Introducing Tasty-Ass Sandwiches of the Ivy League: An Eight-Part Investigative Series
Surviving college means surviving, among other things, your diet. You may fancy yourself a high-achieving, independent adult, but chances are you're still eating Easy Mac five nights out of finals week. We wouldn't have it any other way: nutritionally bankrupt, character rich. Freshman roommates bond over illegally boiled ramen; library insomniacs bring each other bacon-egg-and-cheese bagels. Comfort fuel.
We are, you can tell, a little cockeyed about food* -- food, that is, made delicious by circumstance as much as ingredient. Get ready for some enthusiasm: introducing Tasty-Ass Sandwiches of the Ivy League, an occasional series that will rhapsodize about the culinary genre -- stuff between bread -- that feeds us best. Either you understand this feature or you don't. First up: Columbia's Spicy Special.
[Ed.: Thanks is owed Armin Rosen, Columbia '10, for penning an impeccable Spicy tribute last week that gave us an excuse to do this. Go read it after this, it's superior.]
We had our first Spicy at 2 or 3 in the morning on a Wednesday, having been bodily carried halfway to the Crack Deli on 109th Street by an incredulous, evangelical hockey player. No sandwich was as good as he was promising, especially not this meager apportionment of turkey on what had to be two-day-old bread, sold for three dollars and fifty cents at an establishment we knew primarily as a clutch spot for looseys.
But then we peeled the foil back and bit, finding Christ, and/or heroin, in a Baghdad mouthful. (Hot, and explosive.) It was Nov. 11, 2004 and now it was our turn to be incredulous, as we worked our dropped jaw up and down, discovering the immaculate layering of just enough cajun turkey, pepper jack cheese, L, T, and an indeterminate brand of deli mayo in a flattened, toasted hero. It lasted the exact duration of the walk home. It was perfection. Had the owner put the crack in the sandwich?
It's difficult to explain the Spicy Special to the uninitiated. Is it spicy? Yes, a little. Is it special? How dare you. As Armin wrote, a Spicy is a night out at Columbia; sold at the deli right down from upperclass bar 1020, forgoing one at the end of the night just isn't thinkable. Look, all we know is that we tend to get overexcited -- can you tell? -- about things like this, and yet despite our incessant hyping of the Spicy to friends and professors, the sammich still exceeds expectations. Stretches of Amsterdam Avenue can sound like a gonzo after last call, as the sloshed comment unsubtly on their Spicies on the walk home. Once we gave a grown man a bite and he hugged us. Bridging the gulfs between jock and hipster, cokehead and study rat, the Spicy is the undisputed sandwich of Columbia University.
We'll confess, this series is only half-baked; we know of excellent 'wichcraft at Penn, Princeton, Harvard and Yale, but need taste buds on the ground at Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth. If you're a student at the latter set, and you feel us on this, get in touch. Club Sandwich begins now.
*(A couple years ago, half of us made the other go a week without paying for food, subsisting only on club-meeting pizza and dining-dollar benevolence. He gained weight.)
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February 7th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
no one at columbia ever talks about this place. it may be an awesome sandwich, but it’s not really related to the uni.
February 7th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Gourmet Heaven. I invented a sandwich there. Delicious, delicious sandwich.
Bacon, avocado, slightly melted brie cheese, and green apple slices. And butter. It’s delicious.
February 7th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
everyone who’s anyone at columbia talks about the spicy special, and it’s absolutely related to the university. you’ve clearly never been drunk on amsterdam at 3 a.m., which automatically disqualifies you from commenting on the columbia experience.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
“huh,” you are obviously a first year.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
Nothing beats the bacon pizza cheesesteak at Hoagie Haven in Princeton. Get it with the cheese fries. Guaranteed to clog your arteries or your money back. Hoagie Haven truly is an institution at Princeton.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
The Billy Bob from the Hop at Dartmouth.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
I miss Park Street Sub from late 80s early 90s New Haven. Pops died and Moms closed up shop. The Carm Cozza was steak and cheese with grilled onions, mushrooms, and pepperoni. And if you were out really late – a fried egg, steak and cheese.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Cheeseburger sub at Pinocchio’s in Harvard Square
February 7th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
eba’s chicken sandwich yo.
February 7th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
i’m assuming cardullo’s will be making an appearance when you write your harvard installment.
February 7th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Billie Bob my ass! VERMONTER or the Ballentino
February 7th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
If this is purely on campus wiches, then the sourdough garlic cheese at cascadelli. Perfectly greasy and cheesy and tomatoey and bready. And garlicy, of course.
If this extends outside, then ctb (collegetown bagels): the michigan hollow. whole wheat bun, grilled portabello mushroom, melted mozarella, and some strange kind of mayo that’s awesome, though I have no clue what’s even in it.
February 7th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Hoagie Haven has redefined the food pyramid for me: turkey at the bottom, italian and fat ladies (it’s a sandwich, durr) one layer up, and chicken parms near the top.
Clearly, they have the #1 grease to dollar ratio in the Ivy League.
February 7th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Honestly, if you’re going to look for a sandwich at Princeton that you can get at 3am that’s amazing you really have to go to New Brunswick for a Fat sandwich [especially a Fat Bitch]. Besides, New Brunswick bars are better, anyway.
February 7th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
oh man, the number 2 at gourmet heaven is just glory. turkey, honey mustard, thin slices of green apple and melty brie.
also, second but not far behind… the wenzle at Alpha Delta Pizza. buffalo chicken, ranch, L, T, toasty bread and mayo.
glory.
February 7th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Read up on The Hot Truck at Cornell. They invented the French bread pizza back in the 1960’s.
February 7th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
The Sanchez at Hoagie Haven, complete with ‘Sanchez sauce’.
February 7th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
oh excuse me, I didn’t know this place had become the koronet’s of the mona/roadhouse/lion’s head crowd. suffice to say I’m either in morningside proper or downtown, and rarely in the wasteland in between. anyway, the fact this sandwich was recently popularized in an extensive review on bwog says a lot about how intuitively familiar most columbia students are of it.
February 7th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Harvard: Darwin’s is obviously the best sandwich place in Cambridge. Probably in the Boston area. Perhaps in the world. I kid you not. It is Darwin’s I most miss about Cambridge.
Yale: You can’t actually write this story. The best sandwiches were at the Kruger’s (sometimes called the Wawa for obscure reasons) back before 2001. You could get an absolutely enormous salami sandwich with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and mustand (plus whatever else, but that’s what I wanted)–we’re talking a foot long with massive amounts of meats–for $4.23. In the middle of the night. I get nostalgic for sophomore year just thinking about it. And then the bastards at Yale Properties threw them and “replaced” them with GourHeav, at three or four times the price.
February 7th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Having attended both Penn and Princeton and waited in lines at both Koch’s Deli and Hoagie Haven, I can attest that the latter has *nothing* on the former. I nominate Koch’s reuben sandwich, but really, anything from Koch’s will do.
P.S.: Before any other Penn folk make the mistake of nominating anything from Lee’s Hoagie House, let me suggest that they not embarrass themselves and get past 41st street for a change.
February 7th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
clearly the dartmouth sandwich these guys are looking for is the cheeseburger sub from C and A’s. its like an orgasm, it cures hangovers (and cancer), and at a mere 5000 calories, too.
February 7th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Yale:
Louie’s Lunch – Hamburger, technically, but ideal drunk food.
Also, I second both the Gourmet Heaven sandwhiches and the Wenzle from Alpha Delta
Penn:
Whenever I visited my sister, I’d make a special stop at Koch’s Deli. It wasn’t open late, but the sandwhiches are the best I have ever had. Ever! (with a little more added emphasis because they are so good) They’re the only reason that I really want to go back to Philly. I might make it into a day trip sometime.
February 7th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Our sandwich of choice is the Carberry- someone who was studying abroad wrote a tribute to it in the BDH (last semester I think).
February 7th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Our sandwich of choice is the Carberry- someone studying abroad wrote a tribute to it in the BDH (last semester I think).
February 7th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
@Penn 06:
The lack of intelligence that caused you to drop to one of the two state school ivies is obvious from your utter lack of taste when it comes to sandwiches.
February 7th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Third the Wenzel at Alpha Delta. If we can expand our minds to sandwichy things, I second the Louis’ cheeseburger nom, but make it known that my heart belongs to the Yankee Doodle cheeseburger. I have never tasted anything like it, if only because I don’t make a habit of eating that much straight butter. Perhaps I should.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:23 am
I have to concur with Pton ‘09. Hoagie Haven is a superior sandwich joint. I have to say that the Phat Lady or the Heart Stop are the sandwiches of choice.
February 8th, 2007 at 2:13 am
To echo a previous comment, visit Hot Truck at Cornell. No trip to Ithaca is complete without stopping there.
Princeton’s Hoagie Haven is pretty damn good, but Koch’s is the absolute best (too bad most Penn students are unwilling to walk past 42nd Street).
Brown has absolutely nothing. I’ve been there quite a few times, and haven’t found anything approaching any of the ones I mentioned.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:54 am
I admit when I worked in Cambridge for the summer I bought a Darwin’s sandwich at least three times a week. That is, until they boosted the prices to around 7 bucks per sandwich. Isn’t the point of this to talk about sandwiches that students can consistently afford? Oh wait, we’re talking about Harvard here, never mind.
As for Dartmouth, the Billy Bob (steak, eggs, and cheese,) is pure, unadulterated, delicious grease, and reaches levels of supreme excellence when cheddar is substituted for the default American cheese. It’s also technically a wrap, not a sandwich.
Also, special mention should be made of the EBA’s Chicken Sandwich from the pizza place Everything But Anchovies. It’s got the worst pizza in town, and the delivery prices are astronomical, but the place stays in business because it’s got a $6 all-you-can-eat pizza buffet on Mondays and Tuesdays, and delivers until 2 A.M. The aforementioned Chicken Sandwich is pure joy during a late-night study session.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:57 am
^ Yeah, it’s not that impressive, but Dartmouth food is like Dartmouth fashion. It’s practical, comfortable, and warms you up. It doesn’t have to look good.
February 8th, 2007 at 9:29 am
At Dartmouth:
1. The bacon breakfast wrap with cheddar and hop fries
2. The Godfather at Thayer. I’ve ordered two before and thought my heart was going to give out midway through the second. So worth it, though
February 8th, 2007 at 11:25 am
Of the many things I miss about Dartmouth, high on the list is the Homeplate panini bar. The portobella panini, or, if I was really lucky, the turkey rueben…mmmm buttery cheesy bready deliciousness…
February 8th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Koch’s is only good if you enjoy waiting on line for upwards of an hour. I’d honestly rather go to Lee’s because I know I can be in and out in under five minutes, usually.
February 8th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
If you go at the right times, you can be in and out of Koch’s much quicker. I went a couple of months ago during an Eagles game… the place was empty.
Besides, half of the fun of going is the line! Read any article about Koch’s, and they always mention the free samples passed around while waiting on line. I do go to Lee’s more often than Koch’s, just because of the wait, but solely in terms of food, Koch’s is better.
February 8th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
dude what the hell? granted the spicy is great but you cant leave out an institution like HamDel. From the mona lisa burger, the manhattan project, the godfather, the twister, etc there are tons of choices that should be shared with ivy bretheren. This was by all means an egregious ommission.
February 8th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
ummm yeah but the line was only fun when bob koch was alive…
February 8th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
How could no one from penn have mention bui’s. there’s nothing i miss more than a bacon egg and cheese on my way to bio.
February 8th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I agree with Columbian, you cannot leave out the masterpieces at HamDel. People also really like the Lewinsky, but the Mona Lisa is legendary.
February 8th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
Ahh yes, I remember the Kruger sandwich. It was decent but nothing special – its only strong points were cheapness and late-night availability. Then I remember the whiney cry-babies who bemoaned their replacement with Gourmet Heaven. Sure, GH is overpriced and carries more bottles of $10 infused olive oil than potato chips, but their sandwiches are worth it. You can literally take anything from the store, bring it to the counter and have them make a sandwich with it. My favorite: spicy turkey, goat cheese, salt and vinegar potato chips, and green pepper.
Also, I’d like to nominate Mamoun’s falafel sandwich for Yale’s tastiest low-income, late-night option.
February 8th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
hoagie haven is genius, especially the whole bacon omelette sandwich. however, if we are restricting this a discussion of 3am sandwiches, you must include the ‘wa. (or sneaking into a locked eating club kitchen and cooking yourself a grilled cheese. but i digress.) everything went downhill for the 3am wa run after the ‘wa ‘boli disappeared in about winter of 2000.
February 8th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Bui’s is awesome, agreed. What other food trucks are worth nominating? I’m a Hemo’s fan, myself.
February 8th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
buffalo chicken finger sandwich from louie’s truck at 2 am was always a winner. i know a lot of cornell people are die hard for hot truck, but i liked louie’s more; they had a broader menu.
February 8th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Dartmouth has a few key sandwiches:
1) Hop Billy Bob
2) Food Court Joyo – chicken cheesesteak with ranch dressing and buffalo sauce, named after a heroic 01
3) C & As Cheeseburger sub – delivered by campus celebrity Jim
4) Any sandwich from Semolina – gourmet and served by the always delightful Mo
February 8th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Yale: Gourmet Heaven? Bah! If I can interpret “sandwich” broadly, the burrito cart needs to be mentioned. Those things are addictive.
Columbia: Hamilton Deli. Hands down.
February 8th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Park St Sub closed? That is horrible news to this old (well, 40) Yalie. I had the cheeseburger sub at least once a week for four years. My triple-bypass is scheduled for my next birthday …
February 8th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
The Maven at Louie’s Lunch at Cornell is awesome. It’s a popular off-the-menu item consisting of a buffalo wing sub with BBQ sauce. Mmm. Tasty.
Depending on how we define sandwich, Anna’s Taqueria in Cambridge on Porter Square is probably one of the best cheap bites in the area.
February 8th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
After Columbia Hot Bagles shut down the neighborhood was never the same—nothing like an egg and cheese at 4 am
February 8th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
egg ‘n’ cheese all the way.
and the ham del Stallone!
has this spicy special been there all along?
February 8th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
@princeton02, you are correct. Nothing holds a candle to the ‘Wa Boli, the greatest sandwich of all time. If you woke up next to one on a Sunday, you knew your night had been a good one.
February 8th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Penn has an embarassment of riches when it comes to sandwiches.
-Koch’s
-Bui’s
-Hemo’s
All wreak complete and utter pwnage on any other Ivy outfit that dares to savage the name of sandwich.
And when you’re hungry at 4am on a Monday (3am? please, you amateurs), a sandwich always awaits you at the 24/7 Wawa…both of them that is.
February 9th, 2007 at 9:45 am
EBA’s chicken sandwich and the Hop fries are enduring icons of the Dartmouth experience…
February 9th, 2007 at 10:22 am
What happened to the roast beef mexicali at Columbia’s 212? Damn that was some good, nasty greasified sandwich.
February 9th, 2007 at 10:24 am
Best sandwich in New Haven: the Tempesto at Book Trader. Pesto, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and delicious balsamic vinaigrette, all on very high-quality ciabatta. I’d get one after photo class in the Green building at least once a week. Probably the reason I gained 10 pounds in college. Honorable mention: Louis Lunch burgers. Does a Whimsel count as a sandwich? (Joking.)
February 9th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Louie’s Lunch in New Haven sucks. The proprietors are rude and treat students like nuisance. The only reason they’re still in existence is the whole “inventor of the hamburger” crap. Their sandwich is not that great. Bloody ground beef on toasts.
There is no great sandwich place in New Haven. We have good pizzas and sea food if you have a car and are willing to branch out beyond New Haven.
February 9th, 2007 at 11:08 am
I would WALK to philly right now just for one sweet bite of bui’s. What really makes the egg and cheese is the Sriracha. Brilliant.
February 9th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Johnny Utah’s post with its dismissive attitude about New Haven demonstrates just why Louie’s Lunch treats students like they’re nuisances.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
The Hot Truck at Cornell gets my vote, in part because it was an actual truck. The greatest testament to the quality of the sandwiches was the fact that people would sit outside in the Ithaca cold for up to an hour waiting for their sandwich. I was, myself, a fan of the double PMP hot and heavy G&G.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
I miss Hot Truck- haven’t had my WGC fix in a while. I always wondered if anyone was ever brave enough to go for the WTF?
February 9th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Best Yale Sandwiches
Wenzel
Whatever the Gourmet Heaven sandwich with the honey mustard and chicken was
Yorkside chicken parm
And the GASTRONOMIQUE burger… Better than Louie’s or the Doodle
February 9th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Harvard: Pinocchio’s steak and cheese w/the works. It’s the winner hands down.
February 9th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Yale- 3. Wenzel- Alpha Delta
2. #2- Gourmet Heaven
1. Steak Bomb- Aladdin Crown
February 9th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I’ve gotten the WTF . . . and eaten it for the next three meals. That thing was a beast.
February 9th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
I’ve had a WTF. It basically was all the meat in the truck thrown onto a sandwich. I also remember that it was ungodly expensive for a sandwich.
February 9th, 2007 at 8:59 pm
we have no good delis/sandwich places here. it sucks.
February 9th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Yeah. All I can think of is Cuban Revolution, and that’s downtown, 15 minutes from campus by foot. Its sandwiches are amazing, though.
February 9th, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Cornell: All posts are overlooking Shortstop. Open 24/7 and great sandwiches.
Harvard: Charlie’s Kitchen Lobster Roll & cheap beer. Can’t beat it.
February 10th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Best sandwich at Yale in my book is the pepperoni grinder at Yorkside. If you still have undergraduate arteries and can take it, that is.
Tasty bread, a thick layer of sliced pepperoni, and melted mozzarella, toasted in the pizza oven and topped with shredded lettuce. Greasy but great, and even better with an order of Yorkside fries. If only I could still eat like that…
February 10th, 2007 at 11:45 am
thats not true. i think geoff’s is pretty fantastic
February 10th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
BR&C: Isn’t there some connection between ShortStop and hot truck? Both killer sandwiches, granted, but I think one owns the other, or something like that.
I’m still all about the Hot Sausage Parm loaded with hotsauce at Louie’s Lunch, though.
February 11th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Columbia
best sandiwich shop- HamDel, so many to choose from, Stallone, lewinsky, etc.
best sandwich- hands down, it’s the spicy specialf from 109
February 14th, 2007 at 12:28 am
Yeah but the spicy special is only edible if you’re completely trashed. Otherwise it’s horrifying.
February 15th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Another vote for Hot Truck here. My favorite is a TMBC, but anything from the Hot Truck will do as the Cornell Sandwich. Given Cornell’s reputation, you’d have to think they’d go with a Sui.
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:26 am
C&A’s cheeseburger sub WITH EGG!! is a repulsively delectable treat, esp morning after. Ranch Chix or the Joyo rule the FoodCourt, and EBA’s licks my dingleberries. chix sammich is ok, the morning mo’muff is actually not bad. for some reason people got orgasmic about their bread stix, i dont get it. Bagel Basement became my preferred morning stop- everything bagel toasted, melty brie, tomato, special hummus, smoked tky. naize. crunchueezy, smelty
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:29 am
what’s with the acronyms at the hot truck, do they stand for something? TMBC, WGC, WTF
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:33 am
The HamDel Balboa (tky and ham?, swiss) was my staple, but not very “cool” in the NYC sense, b/c its not like on some obscure cross street with an unmarked entrance.
February 22nd, 2007 at 1:18 am
CUnoob, yes they do.
WGC – WetGarlicwithCheese
WTF – WhatTheFuck (aka the sandwich makers put whatever they feel like on your order)
TMBG – TripleMBC and an MBC is a MeatBallwithCheese
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=499628&lastnode_id=0
May 19th, 2007 at 7:10 am
I confirm that the spicy special is really fucking awesome! I flew in just for this sub (all right, not really), and I certainly don’t regret it.
June 4th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
um, in Ithaca there is one place worth buying sandwiches and that is Short Stop, but i suppose if you don’t work for the Sun or have a down-town fetish, that’s irrelevent… i’d say CTB if ur willing to shell out the dough…
January 16th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Gourmet Heaven is pure hell. The food is horrible. It reminds me of a Billy Bob from the Hop at Dartmouth that is 8 days old and two kids have just played football with and then poured bad stuff all over. By bad stuff, I mean stuff from Gourmet Heaven.