The Sandwiches of Summer: 11 Dallas Sandwiches You Can Order Now

In summer, I think of sandwiches. At home, I spend Saturday lunches putting together sandwiches; at work, I go in search of a good meal between two slices of bread. A good sandwich keeps you from sweating out the summer heat and gives restaurants the opportunity to show off their creativity and skill in a more casual format.

Last summer, I researched a list of 11 great vegetarian sandwiches in the city. This year, I’m following up with 10 non-vegetarian versions. If you’re looking for a vegetarian recommendation, six of last year’s 11 recommendations are still on restaurant menus in the city. (They are: Le Sud at Knox Bistro, the falafel at Bilad Bakery, the vegetarian torta at Las Almas Rotas, three vegetable sandwiches at Goodfriend Package, the tomato and burrata at La Bodega, and sabich at Milk & Honey. The late, great Zac Crain also recommends the vegetarian sandwich at Wriggly Tin.)

As always with our lists, I ordered all of these dishes as a paying customer.

Mortadella sandwiches, Cenzo’s Pizza & Deli, Fond and Pizzeria Carina

Mortadella is the perfect summer delicacy because chefs love using it. At Cenzo’s, it goes big: the focaccia becomes buttered toast and the pesto becomes pistachio butter. (Between the writing and publication of this article, Lauren Drewes Daniels of the Dallas Observer declared this the best sandwich in town. Not an outrageous claim!)

Even heartier is Pizzeria Carina, where the mortadella is served with provolone, a spicy hot chili-garlic sauce, and a handful of arugula. Carina uses the same dough as its pizzas to form puccia, perfectly round, airy Italian bread loaves that make for a take-out sandwich. At Fond, the returning seasonal “morta y pesto” sandwiches the cold cuts between thick chunks of fresh mozzarella, peppery arugula, and a pistachio pesto. It’s a super-light, refreshing sandwich served on focaccia. (It’s not currently on the menu, but will be back soon—or if you’re impatient, maybe politely ask your waiter.) Which of these mortadella options should you try? All three, of course.

Cenzo’s Pizza & Deli, 1700 W. 10^th St.
Fund, 1601 Elm St., Ste. 110
Pizzeria Carina, 6005 Berkshire Ln.

Torta de pierna de puerco adobada, Tacos El Metro

This new taco shop reverses the polarity of the torta. Traditionally, a torta is a big, shaggy mess of meat and spreads, maybe smashed avocado and/or beans. At Tacos El Metro, the sliced ​​pork leg is dwarfed by the tangle of escabeche, which adds acidity, freshness, and a little bit of heat. It’s a huge sandwich and I can only eat half at a time, but the veggies make it seem like a lighter torta rather than a monster in need of a nap.

3720 Walnut Hill Ln., Ste. 117

This is a real sandwich. You can tell because it’s filled with a hash brown, but everything about it is exactly as it should be: the buttered bun, the well-done egg, the jalapeño seasoning. It’s the epitome of a breakfast sandwich. I like it so much that I ate it outside.

1919 Greenville Ave.

Fried Chicken Sandwich, Quarter Acre

Quarter Acre launched a lunch menu of takeout sandwiches earlier this summer. Order online and knock on the front door to pick up your food. If you’re in the area, get the fried chicken salad sandwich. It’s served on focaccia, and the mayonnaise and mustard seasoning are applied gently, rather than thickly. Light, cool, summery chicken is the star. I shared it with a coworker who called it the best chicken salad she’s ever had, so if you don’t trust me, listen to her.

2023 Greenville Ave., Ste. 110

Chicken burger, Japanese Ookuma burger

Crispy breaded chicken, a handful of pickles and a layer of tartar sauce are all this burger needs. As I wrote before, you can’t eat the burger without a mountain of napkins, thanks to the homemade tartar sauce with lots of chopped egg. Miraculously, the fried chicken underneath stays crispy. It’s a creamy summer treat, which is good since you can sit outside (in the shade) here.

1902 S. Botham Jean Blvd.

Turkey Sandwich, Encina

Encina’s brunch burger is getting a lot of attention right now, and its blue corn pancakes are a huge hit. But can I put in a good word for the most boring dish on the brunch menu? There are so many good details in this turkey sandwich. The little bit of avocado, arugula and bell pepper for the intense flavor, bread to complement the rest. Oh, and bacon. Everything about this construction is so right.

614 W. Davis St.

The Brunch-Bazlama, Petra and the Beast

Does a loaf of bread folded in half count as a sandwich? Pizzeria Carina (pictured above) folds pizza dough to make your feast easier to transport, and Petra and the Beast’s brunch also features a bazlama, a cousin of a Middle Eastern flatbread. It’s wrapped around the restaurant’s signature sage breakfast sausage, eggs, arugula, and Thomasville Tomme, a spicy aged cheese made from raw cow’s milk. The result is big enough to share—if you like other people enough.

1901 Abrams Rd.

The sardine sandwich, La Bodega

It’s sardine sandwich season again. Of course! Say hello to Leftovers the cat from me.

208 W. Eighth Street.

Each BLT

Our garden spent most of May and June with gorgeous tomatoes, so we made our BLTs at home, using the harvest from our garden, Duke’s mayo, and the best bacon I could find (which turned out to be from Cooper’s Meat Market). Nothing tastes like summer like a BLT. If you don’t have your own tomato garden, or if the August heat wave hits, grab a BLT from a restaurant that offers fresh heirloom tomatoes.