eat an extra piece of super-dry, mouth-stabbing toast? Come on ... it's a BLT with turkey, right? Perfectly fine sandwich. And then you  go and ruin in by corrupting the sacred bread-to-goodies sandwich ratio. Also, most clubs I've eaten tend to go heavy on the mayo. Fucking why? Unnecessary.

To recap: club sandwiches are generally lousy, and the Peppermill's is particularly bad. But those fries were really good.

The Hungry Pitmaster

The Hungry Pitmaster at Sassy Sal's BBQ

sassysalslasvegas.com

B

This is a daily special, a monstrous sandwich not on the everyday menu at this friendly little barbecue joint in northwest Vegas. And it's got the perfect name, because you better be more than hungry if you're planning to tackle this bitch, and pretty much everything in the barbecue pit is on top of this toasted bun. There's a pile of smoked beef brisket, a pile of pulled pork, a huge, wildly spicy hot link split down the middle, shredded cheese and yet another pile of creamy coleslaw. The coleslaw is actually pretty good, a nice cool counterpoint to the spicy and smoky flavors embedded in these juicy meats. There's a few squirts of barbecue sauce somewhere in this delicious mess, too. But as is the case with so many multi-meat sandwiches, the varying flavors of the brisket and pork get lost here, blending together into a muddled-yet-tasty mashup. Not the hot link, though. This guy stands strong, refusing to be outshined. A sandwich with just this link would be great ... oh wait, Sal's has that, too.

Teri Sliders

Teri Sliders at Anime Ramen

animeramenlasvegas.com

C+

What the hell are these? Tiny, slightly Asian burgers at a brand new ramen bar themed with Japanese anime? Wait a minute, that doesn't sound crazy after all. It makes all kinds of sense. And these sliders, though painfully sweet with their sugary teriyaki glaze and Hawaiian-style sweet buns, are actually pretty tasty and almost addictive. The meat is something of an afterthought, a little beefnugget without much flavor, but there is crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, melty American cheese and extra sugar sauce on top. We might not be able to get into the anime stuff, but it's pretty easy to sit in this funky little joint and munch on these baby burgs.

Beef Burger

Beef Burger at Central

centrallv.com

B-

So there was plenty of excitement when excitable Frenchman Michel Richard opened his new version of Central in the lobby at Caesars Palace, but we were a little disappointed on our first visit. Was it not exciting? It was. Was the food delicious? It was. Was the service terrible? It was, but you gotta give a brand new joint some time to get their shit together.

And even though this burger was delicious -- and beautiful -- it came with a bit of disappointment, too. The flaky English muffin bun tastes great, but as you can see, it was sliced clumsily. The beef is juicy and thick, served with a ripe red tomato slice, melted cheddar and crispy potato tuile action on top. Overall, it's a great bite, but it left a little to be desired in the flavor category. But Central burgers will get another shot with us. We are suckers for excitement.

Banana Nutella

Banana Nutella Sandwich at Lulu's On The Move

lulusonthemove.com

B+

Lulu's On The Move is a Las Vegas food truck, essentially a breakfast and bakery spot on wheels. For a mobile kitchen, this crew is remarkably flexible, having turned out everything from pizza to sausage, not to mention more sweet treats than you can imagine. And this creation combines the savory and sweet to create what we believe is the first dessert sandwich you can eat like a meal. Packed into a slightly sweet, light and fluffy brioche roll is a generous slathering of nutella, sliced bananas and toasted almonds. This combo creates some mouth-pleasing moosh and some crispy bites, and a whole lot of hazelnutty, faux-choco-goodness. It's so rich, we couldn't finish it. But we wanted to.

McRib

McRib at McDonald's

mcdonalds.com

F

Dear Clown: Go. Fuck. Yourself.

The Kitchen Sink

The Kitchen Sink at The Kitchen

thekitchenlv.com

B+

This is a mighty Italian monster, in a rather surprising location. The Kitchen is a tiny cafe hidden in a southwest Vegas industrial/office park, and this is its signature sandwich. It's absolutely stacked with salami, ham and a pile of rare roast beef, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, peppers, onions and oil and vinegar dressing. It's one of those can't-believe-I-ate-the-whole-thing situations, but its meaty goodness is worth the impending sandwich coma. Also, the hard Italian roll is pretty substantial, crispy with a nice, slightly salty taste.

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 Outlaw Spicy Chicken

The Outlaw Spicy Chicken at Jack in the Box

jackinthebox.com

D

I don't know if Jack in the Box is trying to kill me, just trying to hurt my feelings or what. Frankly, I'm insulted.

Available for a limited time only, thankfully, are the Outlaw sandwiches. There's a burger, and then there's this monster. It's basically Jack's version of Carl's Western Bacon Cheeseburger, only there's lettuce and tomato, and a spicy breaded and fried chicken breast filet in place of the burger patty. Yes on bacon, yes on barbecue sauce, yes on two giant onion rings. The deep fried munchosity of biting through the chicken and onion rings is a texture that doesn't occur in nature and there's a reason for that. You melt some fake ass cheese on these elements and splash on some cloyingly sweet bbq juice, and partner, you're in for an unpleasant afternoon.

Jerk Chicken Sandwich

Jerk Chicken Sandwich at Buffalo Wild Wings

buffalowildwings.com

B

You might think of Buffalo Wild Wings as having kinda garbage bar food, and you might be right, but we know they do chicken wings right. They do chicken sandwiches pretty well, too. This is the one most spicy, delicious sandwiches on the menu, a blackened breast smothered with the BWW Caribbean Jerk sauce (one of the best of the never-ending wing sauce choices), topped with lettuce, tomato, and blue cheese dressing. The bun is the BWW standard "weck," but it looks and tastes like a kaiser roll to us. Call it what you want, it stands up nicely to this spicy, saucy beauty. It's a winner.

Swan Mi

Swan Mi at Marche Bacchus/Jet Tila Pop Up Dinner

marchebacchus.com

A

This is a very special posting to allsandwich, because it's a one-off sandwich that we will likely never taste again. It's a damn shame, too, because it's one of the best banh mi sandwiches we've ever tasted.

Just yesterday we got the news that chef Joe Swan is leaving his post at the brilliant French bistro Marche Bacchus. This, too, is a damn shame, because he's a very talented young chef who has seemingly done the impossible by improving the already stellar menu at one of Las Vegas' favorite neighborhood restaurants. Recently, Swan and his team hosted chef Jet Tila for a one-night-only collaboration pop up dinner, featuring dishes with a French-Asian twist. The "Swan Mi" was one of the highlights: house-made pork and duck liver lop cheung, pate, garlic aioli, mimolette, and Sichuan pickled daikon and peppers on the always-perfect Marche Bacchus baguette. It was a crispy, crunchy, meaty masterpiece, a wild combination of flavors of textures. It was delicious, so good that after a few too many glasses of wine we found ourselves in the parking lot yelling something like, "You should start a Marche Bacchus Swan Mi food truck!"

Best of luck to chef Swan; we hope sometime, somewhere, someone else gets to eat this wonderful sandwich.

Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll at Lobster ME

lobsterME.com

A

Lobster fast food? That's the plan for this little shop lost in the labyrinth that is the Miracle Mile Shops at the Planet Hollywood Resort in Las Vegas. But it's worth the search for this sweet, succulent treasure. An only slightly saucy lobster salad is squashed into a sweet, buttery-beyond-belief toasted roll, and then topped with three great chunks of meat from the tasty sea bug's claws. It's a pretty decadent sandwich, especially with the sweetness from the roll going toe-to-toe with the sweetness of the fresh, chilled meat. But somehow it all works out without going too far. This is a long way from Maine, but it sure doesn't taste like it.

George's Club

George's Club at Triple George Grill

triplegeorgegrill.com

B-

Considering the Triple George is a quasi-steakhouse, a downtown power lunch-type spot, it makes sense that their club sandwich is all about beef. There is sliced turkey, and there is bacon, so perhaps it still meets the club requirement. But there is a powerful stack of rare roast beef and its flavor overwhelms all other ingredients, which also include fresh lettuce and thinly sliced tomato, mayo and cheddar cheese. The cheese was also a different, but welcome twist. Of course, marble rye is the way to go for any club foundation. Definitely a decent bite, not bad, just different.

Pulled Pork with Cincinnati Chili

Pulled Pork with Cincinnati Chili at Top Notch Barbeque

topnotchbarbeque.com

B+

Top Notch Barbeque is a caterer/food truck in Las Vegas, casually styled as some sort of west coast-desert-cowboy barbecue cuisine, but the cook has some serious midwest roots. Also, he' s crazy. How else would you explain topping a juicy mountain of a pulled pork sandwich with spicy, volcanic Cincinnati-style chili? It's pure meaty madness, and you won't believe you ate the whole thing. With a fork.

Honestly, Top Notch earns its name as one of the best barbecue suppliers in Vegas, and it's pulled pork is as good as any in the city. You can also get it topped with creamy coleslaw, if you're not in the mood for this monster. But with the chili added, and with the soft egg bun absorbing lots of pork and beef juices, this really becomes more than a sandwich, something like a barbecue/chili version of Philippe's famous French dip. Mighty and tasty.

Grilled Queso Blanco

Grilled Queso Blanco

homemade

B-

It's a safe assumption the original grilled cheese was conceived much like this one, as a quick and tasty sandwich improvisation. We just happened to have some fresh Mexican farmer's cheese in the fridge, and we just happened to have some couple-days-old bread mom baked. Not just any plain bread, but cottage cheese and dill bread, a big, flat, round loaf of it. So we sliced it, tossed it on the griddle, dropped bombs of queso on it, splashed on some Tapatio hot sauce, and there you have it. Slightly spicy, very cheese, and very savory from the homemade bread. Plus, crunchtastic.

Kalbi Burger

Kalbi Burger at Bachi Burger

bachiburger.com

A

Oh sweet lord, my infatuation with Asian burgers continues. Bachi's Kalbi Burger grinds some sweet piggy into the beefy patty, adding to the juicy succulence of this perfectly sized sandwich, and spices things up with soy, garlic, ginger and chili paste. You will definitely notice, with your first bite, that this isn't just some vaguely Asian-flavored burger. It's definitely got that Kalbi short ribs-barbecue-ish tang. On a soft, nicely chewy bun, there's also lettuce, kim chee, green onions and something called Ko Chu Jang mayo. Wonderfulness abounds, with the great texture of the meat swimming in the sharply flavored, distinctly Korean glaze and the slightly funky -- in a good way -- kim chee packing some crisp punch.

Steak Banh Mi

Steak Banh Mi at Tbones

redrocklasvegas.com

B

Hold up, a banh mi sandwich at a fancy Vegas steakhouse? Yep, there it is, smack in the middle of T-bones' special "T-Time" happy hour snack menu: thin-sliced ribeye on a crusty baguette with some zesty mayo, pickled cucumbers, red onions and carrots, and a little crispy taro chip action. It's not authentic, but it's not supposed to be, and it's not spicy but it packs a meaty punch. If a Vietnamese mainstay can make its way onto the finger foods menu in Summerlin's neighborhood casino flagship, that's a good thing.

Green Eggwich

The Green Eggwich

homemade

B-

Sometimes you're too lazy to even throw some pants on and go out to breakfast on a Sunday morning. That's when things like this happen: scrambled eggs with fresh basil and cilantro, dropped on a toasted kaiser roll. Done deal. Not bad, but a little dry. And no, I didn't have any bacon in the fridge. Duh.