Bakesale Betty - Oakland, CA

Chicken Sandwich

Why I went to Bakesale Betty:  My friend Hermine and SFGate article

The Good:
Chicken Sandwich built this place - great bread and spicy, jalapeno cole slaw.  Behind the counter is basically an assembly line for the sandwich

The Bad:
Limited lunchtime hours
The lunchtime line outside gets long, really long
No parking lot so good luck finding meters or spots in residential Oakland where the block never ends
Very limited seating

The Options:
Stick with the sandwich cuz that's pretty much all they have in terms of real food
Good selection of baked sweets

Shout Out:
My friend Maki from Japan who I dined with

Primanti Bros - Moon Township, PIttsburgh, PA

PIttsburger - cheese steak #2 best seller

Corned Beef

Lunch Slice - $1.50 with a sandwich

Why I went to Primanti Bros (though I hit up a suburban location and not the original):  It's mentioned everytime Pittsburgh food is mentioned and appeared in She's Out of My League

The Good:
The cole slaw makes the sandwich along with the bread.  Great sports bar atmosphere!  $1.50 slice of cheese pizza at lunch

The Bad:
The Pittsburger cheesesteak mystery meat patty comes straight from a pre-Jamie Oliver thrashed school cafeteria.

The Options:
Lots of options for meats to choose from and a single or a double (single should be plenty).  Had the corned beef which is the original and the aforementioned Pittsburger.  If you're in Chicago, hit up Lucky's for a comparable sandwich.

Shout Out:
The Popovich family, Mario Lemieux, Kirk, Stainer, Molly

Red Mill Burgers - Seattle, WA

Bacon Deluxe with Cheese, Onion Rings, Cherry Milkshake

Bunk Sandwiches - Portland, OR

Pulled Pork 

Top Pot Doughnuts - Seattle, WA

Old Fashioned

Serious Pie - Seattle, WA

Happy Hour 

The Salt Lick BBQ - (near Austin, TX)

Horace and Dickies - Washington, D.C.

Fish Sandwich

Don't go to Horace and Dickies!  As good as the fish sandwich looks on Man vs Food,  in reality it was a huge disappointment and waste of time and energy to trek 25 minutes from the Union Station Metro Station.  My fish sandwich consisted of four fish fillets on top of two pieces of white bread.  The fish sandwich in the Man vs. Food segment included cole slaw on top of the fish and two more slices of bread to truly complete the sandwich.  "Did they even have cole slaw as a side order?"  Nope - they ran out.   Plus, the fish was boney and tough to bite into without tasting skin and the crap portion of the fillet.  I now know why it's so cheap for that much fish.  It's probably the poorest quality fish you'll ever eat - very little meat and alot of crap fried up to look tasty from afar.  

Jim's Steaks - Philadelphia, PA

With Wiz and Grilled Onions

Famous Halal Cart - 53rd St. & 6th Ave. in NYC

Combo Plate with White Sauce - only $6

before the sauce

New York City has a ton of carts/stands on just about every other street corner in Manhattan selling anything from boiled hot dogs, pretzels, mystery meat on a stick, and (my favorite) candied nuts/cashews/almonds.  For a quick and cheap (by NY standards) meal, the carts are definitely the spots, especially if you like minced chicken & gyro meat, rice, flatbread, and salad, the supposed best spot is the Famous Halal Cart on 53rd St. and 6th Ave.  According to my friend Anthony, it's all about the white sauce - a thick, rich layer of goodness that perfectly complements the meat and rice.  It's a little like tahini but not quite as yogurty nor is it like Zankou Chicken (in LA) garlic sauce.  If you like spicy, also add the red sauce on top.  Anthony says the line can get long at peak times (lunch, dinner, after the bars close at night) so go across the street if it gets too crowded.

Ben's Chili Bowl - Washington, D.C.

Half Smoke

Dinic's at Reading Terminal Market - Philadelphia, PA

Roast Pork Sandwich with Greens

Earl of Sandwich may proclaim itself has having the "World's Greatest Hot Sandwich" (maybe for the greatest sandwiches all priced at $5.99 on the menu) but I proclaim the Dinic's Roast Pork Sandwich with Greens as my favorite sandwich of all time (at least in recent tastebud-ian memory).  As profiled on Travel Channel's Man vs. Food, the meat is drenched in heavenly au jus before being gently placed on a roll with a sturdy crust that resists oversaturation from the au jus.  Plus, the greens made me feel better about at least eating some veggies.