There’s no more perfect meal than the sandwich.
Forget its English roots: the sandwich is as American as apple pie, baseball and gerrymandering.
Best enjoyed outside (fingers crossed) with a tall, cool beverage of your choosing.
And so we present the expertly curated, highly subjective InsideHook SF Book of Sandwich, Vol. 4, cataloguing all the best sandwiches in one local neighborhood (well, and two adjacent ones, in this case).
Today: the Marina and Cow Hollow.
Do you see a sandwich involving three different kinds of vegetables and reflexively sneer? You’re at the right place. There’s plenty of both artistry and meat in the nearly four dozen options here, which range from the Manwich (roast beef, pastrami, salami and cheese) to the My Cousin Vinnie, with meatballs, provolone, and … meat sauce.
As close as we’re going to get in town to a storied sandwich shop, Lucca’s has been positioning meat between bread since 1929. If you’re not going for the Italian, well, think twice (there’s a reason it’s subtitled “The #1”). If you insist, we recommend the hot sausage and provolone, just like nonna used to make.
No son of Philly believes a proper cheesesteak can originate outside a 30-block radius of the spot where William Penn landed upon the banks of the Delaware River. This is fact. That said, if you’ve got to have a cheesesteak, and it can’t come from 1237 E. Passyunk Avenue … well, you do what you have to. Seriously: these are fine, even if they’re not Pat’s.
A neighborhood institution, Marina Sub offers a next-level sandwich with crusty bread that’ll make you weep. Just get the turkey and avo; it’ll be perfect, it’ll be prepared with care and finesse, and even if you order a small, you’ll likely have enough for two meals.
Temperamentally opposed to the more sub-centric options here, Blue Barn offers a slightly more refined take on the sandwich. Our choice: the Truffle, with peppered turkey breast, brie d’affinois and the titular spread, which involves truffle-infused garlic aioli. If we’re honest, we’re also fans of the Buffalo Blue, even if we’re not convinced that buffalo-sauced chicken belongs between bread.
Marina Sub photo via
Join America's Fastest Growing Spirits Newsletter THE SPILL. Unlock all the reviews, recipes and revelry — and get 15% off award-winning La Tierra de Acre Mezcal.
