Piggy Mac

Piggy Mac at Muncheeze Truck

muncheezetruck.com

B

Whoa. Gotta give extra points to local food truckers for keeping it creative and branching out with the Muncheeze Truck, dedicated to stoner-friendly eats like grilled cheese sandwiches. The Piggy Mac, however, is no ordinary grilled cheese. It's loaded with pulled pork, bacon, macaroni and cheese, a bit of jalapeno and barbecue sauce. So like I said, whoa.

It's tasty, but excessive. I have never been a fan of putting mac and cheese between slices of bread. I just don't think it works, and combined here with the pork and sauce, and more American cheese, it's a little overwhelming. But it still tastes great and is definitely a memorable sandwich.

Philly Cheese Steak

Philly Cheese Steak at Rock and Rita's

rockandritas.com

C-

You can never go wrong with a cheesesteak, right? Not even when you're eating food at Circus Circus? Well, Rock and Rita's isn't as bad as you might thing. It's just a straight-up white trash party bar, which isn't the worst thing in the world. I mean, chicken wings. But sandwich-wise, what appeared to be a safe bet was a little disappointing because ... it's a French dip! You can't fool us. Just because you throw your chopped meat on a 9-inch Philly roll don't make it a Philly. The beef is clearly flavored and sliced for the French dip on the menu, just tossed on here with some grilled onions and peppers and slathered in a decent if lackluster cheese sauce. Nice try.

The Johnny

The Johnny at Johnny McGuire's

johnnymcguires.com

A

I'm not sure who to blame this on, but I feel like the perception of a sandwich's greatness has been tainted by the kind of crazy you see on Food Network and Travel Channel shows. You know, Man vs. Food, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives, Eating Weird Ass Shit With This Bald Fat Guy, World's Craziest Biggest Nastiest Sandwiches, etc. A sandwich is a simple thing to eat, meats and/or cheeses and/or vegetables held together by bread. Find the right combination -- like sliced turkey, crispy bacon, cream cheese, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, onion, green bell pepper, hot pepperoncini, oil and vinegar on a soft, fresh wheat roll -- and you have something satisfying and potentially magical. Go buck wild and see how much food can you fit between slices of sauced up bread? No. Wrong. The Johnny is right. Food TV is wrong. That concludes the lesson of the day.

Nicoise Sandwich

Nicoise Sandwich at Pinot Brasserie

venetian.com

A

I never would have thought to put a classic Nicoise salad on a soft, delicious ciabatta and call it a sandwich. And I never would have thought I'd find something so good at Pinot Brasserie, kinduva forgotten French restaurant on the Las Vegas Strip. It's hidden next door to the much better-known Valentino Italian eatery, on the casino level of the Venetian. But it's been there forever and the food is still good, and I may be in love with this sandwich.

So what's in a Nicoise? Well, it's always tuna, and on the sammich version it's slices of beautifully seared, peppered ahi, spread with a little olive relish. Got to have olives in the nee-swah. Haricot verts are a constant in the dish, so yep, first time ever eating green beans on a sandwich. They aren't the right size or shape for bread stackage, but they're cool, crisp and tasty, so it works out. Finishing it up are slices of hard boiled egg and a roasted red pepper and basil salad mixture. It's all the flavor of a French classic, ready for on-the-go munching. Well, not really. It's not like Pinot Brasserie has a drive-through window. Hmm, wait ... In-N-Out-Nicoise? Don't steal my idea.

Homemade Roast Beef

Homemade Roast Beef Sub at Capriotti's

capriottis.com

B+

Capriotti's is known for its turkey, but they actually roast both turkey and roast beef in-house, and guess what? The beef is better. Way better. Just like the turkey, it's shredded into bite-sized chunks, not sliced, and the beef retains much more moisture and flavor than the bland bird.

On what is still one my favorite sub rolls around, this roast beef sub comes armed with provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion and a sprinklin' of Cap's seasonings. I tacked on pickles, hot peppers, mayo, mustard and oil. I don't know if I'll ever get a turkey sandwich here again. The other stuff is too good.

Peanut Butter & Bacon Burger

Peanut Butter & Bacon Burger at Rambo's Kitchen

ramboskitchen.com

B

I almost forgot to write about this burger, which is really nuts, because it is quite unforgettable. I've seen and heard a lot about putting peanut butter on a burger, but this was my first go-round. The fact that it was at this super friendly hippy-themed cafe in southwest Vegas made sense somehow. If I'd been high, would it have been better? Doubtful. It's pretty damn good in a sober state. There really are only three ingredients: a half-pound of very well prepared beef, giant strips of crispy bacon and a liberal amount of chunky peanut butter on a nice buttery bun. The PB pretty much melts away instantly, leaving you with a sweet-and-creamy infused beefy bite augmented by the crunch of chopped peanuts. This is one of the few burgers where bacon is something of an afterthought. I want to make a joke now about a "flavor explosion" and this place being called Rambo's, but, nah.

Sandwich Sundays Presents: The Taco Chip Mess

The Taco Chip Mess

homemade

D-

Dark rye bread. Garlic and preserved lemon mustard, which is really good usually but not when you fuck up like this. Boar's Head meats, including sausalito turkey, black forest ham, and thin sliced pepperoni. Dill havarti cheese, which was just moronic in this situation. And then, of course, taco-flavored Doritos, all crushed up.

Look, I don't know what to tell you. Sometimes this is what Sandwich Sundays is about: experimentation. And sometimes experiments go bad and you have to take a few bites of a frankenfuckingnasty sandwich. I will say, the chips created some nice texture, especially since I didn't try to legitimize this beast with some nice crisp vegetables. Ah well, live and learn.

Cheesesteak

Cheesesteak at CheeseSteak Truck

twitter.com/cheesteaktruck

A

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout. How do you not get excited about the idea of a Philly cheesesteak food truck? You have to. The Vegas CheeseSteak Truck is even more promising because it's an expansion of the already tasty Philly's Famous Italian Ice truck. Philly-style cuisine and dessert all on one vehicle? Nice.

You can order yours with whatever type of cheese you prefer, but I gotta go with the Whiz. This is a big soft sub roll stuffed with marinated, thin-sliced beef, sauteed onions, green peppers and mushrooms, all covered in hot, melty Cheez Whiz. It's one of the best cheesesteaks I've ever had.

Beef Brisket Sandwich

Beef Brisket Sandwich at The Beat Coffeehouse

thebeatlv.com

A

This is the bite that made The Beat. What I mean is: this is a cool little coffee shop where people like to hang out, plug in, and be hip. I don't really participate in those activities. I only care about sandwiches. Furthermore, The Beat is downtown on East Fremont, a place where there are plenty of cool places to hang out and very few worthy places to eat. My two favorite downtown sandwich spots, Naked City Sandwich Shop and Strip Sandwich Shop, have relocated or shuttered in the last year. So that makes The Beat very important.

This sandwich is stocked with tender, juicy, shredded beef (slow cooked brisket), pickled red onions, arugula, and mayo under the influence of something spicy. The menu says jalapeno mayo, but it seems more horseradishy. Whatever it is, it's delicious, a nice combination of great, simple ingredients, all teaming up on a perfect baguette from Bon Breads. Not sure if there is a better sandwich in downtown Vegas.

Special Combo

Special Combo at Lee's Sandwiches

leessandwiches.com

C+

You should always get the crazy-ass sandwich with the most crazy-ass stuff when trying out a banh mi shop, and the special combo at Lee's is a step in the right direction. Lots of crisp, fresh veggies here, and the bread is still doing the job. The meats are ham (jambon), pate, and cured pork, which is the bright red, crazy-ass looking stuff. The problem is, it looks wilder than it tastes. Lee's appears to be a robo-sandwich processing center, and the flavors reflect that. Cyborg sandwich.

Chili Cheese Dog

Chili Cheese Dog at Weinerschnitzel

weinerschnitzel.com

F+

Um, yeah ... don't eat these. I feel like I want to say something good about them. The weiners are all-beef, does that do anything for ya? Not sure if you can say the same thing about the chili. Hmm. They go down easy? No, not really.