The culinary landscape of the United States is as diverse as its population, with each state proudly boasting its own signature sandwich that often tells a rich story of culture, history, migration, and tradition.
From the lobster rolls of Maine to the po'boys of Mississippi, these sandwiches have become iconic representations of their regions, celebrated by locals and sought after by food enthusiasts nationwide.
The origin stories of these sandwiches are as varied as the ingredients themselves, often rooted in immigrant traditions, agricultural abundance, or the innovative spirit of American cuisine.
Across the country, there is a vast array of sandwiches, each with unique flavors and preparation methods. These range from hearty, meat-laden creations to creamy, sweet-filled delights, showcasing the endless possibilities between two slices of bread.
The realm of sandwiches is not without its debates and controversies. Some of the most heated discussions revolve around origin stories. These questions ignite passionate arguments among food aficionados, each with their own criteria, definitions, and theories. Despite these debates, there is no denying the integral role sandwiches play in America's food identity.
Among these myriad beloved sandwiches, some have achieved near-mythical status. For instance, the Philly cheesesteak, with its thinly sliced beef and oozy cheese, is a staple of Pennsylvania, while Illinois takes pride in its Italian beef sandwich, drenched in savory jus. These delectable offerings, whether famous or hyperlocal, contribute to the rich tapestry of American cuisine, inviting both locals and visitors to embark on a flavorful journey across the nation.
Ready for a sandwich road trip? Stacker researched staple sandwiches, the kind that make residents proud, and highlighted one from each state that everyone should try.
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Alabama's pulled chicken sandwich features tender, slow-cooked pulled chicken drenched in a tangy white barbecue sauce made with mayo and served on a bun. This sandwich originated in Northern Alabama, with the signature sauce created by Big Bob Gibson in Decatur, Alabama, in 1925. Toppings include pickles, coleslaw, and hot sauce.
The sandwich is a joint product of Alaska's rich fishing industry and abundant salmon population. Variations include different toppings, such as avocado or aioli, to complement the grilled or smoked fish.
The state's significant Mexican influence and proximity to Sonora, Mexico, make this iconic borderland sandwich an Arizona favorite. The Sonoran hot dog features a bacon-wrapped hot dog stuffed into a bolillo roll and topped with pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, jalapeños, mustard, and mayonnaise.
The fried bologna sandwich features thick slices of bologna, fried until crispy, on white bread with mustard and mayonnaise. Originating from simple, hearty fare popular in the rural South, this sandwich is a nostalgic favorite. Ingredient variations include cheese, onions, or a fried egg.
Hailing from Los Angeles, the French dip sandwich consists of thinly sliced roast beef on a French roll served with a side of au jus for dipping. Originating from Philippe The Original or Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet, both of which claim to have invented it, this sandwich reflects the diverse culinary influences in California. Variations include different types of meat, such as lamb or pork, and additional toppings, including cheese or sautéed onions.
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The Denver sandwich, also known as the Denver omelet, consists of scrambled eggs mixed with diced ham, onions, and bell peppers served between slices of toasted bread. The sandwich has multiple origin stories and can include cheese or different types of meat.
Connecticut's lobster roll is served hot with warm lobster meat tossed in melted butter on a toasted bun. This version differs from the New England cold lobster roll, which uses mayonnaise.
The Bobbie layers turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and mayonnaise on a sub roll, mimicking a Thanksgiving meal. Originating from the Wilmington, Delaware-founded Capriotti's Sandwich Shop in 1976, it quickly became a local favorite.
Cuban bread, roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard pressed until crispy—that's what gives the Cubano its perfect crunchy bite. It originated with Cuban immigrants in Florida around the turn of the 20th century, and additional layers may include salami, a Tampa, Florida-specific twist.
The pimento cheese sandwich, a Southern staple, is especially beloved in Georgia. It consists of a creamy spread made from sharp cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos (cherry peppers) served cold or on griddled white bread. Though pimento cheese is tied to Southern cuisine, its origin story begins in New York.
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The kālua pork sandwich features shredded, smoky kālua pork served on a bun with coleslaw. It highlights the traditional Hawaiian method of cooking pork in an underground oven, or imu. The succulent meat can be topped with pineapple and a touch of barbecue sauce.
The peanut butter and huckleberry sandwich features creamy peanut butter paired with sweet-tart huckleberry jam on sliced bread. This simple yet flavorful concoction celebrates Idaho's wild huckleberries, a beloved local fruit.
This sandwich originated from Italian immigrants in Chicago in the early 1900s. It features thin slices of slowly simmered seasoned roast beef served with au jus on crusty French bread, often topped with Italian pickled vegetables known as giardiniera, or sweet peppers.
The large breaded and fried pork tenderloin cutlet, bun, pickles, lettuce, and mayonnaise work together to create a balanced offering packed with flavor. The sandwich was introduced in 1904 by Nicholas Freinstein, a pushcart vendor in Huntington, Indiana, who swapped out veal for pork and then opened Nick's Kitchen in 1908, helping it spread to small-town diners throughout the Midwest.
This wonderfully messy sandwich features seasoned ground beef crumbles served on a bun and often topped with pickles, onions, and mustard. It originated in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1926 with butcher Fred Angell and his Maid-Rite sandwich.
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This famous sandwich holds smoky, caramelized, crisped pieces of beef brisket on a bun with barbecue sauce. Originating from Kansas City traditions traced to Arthur Bryant's BBQ, the burnt ends sandwich is a beloved staple with variations that include different barbecue sauces or additional toppings, such as coleslaw and pickled onions.
The hot brown, an open-faced sandwich from Louisville, Kentucky, piles up turkey, tomatoes, and bacon covered in Mornay sauce and baked until the Texas toast is crispy and additional cheese on top is oozing. It originated with Fred K. Schmidt at the Brown Hotel in 1926.
The muffuletta features layers of salami, ham, mortadella, and provolone topped with a tangy olive salad and served on a round of Sicilian sesame bread. Created by Salvatore Lupo at Central Grocery in New Orleans in 1906, this is an Italian American classic.
Maine's lobster roll is served chilled with tender, sweet lobster meat mixed with mayonnaise, celery, and lemon juice on a buttered, toasted bun. Originating from the Connecticut coast, this sandwich highlights the region's seafood industry.
This delicious creation features a broiled or fried crab cake made from lump crab meat mixed with egg, mayonnaise, and Old Bay seasoning served on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce. The crab cake sandwich originates from Maryland's Chesapeake Bay area, known for its blue crabs, and is believed to date back to Native Americans.
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This beloved sandwich consists of peanut butter and marshmallow crème spread between slices of white bread. The fluffernutter, originating in the early 20th century, highlights the state's connection to Marshmallow Fluff, which began its rise in Somerville, Massachusetts, in 1917.
Slices of honey-baked ham served on an onion roll with mustard and Swiss cheese make this a Detroit favorite. The sandwich showcases the state's ham production and traditional diner fare that dates to the mid-1960s.
A filet of walleye, breaded and fried, served on a bun with tartar sauce, tomato, and lettuce highlights Minnesota's favorite freshwater fish, commonly caught in the state's many lakes. Variations include bacon or tangy sauces.
This sandwich showcases zesty fried shrimp, which is piled high on a crusty French baguette dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and Cajun rémoulade sauce. Originating in New Orleans in 1929 at Martin Brothers' French Market and Coffee Stand, the po'boy has become a staple along the Gulf Coast.
Originating from Gioia's Deli in St. Louis, the hot salami sandwich features thick slices of hot, spiced salami served on an Italian roll with hot mustard, pepperoncini, pickles, and pepper jack cheese. Since 1918, the famed "salam de testa" has fed generations of locals.
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The pork chop sandwich consists of a breaded and fried pork chop served on a bun with mustard, pickles, onions, and mayonnaise. This sandwich, created by John Burklund and sold from a street cart, originated in 1900 during the Great Depression and sparked John's Pork Chop Sandwich Shop in Butte, Montana.
This favorite features corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing grilled between slices of rye bread. It's said that the sandwich was created at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska, in the 1920s by Bernard Schimmel for Reuben Kulakofsky—though there's competing lore that it was created by Arnold Reuben in New York in 1914.
This classic diner sandwich combines elements of a hamburger and grilled cheese. It features a beef patty topped with melted Swiss cheese and caramelized onions served on grilled rye bread—and links back to Los Angeles restaurateur Tiny Naylor.
Thinly sliced, perfectly pink roast beef piled high on a bun and often served with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato highlight this edition of a quality roast beef sando. It's remarkably simple. Though theories about who created the popular sandwich abound, you're sure to find a good one in New Hampshire.
Originating from Italian American communities, this is a staple at delis and sandwich shops. The sub features layers of Italian cold cuts such as salami, ham, capicola, and provolone cheese topped with lettuce, tomato, onions, and Italian dressing and served on a long roll.
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Thanks to the state's love of green chiles, particularly from Hatch, New Mexico, this burger is a staple in New Mexican cuisine. The Southwestern cheeseburger features a beef patty topped with roasted green chiles and melted cheese served on a bun.
It goes without question that thick slices of pastrami piled high on rye bread and served with mustard is a New York culinary landmark. Originating from Jewish delis in New York City, this sandwich became an iconic part of the city's food culture in the 1920s. Sussman Volk, a Lithuanian immigrant, is often credited with creating and popularizing the loved pastrami sandwich.
This sandwich is made with slow-cooked smoky pork shoulder that is shredded and slathered in a vinegar-based barbecue sauce. Topped with coleslaw and served on a bun, it is indicative of the state's rich barbecue tradition in which low and slow is the name of the game.
This messy and delicious sandwich—sometimes referred to as a slushburger—combines seasoned ground beef cooked in a tangy tomato sauce and served on a bun. It became popular in the mid-20th century as an easy and affordable meal—in turn, becoming a hearty Midwestern comfort food staple.
The Polish boy features a snappy kielbasa sausage on a bun, topped with a mound of coleslaw, french fries, and barbecue sauce. This behemoth originated in Cleveland, but as for who created it—that's still up for debate.
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For Oklahomans, this is the ultimate comfort food: a breaded and fried steak patty topped with savory gravy, lettuce, and tomato served on a bun. Variations include toppings such as Swiss cheese and caramelized onions.
This entry highlights Oregon's love of comfort food. The loaded sandwich is made with seasoned fried chicken and served on a fluffy biscuit, often slathered with gravy or topped with honey.
Created in Philadelphia in 1930 by Pat Olivieri, the cheesesteak evolved to become the signature sandwich of the city's food culture. Thinly sliced beefsteak, grilled and topped with melted cheese—Cheez Whiz, provolone, or American—and served on a hoagie with optional sautéed onions and peppers, cements its status as a culinary icon.
Originating from the East Coast, this sandwich showcases golden-fried clams served on a buttered bun with tartar sauce and lemon wedges. The state's clam shacks call to locals and visitors alike with this summer seafood delight.
This sandwich highlights the state's unique Carolina gold barbecue tradition, which originated in the Midlands. Slow-cooked pulled pork is dressed in a tangy, mustard-based barbecue sauce—"gold"—and served on a bun with coleslaw. Thank Germans, who settled in the British colony of South Carolina, for bringing over the mustard that influenced the finger-licking sauce.
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After the Red Cross and USO opened a canteen in Aberdeen, South Dakota, to feed World War II soldiers boarding the train, local farmers brought pheasants to it, resulting in the creation of the pheasant sandwich in 1943. This offering comes together with cooked and chopped pheasant, hard-boiled eggs, onion, celery, pickle relish, and mayo.
This Nashville creation features spicy fried chicken served on white bread with pickles. The sandwich originated with Prince's Hot Chicken Shack—after a revenge plot-turned-happy accident—which ignited the spread of the Southern staple people can't get enough of.
Slow-smoked tender beef brisket sliced and served on a bun with barbecue sauce and pickles highlights Texas' renowned barbecue culture. Variations of the brisket sandwich include different sauces or toppings, including onions and coleslaw.
Adopted by James Katsanevas in Southern California in the 1960s and perfected when he moved to Salt Lake City, the pastrami burger features a beef patty loaded with a pile of pastrami; topped with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and fry sauce; and served on a bun.
The Vermonter sandwich features roasted turkey, sharp cheddar cheese, apple slices, and honey mustard served on hearty—and sometimes grilled—bread. There are countless iterations, including those with maple syrup. All are representative of the state's emphasis on high-quality local ingredients and agricultural heritage.
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This sandwich comes from Virginia's long tradition of curing ham. It features slices of local-cured country ham with variations and fixings that include a biscuit, cheese, and lettuce. The goal is to let the ham shine.
The Vietnamese community's influence on and contributions to Washington's cuisine is most evident with this sandwich. The banh mi features a crusty baguette filled with marinated pork, pickled vegetables, cilantro, jalapeños, and creamy mayonnaise.
The hearty sausage biscuit sandwich—which can be traced back to a stolen idea from 1975 that led to the founding of Tudor's Biscuit World—features a savory sausage patty topped with a slice of cheese or egg and served in a fluffy biscuit. Variations for serving include gravy or bacon, and the result is a big home-cooking hug.
The beloved grilled cheese sandwich celebrates Wisconsin's renowned dairy industry and unmatched variety of delicious cheeses. Various toppings include tomatoes, bacon, and onions.
Wyoming is a top fly-fishing destination, and this sandwich highlights fresh, local trout plucked from its rivers and lakes. The trout filet shines, whether smoked or fried until crispy; it's topped with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce and served on a soft bun.
Story editing by Mike Taylor. Copy editing by Lois Hince.
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