Not all sandwiches are created equal. Arguments about hot dogs aside, there’s a lot that can happen between two pieces of bread (or two slices of pickles), and some variations are predictably more popular than others. From lunchroom classics like PB&J and turkey to more niche choices like Cubans and Muffulettas, a recent YouGov survey outlined which sandwiches are American favorites, and which ones are duds.
Unsurprisingly, grilled cheese nailed the top slot, with 79 percent of respondents reporting they either “like” or “somewhat like” the classic comfort food staple. The sandwich was even more popular among Southern respondents, who reported an 82 percent likability rating.
Close seconds were the grilled chicken and turkey sandwiches, which tied for second place with a 75 percent approval rating. Fellow cold cuts classics roast beef and ham followed, and the BLT added a sixth sandwich to the top five by tying with ham for a 69 percent likability rating. Somehow, the tuna sandwich, AKA office enemy number one, managed to crack the top 10, leaving its divisive cousin egg salad just behind. Other top 10 picks included elementary school favorite PB&J, the club sandwich and a pulled pork sandwich.
This sandwich-positive energy is all well and good, but it hardly tells the whole story. Bored of the sandwich-half-full mentality, FlowingData decided to mine YouGov’s sunny results for the country’s least-liked sandwich. As it turns out, the black sheep of the sandwich family isn’t the smelly tuna or the mayo-drenched egg salad, but rather the seemingly unobtrusive cheese and tomato sandwich. While FlowingData’s Nathan Yau surmises that the sandwich is “probably not liked because of unnecessary naming,” this widespread disdain remains puzzling considering the nation’s favorite sandwich is essentially a cheese and tomato sandwich minus the tomato.
A quick Google search confirms that the cheese and tomato sandwich is in fact exactly what it sounds like — “a tomato sandwich of cheese and tomatoes between slices of bread,” according to Wikipedia. Apparently, the sandwich is even “often served grilled,” which means all it takes to go from the country’s favorite sandwich to the ugly duckling of the group is a slice of tomato. A true testament to the caprice of man and the fragility of status, the cheese and tomato sandwich is a grilled cheese that flew too close to the sun. Having tasted the thrill of popularity and adoration, the cheese sandwich tried to push its luck just a little further, to fly higher on the wings of a tomato, only to end up a cautionary tale of the perils of ambition. How quickly the mighty fall.
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