Celeb Chefs Reveal Their Favorite Sandwich Shop Orders

Alton Brown's relatability extends to his favorite sandwich shop order. Why? He hasn't been able to pick just one, and let's be honest: There are a lot of great sandwich places out there, including one Tampa, Florida shop that he visited in 2022.

Brown told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Supernatural Food & Wine was where he was served a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich that was, "The best I've had. The best ever." And that's high praise: It's a sandwich that's pretty easy to get very wrong, after all, and Brown seems to be something of a connoisseur when it comes to these all-day delights.

Also in 2022, Brown shared a photo of another breakfast sandwich to his Instagram. This one was from a restaurant in the Ridgewood neighborhood of Queens, and Brown lauded Porcelain as having, "the best sandwich in NYC: the mortadella egg & cheese." Unfortunately, Porcelain announced they were closing in 2023, so anyone hoping to sample Brown's ideal sandwich might have to try to replicate it at home.

When it comes to super-relatable chefs, Amanda Freitag is also on the list. She's had her fair share of culinary disasters, and it's given her a healthy respect not only for the challenges of being a television chef, but a home chef as well. And restaurants? Freitag has been generous when it comes time to hand out the kudos, and when she sat down for a sandwich-centric chat with Bloomberg, there was one in particular that she called "one of my latest obsessions."

The sandwich at the heart of the question came from Court Street Grocers, a Brooklyn-based sandwich shop that's been holding its own in New York's tough sandwich game for more than a decade. Freitag's favorite is the Italian combo, which has all the standard favorites — including mortadella and several kinds of cheese — along with the restaurant's own spread. While she's there, she's also a fan of adding on the olive salad. It's not just good, and she calls it downright addictive.

It's no secret that Andrew Zimmern has eaten some pretty strange stuff — he's built a career on being an adventurous eater. When it comes to his favorite, go-to sandwich order, it's something almost surprisingly mainstream.

Zimmern heads to the world-famous Katz's Deli, where he has joined countless people — native New Yorkers and visitors from around the world — in praising the perfection that's found stacked between two pieces of bread. Zimmern posted a photo of his towering sandwich to Instagram, along with the caption, "They start making it when I walk in the door, half and half, fatty brisket and pastrami. Beefy dreamy stuff," he added, and seriously, if there's ever any photo that you can not only smell but hear and taste, it's this one.

It's not all good news, though. In his Spilled Milk substack, he gave Katz's a shout-out among other favorite delis, and said that during World War II, his father and his uncle had been mailed salami as their from-home comfort food. Still, he noted that delis were struggling in a post-COVID world, so support your local deli! (Bonus fact? Zimmern says that he almost never orders a Reuben, because it's so hit-and-miss.)

Everyone has their favorite foods that remind them of fond childhood memories, whether that's Friday night snack foods or Pop-Tarts any time of the day. It's completely understandable then that Marcus Samuelsson's favorite sandwiches are those that remind him of his childhood in Sweden. Samuelsson has said that gravlax sandwiches are among his favorite, and says that there's nothing that brings up childhood smiles quite like it.

It makes sense that his other favorite sandwiches also come from the sea. In an interview with Forbes, Samuelsson gave Art Mel's Spicy Dicy a shout-out as one of the best places to eat in Bermuda, sharing his go-to: "This is the biggest and best fried fish sandwich I have ever had. And with cheese and coleslaw and a ginger beer, it is perfection."

What about when he's in London? He spoke with Mic about his Red Rooster location in Shoreditch, and said that when he first visited, he found a bagel shop that quickly became a favorite. He cited Beigel Bake's smoked lox and cream cheese sandwiches as his order of choice, saying that the whole place reminded him of the blue-collar fish markets and restaurants of his hometown.

Aarón Sánchez famously grew up in the restaurant business, and his experiences go back a long way and in a big way: He's representing the third generation in his family that's authored cookbooks. That's a wildly impressive set of qualifications, and it also means that when it comes to choosing a favorite of any kind of food, he has a lot of options. In other words? His opinions carry some serious weight, and when it comes to sandwiches, Sánchez has made no secret of the fact that he's voting for a New Orleans staple, the po-boy.

Sánchez was on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" when he took the opportunity to give Mahony's a shout-out, echoing his statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. Specifically, he says it's the oyster and shrimp po-boy that holds a special place in his heart, and with one look at Mahony's trademark sandwiches, it's easy to understand why. Mahony's prides itself on serving up tributes to the old-school sandwiches that have been a New Orleans classic since the 19th century, and they're a must-have even into the 21st.

Ask anyone who's worked in a kitchen, and they'll tell you that it's a unique environment. Pulling back the curtain on that environment is what made Anthony Bourdain a superstar: His "Kitchen Confidential" was an unvarnished look at the culture. Even when he was jetting off to all the corners of the globe, he told Variety that there were still some things that he absolutely found himself craving ... no matter how far from home he traveled, there was always a plan for getting back to New York.

"The first thing I get ... is a pastrami sandwich," he said. "Pastrami Queen is a really good pastrami sandwich — if not the best, among the very best. Just a good, nice mix of fat and lean. It's the real deal, served warm on fresh, sort rye bread with the right kind of mustard. Good pickles ... I get a cream soda. It's a quintessential New York Meal for me."

Bourdain gave Pastrami Queen a shout-out in an AMA Reddit thread, too, and added another choice. He swore by a sandwich from the Ace Hotel that he described as a "crispy thin Sardinian style flat bread smeared with butter, chilis, and Bottarga, which is like salted tuna or mullet eggs. Doesn't sound so good but man it's good, especially with a cold beer."

Will it surprise anyone that Buddy Valastro's favorite sandwich comes from New Jersey? Nope — but it's safe to say that most people will agree that it's an honor that's well-deserved. Valastro gave fans a look at the sandwich on an episode of "All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate," describing the roast beef and mutz from Fiore's as "the most incredible sandwich you can eat." Valastro also shared that he was very close to the deli owners: His family's bakery was next door.

The secret? Fiore's makes their mozzarella — or "mootz" — fresh daily. Add in top-notch roast beef, a few secret ingredients, and then fast-forward to thin-sliced roast beef, creamy cheese, and gravy, all held together by the perfect Italian sub roll.

Valastro isn't the only one to love these sandwiches, either. Food writer Josh Ozersky described the cheese as creating the sensation of "a dead man remembering life," and it even got a shout-out in "30 Rock." When New Yorkers laud a New Jersey deli, you know it's seriously good stuff.

Jeff Mauro posted on Facebook that yes, he has a favorite sandwich: The 2nd Ave Deli's pastrami sandwich. It's simple, straightforward, and according to Mauro, perfect with extra-crispy fries and a Diet Coke.

The Illinois native is also pretty loyal to Chicago, and when the BBC asked him for some recommendations, he clarified just what it was that made Chicago so good at creating what he felt were some of the best sandwiches in the country. Simply put, it was simplicity. That said, who did he name-check?

Mauro said that for Chicago's famous Italian beef, he opted to go right to the Village Tap. That covers traditional, but what about the most unique? For that, it's 3LP's Honey G Chicago Hot Chicken Sandwich, and with a name like that, it really doesn't need an explanation, does it? Perhaps surprisingly, he also has a favorite vegetarian option that's found at Conte Di Savoia. Mauro describes a sandwich that's loaded with made-fresh mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes, which 100% sounds like a sandwich that you don't need to be vegetarian to enjoy.