It takes a massive jaw and a serious appetite to conquer a cemita Poblana, a beast of a sandwich constructed on a plush sesame roll jam-packed with ripe avocados, panela cheese, Oaxacan string cheese, salsa, onions, and meat. While the beef milanesa, a thinly pounded and deep-fried hunk of carne, is the most traditional filling, there’s also house-made queso de puerco (pork head cheese), pata de res (pickled beef tendons), and even salmon. Get the one filled with cecina, a kind of beef jerky that the shop’s proprietor Adolfo Huerta makes in-house. 

Eagle Rock Italian Bakery & Deli opened in 1949, and diners can still find the shop’s massive counter dedicated to dessert and pastry. The classic Italian market also turns out some of the best sandwiches, including a fantastic Italian combo made on crusty bread. Customization options abound — pros know they can double the meat and add muffuletta-esque olive spread to any order.

Maciel’s Plant-Based Butcher & Deli is the vegan sandwich shop LA didn’t know it needed. But now that the city has gotten a taste of Maciel Bañales Luna’s incredible creations, there’s no turning back. While all of the sandwiches stuffed with scratch-made proteins are hearty and flavorful, it’s the jackfruit-filled Flores that never fails to satisfy. Imbued with Mexican chiles, tomatoes, spices, and a little maple syrup, the jackfruit’s smoky and spicy profile is not-to-be-missed.

Jeff’s Table has been serving up sandwiches, salads, and soups inside Flask liquor store in Highland Park for a few years now, and the Kold Kim Cheezy is the boldest one. With thin slices of smoked pork shoulder ham accompanied by house-made kimchi, melted cheese, salted plum mustard, aioli, and chili oil on a butter-griddled roll, it’s highly shareable. So is the bag of Irvin’s salted egg potato chips one should get to go with it.

Open since 1991, Highland Park’s Delicias prepares Mexican bakery classics while evolving with the times. In addition to preparing vegan pan dulce, the Highland Park bakery also serves an open-faced plant-based mollete sandwich layered with beans, vegan cheese, and soyrizo.

Don’t be fooled into thinking Eszett’s mushroom French dip sandwich is a substitute for the meaty version: It’s something that belongs in its own category. The umami-packed vegan dish is a sliced crusty baguette coated with a garlic spread and stuffed with confit mushrooms. It comes together with a wonderful mélange of toppings, like caramelized onions, roasted cabbage, and diced green onions, plus a special burnt leek au jus perfect for multiple dippings.

Chef Eric Park’s sandwiches pull influences from New York City, Korea, and Southern California — and his chopped cheese is a love letter to an NYC classic, piling chopped beef patty, American cheese, grilled onions and jalapenos, shredded lettuce, tomato, ketchup, and mayo on a pressed hero roll. Former New Yorkers, beware: This sandwich might come with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

Katsu Sando opened in 2021 with long lines and a rabid fanbase that first learned to love the Japanese convenience store sandwiches from Daniel Son at Smorgasburg. But since opening a permanent location in Chinatown, Son has unleashed his most creative sandwich, a honey walnut shrimp sando with house-made milk bread with just the right balance of plump, crisp shrimp built into a makeshift patty, then topped with crunchy honey-glazed walnuts.

The purported inventor of the French dip more than a century ago, Philippe the Original makes everything feel like time hasn’t passed, with sawdust floors, old-timer servers who prepare sandwiches to order, and coffee that’s payable in pennies. The beef double-dip is what aficionados get, with a heavy dose of salty jus and tender slices of roast beef with a few dabs of the famous spicy mustard to round it out. Others opt for a similar version with sliced lamb.

An easy choice for the most popular pastrami sandwich at this historic deli in Westlake, just west of Downtown. This near-perfect Jewish deli sandwich features house-baked rye bread, Russian dressing, cheese, coleslaw, and freshly sliced slivers of the most achingly perfect smoked pastrami on earth.

Pandemic pop-up darling Carla Cafe is now offering takeout and delivery through Santa Monica’s shared Colony Kitchen. The tuna chop is an explosion of flavors and textures, with the punch of a chopped salad (here, lightly dressed shredded lettuce, chickpeas, pepperoncini, tomatoes, and avocado) piled atop a well-seasoned mayo-based tuna salad flecked with little bits of red onion, all on a yellow mustard-dressed ciabatta roll.

A really good (read: not boring) turkey sandwich is a feat — and at Monroe Place in Culver City, Sara Fakhfouri jazzes up herbed turkey with a fiery serrano-cilantro spread, a fresh chopped tomato and cumber salad, and high-quality feta on Bub and Grandma’s focaccia. The shop’s website promises “sandwiches with a lil’ twist,” and Fakhfouri’s twists are rather tasty.

Fast-food-style fried fish sandwiches abound in Los Angeles, but Kat Turner’s Fish (Don’t Have) Fingers sandwich elevates the seafood sandwich to an art. She layers nuggets of tempura-fried fish “of the moment” with kosho-spiked tartar sauce and a bright cabbage slaw tossed with a punchy yuzu dressing. The fish can also be ordered roasted, but the crispity crunchiness of the fried version is supremely satisfying.

Juicy, soft tomatoes slow-cooked in olive oil to bring out their natural sweetness placed on Gjusta’s perfect, crispy baguette. That’s it. That’s the sandwich. While its beauty lies in its absolute simplicity and the quality of the ingredients, adding creamy burrata is never a bad idea.

Head to Inglewood for a taste of the Big Easy here in the City of Angels. Order any of the po’ boys at Sami Othman’s neighborhood spot, including ones stuffed to maximum capacity with shrimp, oysters, and catfish, and whisk taste buds away to Bourbon Street.

While the turkey club at Cultured Slice isn’t reinventing the wheel, it gives the sandwich a much better name than the ones served at sad business lunches and at, well, the private clubs where it originated. Owner Solange Comer is all about proper proportions, and that’s on full display in this dead-simple sandwich made with great ingredients: thin-sliced turkey, crisp bacon, a juicy sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, cheddar, and mayo on really good white bread.

People flock to this Long Beach standby for its New York-ish pizzas, but the sandwiches are the menu’s sleeper hits. Case in point: the meatball sub, featuring 50/50 beef and pork meatballs nestled in a sub roll, bathed in crushed tomato, and topped with a chewy layer of melty mozz. Get ready for a serious cheese-pull moment when biting into this meaty beauty.