The 5 Best New Sandwich Shops in the United States

We’re living in a golden age of sandwiches. At a new wave of shops and delis opening across the country, chefs are using high-quality and seasonal ingredients to build wildly creative and deeply delicious spins on the classics. Here are five buzzy shops that are changing the lunch landscape.

Troubadour (Healdsburg, California)

Troubadour is constantly shapeshifting. At dinner, it’s a French-California bistro with a seven-course tasting menu. In the morning, it’s a bustling café with coffee and breakfast pastries, and during the day, the pastries are traded out for stacks of grab-and-go sandwiches made by chefs and co-owners Melissa and Sean McGaughey.

You can’t go wrong with thier chicken salad sandwich with pumpkin seed dukka or simple jambon au beurre, but our favorite is the sumac-roasted carrot sandwich, with pesto, ricotta, and pickled onions. All of Troubadour’s sandwiches are served on long-fermented sourdough bread, made in-house. 

Knuckle Sandwich (Austin)

Founded by Ryan Fox and Gilbert St. Peter, two chefs with fine-dining pedigrees, Knuckle Sandwich probably has the most technique-driven sandwiches ever to be served out of a trailer. The two Austin locations — one at Ants Beer Cave and another at The Far Out Lounge — offer a tight menu of only four sandwiches.

There’s the eponymous Knuckle Sandwich, stacked with Olympia Provisions mortadella, salami, and capicola, plus za’atar vinaigrette and amba aioli, but the Mushroom “Reuben” is also a standout, with pastrami-spiced smoked lion’s mane mushrooms, Swiss cheese, “quick kraut,” and a charred Thousand Island dressing. It’s rich, tangy, and meaty — just without the meat.

Marty’s Deli (Minneapolis)

On a charming corner in Northeast Minneapolis, you’ll find a line out the door of Marty’s Deli. Created by owner Martha “Marty” Polacek, the menu at this cheerful sandwich shop is inspired by the old-school Italian delis of Brooklyn.

Everything is served on housemade focaccia, including the egg and cheese sandwich with scrambled eggs, sharp American cheese, and garlic aioli. Be sure to try it with one (or more) of Marty’s optional add-ons — a crispy hash brown, thick-cut bacon, or braised greens. For lunch, there’s the Uncle Pete, a BLT with both fresh tomatoes and pickled green tomatoes, and the Seward, a vegetarian sandwich with whipped feta, curry-pickled beets, roasted cauliflower, fennel pesto, and arugula.

Ramona’s Sandwiches (Portland, Maine)

Ramona’s owner Josh Sobel (a Philly native) transports you 400 miles south to the hoagie motherland with Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer, vintage Phillies posters, and sandwiches that channel the City of Brotherly Love.

His classic Italian combo feels like the Platonic ideal — harmonious layers of salami, mortadella, capicola, and provolone, brought to life with olive salad and a punchy, herb-packed hoagie dressing. Get there before noon for the breakfast hoagie, where fluffy eggs are combined with Italian ingredients like salami, roasted red peppers, provolone, arugula, and pepperoncini mayo. These hoagies are made complete with chewy sesame rolls sourced from Little Spruce Baking Co. in Biddeford, Maine.

Francolini’s (New Orleans)

In a city full of po’boys and muffulettas, Tara Francolini felt like something was missing. So in 2023, she opened Francolini’s, an homage to the Italian delis she grew up frequenting in New Jersey. While you can get classics like chicken parm subs, most of the sandwiches combine Italian American ingredients in entirely unique ways, all served on rolls from Ralph Brennan Bakery or housemade focaccia.

Take the Gandolfini, an Italian-inspired muffuletta, loaded with hot soppressata, fresh mozzarella, arugula dressed with hot Calabrian chile vinaigrette, and spicy olive salad. The tagline at Francolini’s is “Not everything from Jersey sucks,” but you don’t need to brave the Jersey Turnpike to find out for yourself. Just Tchoupitoulas Street.