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.

The B.A.T. Shi(p) Crazy

The B.A.T. Shi(p) Crazy at Lulu's Bread & Breakfast

lulusonthemove.com

A-

You didn't think we'd go very long without revisiting the breakfast sandwich capital of Las Vegas, did you? This Lulu's treat, which may or may not be on the ever-changing menu at any given time, stars thick-cut peppered bacon, avocado, tomato relish, cheddar cheese and over-easy eggs stacked on the bakery's signature "everything" brioche, which has all the tasty seeds and things of an everything bagel. It's one of the greatest rolls you'll ever taste, a textural delight dabbed with savory brilliance, and adding rich eggs and crispy bacon to such beautiful bread is an automatic win.

Turkey, Bacon and Avocado

Turkey, Bacon and Avocado at Einstein Bros Bagels

einsteinbros.com

C+

Turkey. Bacon. Avocado. They're obviously friends, and it would take a bland-ass bagel sandwich chain to mess it up. But Einsteins doesn't exactly mess it up; this is actually one of the better sandwiches we've had at this place. The avo was surprisingly un-mushy, the bacon was crispy, and the lettuce, tomato and onion were perfectly decent. We built it on one of those bagel-thin things, to try to keep the proportions right, and it was an everything bagel-thin thing so it actually had some flavor. Everything was coasting above mediocrity until we got a mouthful of the mayonaissy, chipotle sauce nonsense, which is sweet and gross and oddly spicy. Ick. And of course it's spread on both sides of the bagel thing. Close ... not a full screwup, far from success.

PBR Pulled Pork

PBR Pulled Pork at PBR Rock Bar

pbrrockbar.com

C+

You can't really tell from this picture, but this is a mountain of a sandwich. It's just huge. And the amount of tender, juicy pulled piggy in this thing is obscene. Couldn't eat half of it. Half. PBR Rock Bar is smack in the middle of the Strip, a gigantic, somewhat cheesy themed restaurant that sucks in tourists whether they're rodeo fans or not. It's a big food machine. But what most people don't know is that it's the home of what is probably the best barbecue on the Las Vegas Strip, including some smoky brisket and some righteous ribs. This sweet, supple pork is right up there, too. The problems here are the dried-out burger bun, the mostly bland, creamy coleslaw, and the portions: some more of that slaw, if it had more crunch and flavor, would help moisten the bun and cut through the richness of all that sweet meat. When you order a barbecue sandwich, you're not supposed to want to scrap the bun and topping and only eat the barbecue.