Up In Smoke

The Up In Smoke special sub at Naked City Pizza Shop

nakedcitylv.com

B

We were a little sad when the Naked City shop closed up its tiny sandwich headquarters located in the actual Naked City, that patch of Vegas between the Strip and downtown, and relocated inside a bar called Moondoggie's on the west side. The location is a little less convenient, but on the plus side, there is more space for these guys to do their thing -- which now includes a great big pizza menu -- in a cozy, dirty dive bar destination. And most importantly, they kept their great sandwiches on the menu.

This one, the special sub for the month of April, is quite the endeavor. The guys are curing their own pastrami and dropping hefty, fatty slices of it on their very own fresh baked garlic cheddar bacon baguette. It's not like any baguette you've had before, because the bread recipe is fashioned from Naked City's great pizza dough. So it's the shape of a sub but the texture is kinda doughy, kinda biscuity, and full of flavor. Topping things off are a sharp jack cheese, creamy mustard and crisp, sweet onions. The bread is very interesting, the pastrami flavor is right on the money and wonderfully smokey, but the meat is a bit too fatty. Almost a perfect bite, but Naked City gets extra points, as always, for creativity.

Honey BBQ Bacon Burger

Honey BBQ Bacon Burger at Buffalo Wild Wings

buffalowildwings.com

C

Why would you order a burger at Buffalo Wild Wings? This place serves massive quantities of beer, tasty wings in signature sauces, other chicken stuff, and classic bar food apps, and that's as far as you should go, right? Probably. If you wanna go the sandwich route at B-Dubs, I recommend the Jerk Chicken, spicy and sweet and creamy with blue cheese. Burgers are just average, such as this perfectly mediocre piece slathered in sugary barbecue sauce, bacon strips and cheddar cheese. Lettuce, tomato and onion just make everything messy. On the plus side, there's a lot of beef, and the the bun is a nice chewy roll. But if you wanna go to a sports bar and get a good greasy burger, you could do better. Can I get a dozen spicy garlic wings to go?

Turkey Panini

Turkey Panini at Bouchon

bouchonbistro.com

C

The reliably outstanding Vegas version of Bouchon recently began serving a real lunch menu, and it appears as if, on my first proper lunch visit there, I ordered the most boring option on the proper lunch menu.

It's a turkey panini, perfectly normal sandwich meat with greens and a wonderfully tangy, melted gruyere cheese. Nothing wrong with these insides, other than complete mediocrity. It's the bread that messes this one up, and that's kind of disappointing because hey, this is Bouchon. They bake great things. This bread is dry to begin with, and then it's grilled flat and ... yeah, all downhill. But I'm not mad at Bouchon. Sometimes you gotta take the blame yourself. After all, I ordered it. So stupid ... next time salmon rilletes for sure. Spread that greatness on the house baguette and you've got a simple, spectacular sandwich.

Pork Roll w/Pate

Pork Roll w/Pate at Lee's Sandwiches

leessandwiches.com

D

No bueno, Lee's. We love our banh mi -- LOVE -- but there just isn't enough flavor on this little baguette baby. The pate packs a punch, but the pork roll is bland and chewy. The great thing about even a mediocre banh mi sandwich is that you've always got the spicy-crisp vegetable awesomeness, jalapeno and pickled daikon and carrot with sprigs of cilantro, sometimes mint, and more. Lee's throws onions into the mix, but dynamic balance is still not achieved. The bread is steady, super crisp on the outside with a nice flavor, maybe a little too dry. There are other sandwiches at Lee's. Order them.

The Capastrami

Capastrami at Capriotti's

capriottis.com

A

The Bobbie remains the most famous and most beloved of Capriotti's signature subs, but give me the Capastrami instead, any day of the week. Thin sliced pastrami, the perfect match for Cap's ever-soft sub roll, is absolutely drenched in cole slaw and Russian dressing, with a little Swiss cheese thrown on for good measure. It's kinda spicy, kinda sweet, kinda creamy, incredibly saucy, and the bread and slaw struggle for a perfect soft-crisp balance in every bite. It's the best thing Capriotti's has to offer.

Surf & Turf Burger

Surf & Turf Burger at Burger Bar

burger-bar.com

B+

This burger tastes like shit and I am so sick of eating of burgers. This is the last burger I will ever review on allsandwich.

April Fool's.

This is a very Vegas burger, and that's why it's the perfect post to mark allsandwich's 100th sandwich review. Awesome, huh? This burger is pretty damn good, too, although for a place that specializes in crazy, lavish toppings, it's actually pretty simple. It's a delicious, Angus beef patty, a grilled lobster tail, and some crisp, tender asparagus on a "plain" bun. (This bun is actually awesome.) I assembled it with some dijon mustard, lettuce, tomato and red onion, and then I destroyed it. Thank you, Hubert Keller.