What makes a good sandwich? Is it the bread, the anchor of the meal? Is it the meat, or cheese, or veggies that create a hefty handheld?
For Patrick Williams, owner of M&M Bakery and Deli and creator of the famed Hook ‘Em Up sandwich, it’s definitely about the meat.
“You can’t find an ingredient that matches those two items — the pepper beef and the turkey ham,” Williams told KCUR’s Up To Date. “It was a match made in heaven.”
It’s a hard point to argue. Williams estimates about 2,500 of the onion-roll stackers leave his store at 31st Street and Woodland Avenue every day.
KCUR’s Up To Date put the impossible-to-answer question of sandwich design to a few people familiar with Kansas City’s restaurant scene.
“Does it hold together?” asks food and drink writer Pete Dulin, who says it’s all about structural integrity. “I hate eating a sandwich that might be delicious but it starts falling apart and dripping all over.”
KCUR Adventure! newsletter contributor Xiao daCunha values creativity and problem-solving in a sandwich builder.
“There are a lot of ingredients nobody ever thought of putting on a sandwich,” she explains. “Until someone’s like, ‘I really like that, and I’d would like to have that on a sandwich — now how do I do that?’”
They’re versatile, they’re portable, and they always hit the spot. So where do you go when you’re craving one?
Dulin, daCunha, and James Beard award-winning food editor and writer Jill Silva offered up their top sandwiches in the metro. Plus, we round up some of the top suggestions from Kansas City residents.
Xiao daCunha:
King G Bar and Deli in the Crossroads has a great pastrami on rye. You can order deli sandwiches from the bar around the corner, where bartenders serve up a nice selection of specialty cocktails. The deli and bar sides of the business are connected through an internal walkway.
The Sourdough Spot in the Iron District in North Kansas City has an out-of-this-world breakfast sandwich. It features cheesy garlic focaccia as the base, with fluffy egg, Asiago cheese and thick-cut bacon. Their grilled cheese and standalone loaves of bread are also incredible.
Tiffany Bakery has a pate char siu bahn mi. It’s pretty rare to find legitimate, well-flavored char siu in Kansas City, so this is my go-to. If it’s your first time, the special combination bahn mi gets you a little taste of everything.
Makin Come Eat has a wide range of delicious sandwiches, including the Snake in the Grass, a spicy version of their lemongrass cheesesteak. Thinly-sliced, lemongrass-marinated steak, melted Swiss cheese, and fresh arugula are paired with a spicy jeow sauce for a good kick.
Englewood Cafe in Independence is known for its giant tenderloin sandwich, but my pick is the hot chicken fried steak sandwich, served open-faced with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. I also like the juicy and flavorful meatloaf sandwich.
The Lunch Box is a good spot if you’re in a hurry. The sandwiches are generous and affordable. My favorite is the Cuban Missile – smoked pulled pork, pit ham, salami, capicola ham, and pepper jack served on Cuban bread. The KC cheesesteak is also solid.
Kitty's Cafe reopened last year after a monthslong renovation. It’s pretty much the only place in town I’d go for a pork tenderloin sandwich. It’s not greasy and the bread is always fresh and crispy. They also have a catfish version.
A Little BBQ Joint is serving some really tasty specialty sandwiches in Independence. The Mad Hog is my favorite: smoke and grilled pork loin and bacon with a divine horseradish, cheese, fried onion strings and homemade aioli sauce. They also have a spicy, bacon-wrapped meatloaf sandwich. Go in-person – the sandwiches taste better fresh.
Pete Dulin:
Carollo’s Italian Grocery and Deli in the River Market offers classic, reasonably priced Italian deli sandwiches that are filling. The Romano features mortadella – a rare appearance on local deli menus – along with pepperoni, capocolla and provolone.
Anjin is the new East Crossroads concept by Leslie and Nick Goellner, of The Antler Room, and Drew Little. The 20-seat Japanese-inspired izakaya offers a hefty Tonkatusu Sakura Pork Collar Sandwich with white miso egg salad, Taiwanese shredded cabbage and Carolina gold tonkatsu sauce. It’s rich, meaty and mouthwatering.
Mudbug Cajun Po' Boys north of the river on Vivion Road offers a savory po’boy loaded with shrimp, crawfish, or smoked chicken, served over polenta and lemon pepper slaw. It’s topped with a smoked onion aioli for an extra flavor boost.
Super Tortas Pachuca in Kansas City, Kansas, specializes in tortas, as the name suggests. Combinadas include a tempting array of ingredients. The Argentina Torta includes milanesa, a thin, fried pork cutlet, sausage and Oaxacan cheese on a telera roll.
Ting’s Filipino Bistro in the City Market has some of the best-value sandwiches around. For $7, try the spam and eggs on Texas toast with spicy mayo. Spam, an ingredient with a rich history, continues to be a popular staple in Hawaii, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.
Sweet EMOtion, an emo-themed treat shop in North Kansas City, makes oatmilk-based, small-batch ice cream sandwiches. A recent example was the Tira-Miss-You, an espresso cheesecake chocolate chunk ice cream paired with two espresso cheesecake cookies — delicious whether you’re vegan or not.
The Brick is an East Crossroads staple where owner Sheri Parr’s value-driven menu also delivers the satisfaction of home-cooked flavor. You can’t go wrong with the meatloaf sandwich for old school nostalgia, the portobello mushroom sandwich for a vegetarian option, or an old-fashioned reuben that rocks.
GoChew Burger & Sandwich specializes in Korean American sandwiches and burgers. Scrappy South Korean owner Joohae “Chewy” Yoon serves a spicy pork and K-BBQ sandwich topped with crunchy cabbage, served with sauce-laden fries.
Jill Silva:
Jack Stack Barbecue serves the Big Pig, an immense, layered handheld with pulled pork, smoked ham, bacon, smoked provolone, and topped with a colossal onion ring on a kaiser-style bun. The maple mustard served on the side is a nice condiment twist.
Meat Mitch has one of the best burnt end sandwiches I’ve had lately, the Naked & Afraid. Pitmaster Mitch Benjamin’s chewy, charr-y burnt ends and rope sausage slices are topped with a pepper jack “fun-do,” plus finely sliced pickled jalapeno, charred mayo and matchstick potatoes. The bun on this one is griddled a toasty brown.
Red Kitchen chef Alejandra de la Fuente offers a menu that includes all-day breakfast platters and tortas, a Mexican sandwich served on toasted bolillo rolls, in downtown Overland Park. So far, my favorite torta features breaded chiles rellenos topped with chipotle, mayo and avocado.
Grand Street has a great fried chicken sandwich with a southern twang from pimento cheese, and trendy Brussels sprouts slaw for good measure. It’s served on an egg bun with pecorino peppercorn dressing.
Los Hornos serves a wonderful choripan, a popular Argentine street food that’s name itself is a word sandwich: “chori” for grilled chorizo sausage, and “pan” for bread. The sausage is split down the middle, grilled, and dressed with chimichurri, red wine, parsley and garlic emulsion.
The Farmhouse chef Vince Paredes makes a standout reuben. He beer-braises his Angus-certified corned beef and adds the traditional sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and housemade Thousand Island dressing. The reuben is served on Roma’s toasted marble rye.
Baba’s Pantry is one among many fast-casual Mediterranean places these days, many of which are quite satisfying. But Baba’s falafel always beats the competition because it’s just so fresh: two pita halves are crammed full of fried chickpea patties, cucumbers, tomatoes, pickles, pickled turnips, and onions, all drizzled with tahini and dusted with tart sumac.
Hemma Hemma‘s menu calls it the Smoked Salmon Toast, but I think this item easily qualifies as an open-faced sandwich. Thick Ibis Bakery bread gets a generous swipe of herbed whipped feta, a silky layer of smoked salmon, a jammy egg, capers, lots of fresh dill and a wedge of lemon on the side. The ingredients are artfully arranged, and there’s an earthiness to this sandwich that can’t be beat.
Listener recommendations:
- Kitty’s Cafe – pork tenderloin sandwich
- Bay Boy Specialty Sandwiches – Peaches ‘n’ Scream, Kimchi Grilled Cheese, Hot Pastrami
- Papu’s Cafe – gyro sandwich
- Pho Tower – tofu bahn mi
- WingStand – Double Dipped sandwich
- Broadway Butcher Shop – sandwich of the day
- M&M Bakery and Deli – Hook ‘Em Up
- Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que – Portobello Z-Man and Rocket Pig
- Romeito Cuban Restaurant – Cuban sandwich
- ISH Bagels & Deli – steamed bagel sandwich
- Jim’s Alley Bar – Italian Beef
- The Peanut – BLT
- Pigwich — Cuban sandwich, Big Pig
- Mildred's — Sausage, egg and cheese sandwich, capres
