Lomi Lomi Salmon Sandwich
Lomi lomi salmon (cured salmon with tomatoes and onions) on bread.
Andrew Lekashman
Lobster Grinder
Picked lobster bound in mayonnaise or warmed in butter, packed into a foot-long sub roll over iceberg and tomato; the southern New England Italian-sub reading of lobster.
Livermush Sandwich
Fried livermush (pork liver and cornmeal) on bread; Shelby, NC specialty.
Lexington BBQ Sandwich
Pork shoulder smoked over oak, chopped, doused in the thin vinegar-and-ketchup "dip," and capped with red slaw dressed the same way. The Piedmont North Carolina build, and its one-ingredient line.
Korean-American Fried Chicken Sandwich
A double-fried boneless fillet brushed in gochujang or soy-garlic glaze, on a soft bun with kimchi slaw and pickled daikon. Bonchon's 2006 New Jersey arrival, on bread.
Knish
Not a sandwich, but potato or meat filling in dough; sometimes split and filled.
King Crab Sandwich
Whole red king crab leg meat on a roll, barely dressed in butter, built around an animal too costly to shred. Bering Sea legs from a fishery that peaked in 1980 and now runs on a strict quota.
Kentucky Burgoo Sandwich
A Kentucky communal stew cooked so thick a spoon stands in it, ladled open-faced over bread or cornbread. Burgoo is a kettle tradition first, a sandwich second.
Kansas City Reuben Dog
Hot dog topped with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing; KC's Reuben-inspired hot dog.
Kansas City BBQ Sandwich
Kansas City puts the sauce in front: burnt ends or chopped pork on a plain bun under a thick, sweet tomato-and-molasses glaze that clings rather than cuts. The most sauce-forward barbecue city.
Kalua Pork Sandwich
Kalua pork is the leftover of an underground pit oven where shoulder cooks under banana leaves and hot stones for hours. When it ends up on a sweet roll, the bread is the smallest decision.
Juicy Lucy
Minneapolis stuffed burger: a slug of American cheese sealed inside two ground-beef patties so it melts molten and bursts when the crust is cut.
Jucy Lucy
The bartender slides it over and tells you to wait. Cheese sealed between two raw patties, now a molten pocket holding more heat than any slice on top. That one relocation is the whole burger.
Jimmy John's #9 Italian Night Club
Genoa salami, capocollo, and smoked ham shingled with provolone on a soft French roll, dressed cold and built in under a minute for delivery, the #9 from Jimmy John's.
Jibarito
The plantain is fried twice, and the second fry is the one that makes a sandwich possible: two green planks set rigid enough to carry hot steak and garlic mayo, no bread anywhere.
Jianbing
A thin mung-bean crepe poured and egg-bonded on a hot griddle, sweet bean sauce and a fried cracker folded in before the whole thing is handed over still steaming.
Jersey Shore Italian Sub
A two-foot Italian roll dressed in oil and vinegar, wrapped for the sand. On the Jersey Shore it is a sub, not a hoagie, and the famous counters trace back to White House in Atlantic City.
Jersey Mike's Original Italian
Six cured meats shingled to order and dressed "Mike's Way" with the vinegar and oil applied last over the top, the #13 Original Italian from Jersey Mike's.
Jersey Breakfast Sandwich
The New Jersey breakfast sandwich is pork roll, egg, and cheese on a hard roll, and the order names you: Taylor ham in the north, pork roll in the south, the same disc on the griddle.
Japanese-American Katsu Sando
Panko-breaded pork or chicken cutlet (tonkatsu) with shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce between crustless Japanese milk bread (shokupan)...
IT'S-IT Ice Cream Sandwich
Oatmeal cookies with ice cream, dipped in chocolate; SF classic since 1928.
Italian Sub/Hero/Hoagie
The generic Italian sub the US Northeast calls a hero in New York, a hoagie in Philadelphia, a grinder in New England, a wedge in the Hudson Valley, and a zep on the Schuylkill.
Italian Sandwich
A Maine Italian is ham, American cheese, green pepper, onion, tomato, sour pickle, black olives, and oil on a soft roll that folds shut. Traced to Amato's of Portland, dockside, 1902.
Italian Hot Dog
Hot dogs (often two) fried in a 'pizza bread' (round Italian bread) with potatoes, peppers, and onions.