Perhaps nowhere is San Francisco’s history as a cultural melting pot better expressed than on its sandwich boards. At delis, food trucks, and mom-and-pop(up) shops around town, artisan craftsmen constantly reinvent the notion of the hand-held lunch, stacking flavors and ingredients from India to Italy, Korea to Kansas between slices (or hunks or slabs or pillowy pockets) of bread. Eat your way through our list of stellar sandwiches, then walk it off on a cool city tour or shopping trek.
Best sandwiches in San Francisco
Snout-to-tail cooking is the mantra of The Whole Beast, which offers an eclectic global menu of meats cooked on open flame, oven or Hawaiian imu pit. Up until recently, you had to go to an Off the Grid food truck gathering to try their transcendent beef brisket, Wagyu roast beef, lamb gyro or pulled pork sandwiches. Happily, two quasi-permanent (semi-temporary?) outlets have opened, where you can sit and savor John Fink’s epic smokehouse creations: The Hall, a pop-up marketplace in the up-and-coming mid-Market area, and The Yard, a restaurant village created from recycled shipping containers that opened in the lot next to AT&T Park. All meats are smoked on-site and sandwiches are served on fresh Acme rolls. Available at Picnic at the Presidio, Sun 11am–4pm; The Hall, Mon–Sat 11am–8pm, 1028 Market St between 6th and 7th Sts, thehallsf.com; and The Yard, Daily noon–8pm, 3rd St and Terry A. Francois Blvd, theyardsf.com.
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