Prevailingwisdomhas it that lunch in 2010s America is in a land of decline . Not so in Northeast Ohio . In a city with Judaic and easterly European immigrant descendant on one side and innovative Midwestern foodies on the other , you ’d better conceive the sandwich is alive and well in the ' solid ground .
The enceinte challenge in roll up our lean was narrow our scope . You wo n’t see burger on here ( see thiscomprehensive summation , or check outBurger Quest Cleveland ) . Nor will you find our belovedPolish Boyor other sausage sandwich ( those deserve their own discourse ) . We loveDave’sand Mr. Hero as much as the next Clevelander ( which is to say , so , so much ) , but we chose to focus here on smaller operations ( probably the last time we ’ll be able-bodied to say that aboutMelt ) .
rent ’s take a moment to pour one out forGabe ’s Deli , a too - beautiful - for - this - macrocosm shop on Clifton that closed up hardly three weeks before our gin mill date .
Fancy Pants BLT at Plum Cafe|Carissa Russell/Thrillist
stream out ? Good . Now get out there and put some kernel and bread into your face .
Chorizo meatball sub
Herb’n Twine Sandwich Co
A newcomer to Cleveland ’s sandwich secret plan , Herb’n Twine is doing things no other shop is doing . possessor - manager Brendan Messina worked as a chef in Cleveland for years , including a least sandpiper at The Flying Fig , and he frame his culinary experience directly into crafting originative sandwiches . If you are read this in November , you ’re probably too tardy to try the Porchetta , the magnificently crafted pork barrel loin sandwich that give the store its punny name ( say it out loud , you ’ll get it ) but did n’t sell like it should have . Console yourself with a chorizo meatball sub , a once - seasonal sandwich that ’s become a menu fixture : tender , spicy chorizo submerge in a complex , rich mol rojo ( red , silent person ) sauce with lime tree crema and queso blanco for symmetricalness . Also try on innovators like the Korean barbecue sandwich or upstanding takes on traditionals like the smoke turkey .
Hot pastrami
Mister Brisket
Mister Brisket comes to you with the Michael Symonseal of blessing . draw by direction as a “ plain Jane ” establishment , Mister Brisket has been purveying high - quality meat since 1974 . It originate serve sandwiches 10 years ago , and Cleveland ’s lunches are so much the better for it . The star here is the pastrami ; it ’s slit slender and served hot and fat , with just the right amount of spice from its peppercorn app . Stadium mustard and high mallow ( and bread , come to remember of it ) are altogether optional , but make nice additions . And if you ’re feeling sheer , order a Dr. Brown ’s cultivated celery - flavour soda ash to go with it – you ’ll be shock at how well the flavour complement one another .
The Dudefather
Melt Bar & Grilled
The Melt experience – the beer enthusiast ’s pipe dream taps , the Grog Shop stone vibe , the Parma front lawn decor – is so hyped ( rightfully so ) that it can be easy to forget how damn dependable the sandwich are . The capacity – be they pork barrel paunch , fried mac & cheese , or pierogi – are housed in deep slabs of sourdough grilled on a flat top to a gross lucky - brown . The Dudefather , away from being a crossing over film we ’re dying to see , is an off - bill of fare combining item that shoot a mozzarella - meatball sandwich name forThe Big Lebowskiand tops it with a substantial square of lasagna from The Godfather sandwich . The result is a Franken - sandwich that ’s tastier than it has any right wing to be . We ’ll definitely take10 more yearsof sandwiches like this .
Banh mi
On the Rise Artisan Breads
Some establishment on this inclination apply bread merely as a vas for cured meats and cheese . At On the Rise , the bread is nearly the star of the show . It ’s hard to describe great bread without resorting to cliche – " hearty , " " curmudgeonly exterior , " etc . – so we ’ll just tell you that Michael Symon has also given this little Cleveland Heights brass aringing endorsement . Outside of the scratch , On the Rise is best bonk for its commitment to sourcing nutrient from local farmers and for its banh Military Intelligence Section 5 . The pork is impossibly tender , the product of eight hour of nightly braise . An explosively flavourful veg coleslaw helps rationalise the pork fatty tissue . It ’s the best banh mi you may get outside AsiaTown . ( Inside AsiaTown , adjudicate Superior Pho for a start – but really , it ’s hard to go wrongly anywhere in the district . )
The Bogtrotter
Bogtrotters Doorstep
It might be surprising that The Old Angle , an Ohio City pothouse known for serving some of the practiced Warren Earl Burger in Cleveland , would open up a spin - off ecesis next room access , but we are certainly happy it did . Old Angle ’s kitchen close at 11 , but Bogtrotters serve its Chicago - style sandwich ' til 3 am . While it could in all probability get away with serving truehearted - food - panache raging garbage to buzzing Ohio City revelers , Bogtrotters select to craft farm - to - table sandwich for the late - night bunch . The eponymic Bogtrotter is a branching - and - knifer : three kinds of meat , cheese sauce , and the porcini mushroom au jus sauce that makes the shop ’s sandwiches so distinct . parliamentary procedure it " soaked " – " soaked , " if you ’d like your sandwich to be more like soup – and sum up " crunch , " issue by a layer of crushed Lays on top . We can promise you it is just as good sombre as it is at closing time .
The Sammy Kay
Corky & Lenny’s
If you step into Corky & Lenny ’s for tiffin , you are unresistant to bring the medial customer age down by 30 year or more . look at it an endorsement : Senior citizen know how to pick out a great Judaic food shop , and Corky & Lenny ’s is the keen Judaic food shop of Cleveland . grow to the " Overstuffed " section of the fare and order yourself a Sammy Kay , a behemoth that takes corned beef and top it off with an inch or so of blistering pastrami , a knife ’s bedcover of Thousand Island , and a match slices of Muenster between rye . Take out the clams ( let ’s not josh ourselves here ) and you have a intimately perfect sandwich .
Southwestern sub
La Bodega
La Bodega has been the little turning point sandwich shop in Tremont for the past 15 days – truly in the neck of the woods before it was nerveless . Funny thing is , there ’s nothing particularly voguish or articulatio coxae about the place . It ’s a middling honest-to-god - school sandwich establishment : You ordering sandwich by number , and they ’re brought to you on Gallic lolly bearing the short grill marks of a nimble spell in the panini press . The Southwest turkey bomber , with its Alexander Graham Bell peppers , Cajun mayo , and perfectly crispy bacon , has been a longtime favorite . But do n’t ignore the number of specials – including a yoke of originative vegetarian options like the eggplant – that have unite the carte as permanent fixtures in the last decade and a one-half .
Maple bacon chicken
The Market at The Flying Fig
you’re able to wait from The Market what you ’ve come to await from its parent institution next door : quality nutrient that ’s seasonal and local without being flashy or too trendy . The standard menu is small but strong , sport some inventive choice for vegetarian and vegan . We in particular enjoyed the maple bacon chicken , served on pantry focaccia with candied bacon and local ( duh ) park – essentially , a chicken salad sandwich that ’s not boring . The standards are assembled in front of you in the marketplace , but the rotating special come from the Fig ’s kitchen . This past summertime , it dish up an ingenious PLT – yes , peach - kale - tomato –with puritanic cheese crumbles that reap rave reviews . Keep an eye out for whatever innovations the season brings .
Smoked turkey
Merchant Street Provisions and Eatery
Merchant Street is exactly what you ’d conceive of of a " Tremont sandwich shop . " It ’s a bare - bones but secular market with a small but high - quality carte . We do n’t want to dwell on theEast Side boeuf , West Side dud thing , but you really have to essay the turkey here . It ’s swear out with cranberry mostarda ( do n’t concern , we had to calculate it up too ) , a honeyed - and - savory topping that nicely balances the smokiness of the bacon . vegetarian and beet lover should check out the roast eggplant sandwich . For dessert , order one of the apricot hand pie , house - made with dough that ’s indecently outre and sweet . Be sure to stop back by for dinner in November when the restaurant lot opens up next room access .
The Green Goddess
Byte Cafe
If you do n’t have the pleasure of working in Tyler Village ( the construction whose exterior provides the hosting ground for the Cleveland Flea ) , you probably have n’t eaten at Byte Cafe . We at Thrillist would like to change that . The Green Goddess won us over for taking some of the best part of meatless feeding – avocados , walnut , balsamic step-down , and goat cheese – and putting them into one sandwich . Byte does n’t pop the question much in the way of dine - in seating room at present , but with the former executive offices of the Tyler Elevator Company available for use , we wait to see some cool seating options open up in the next year or so . And should you regain your energy flagging after house your sandwich , order the espresso , a roast so creamy and robust that we repent not putting Byte on ourbest coffeelist .
Apple Porkling
Gourmand’s Deli & Coffee
You might not look to find a cool sandwich shop like Gourmand ’s pucker aside in a Valley View industrial Mungo Park . But then again , maybe an industrial park is exactly the place for a keen Cleveland sandwich shop class : gourmet food , no pretension , Indians paraphernalia or Ghoulardi memorabilia on just about every wall . With Rising Star Coffee , craft soda guns , and five plank filled with sandwiches , Gourmand ’s has all your breakfast and lunch motivation covered – and with its wine , beer , and cigar selection , it ’s got a whole fashion of after - dinner party vice cover too . Our favorite was the Apple Porkling , a wondrously sweet - and - savoury mixture that lays thinly sliced Granny Smith orchard apple tree on top of house - smoked pork with smokey , dijon - flavored barbecue sauce .
Corned beef
Slyman’s Restaurant
There is almost nothing leave behind to say about Slyman ’s across the nation renowned cured beef sandwich at this point . Esquirewrote about it . Dubya came to Cleveland to eat it . So did Rachael Ray . It ’s a sandwich beautiful in its simplicity : two slice of Secale cereale , satisfying enough only to be vessel for meat . A lot of salt - kissed beef . Your appetite does n’t bear a prospect . There must be the great unwashed in the mankind who can house an entire sandwich in one go , but be fair and allow yourself the joy of two repast from your orderliness . You ’ll need to sing its praise – perhaps literally . The Barenaked Ladiesdid .
The Bravocado
Beet Jar
Here ’s a sandwich that ’s inspired more T - shirts and posters than a local rock music isthmus . It is the only sandwich – indeed , the only solid food detail – at vegan fastness Beet Jar , and it does n’t really call for any others . Something like a vegan take on the avocado pear BLT , the Bravocado features mayonnaise made from cashews ( the ok nut ) and a heaping share of coconut flake at its center . They are smoked , which gives them a slightly more zesty flavor and a pleasing crisp texture that will have you trump up the one C that fall from your sandwich . Thick Sicilian bread provides extra compaction , ripe avocado rescue creamy texture , red onions render welcome bite . range it with a freshly juiced mixture and you , like Liz Lemon , will beBM - ing like a rock mavin .
Hot Grumster
Grum’s Sub Shoppe
Grum ’s opened its doors in ‘ 77 and not much has change since then . The original menu items are still sold day by day , and the Ellen Price Wood - control board decor – it looks something like from your pop ’s dorm elbow room – is largely untouched by sentence . With no seating options and a vending machine as its only drink dispenser , Grum ’s is the definition of a dine - out sandwich shop . But once you get to where you ’re going and disclose your bomber or hero , you ’ll see why this place has been around for almost 40 years , despite competition from two fast - zep giants on the same block . The Hot Grumster is nothing fancy – just roast beef , mushrooms , LTO . Provolone allow light smokiness and horseradish delivers just the right amount of kick .
The LBJ
The Fix Bistro
The Fix Bistro is a form of scaled - up version of Black Box Fix , a pop Cedar Lee sandwich shop class that close its doorway in July . The most pop items discover their way onto the Fix ’s menu , foreman among them the LBJ . A sandwich named for Lebron James ( not , as your correspondent erroneously thought , for Lyndon Baines Johnson ) has to be desirable of a champion . This one delivers . The LBJ pay you the surf & turf plate in a sandwich : Creole - scorch jumbo shrimp model atop moist , pinnace filet and chopped peppers . Light crab mayo adds mellowness to a sandwich already nigh - bursting with flavour . If you balk at the fancy Leontyne Price on this one , you ’ll wo n’t leave alone hungry – the OMG Philly , chef Eric Rogers ’ take on the cheesesteak with crybaby and creole shrimp as the proteins on brioche , is a crowd - pleaser as well . Go on a weekend for live euphony , and save some way for the Parmesan garlic fries .
Cubano
Moncho’s Bar & Grill
Anunderrated restaurantin anunderrated neighborhood , Moncho ’s is a Colombian restaurant that ’s received some righteous bombilation for its tacos , arepas , and absurdly generous margarita sizes . What ’s receiving some of that love this time is the Cubano , star of its bocadillo ( sandwich , which wedefinitelydid not have to look up ) menu . Like most establishment on our list , Moncho ’s did n’t mess with nigh - idol on this one : take lettuce , tomato , ham , and pork shoulder that ’s at pitmaster degree of affectionateness , then flat - exhort them into an physical object of compressed sweetheart . or else of mustard , Moncho ’s uses a tangy garlic - wine mayo , and oh my . Stop into Caribe Bakery in nearby Clark - Fulton for another winning version of the sandwich .
Fancy Pants BLT
Plum Cafe & Kitchen
A not - fast - nutrient sandwich for $ 5 , you say ? Absurd ! Not at the Plum Cafe it ’s not . do on pleasingly soft buttertop bread , the Plum render the BLT a slight facelift with melted Swiss high mallow and a lardon garlic sauce rendered from bacon fat . It ’s available only at well-chosen hour , so pair it with a doltishly cheesy domesticated beer ( a Pearl Sydenstricker Buck fifty ) or one of its eminently sippablecocktailsfor another $ 5 . If you ’re there before 3 pm , try one of the adventurous - but - approachable sandwich – the apple - cured bomb is the most popular point .
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Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
On The Rise Artisan Breads
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Courtesy of Byte Cafe
Carissa Russell
Laura Watilo Blake
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
Carissa Russell/Thrillist
