Cheeseburger
A seared beef patty with American cheese laid on while it is still on the heat, so the slice melts into the crust and seals the meat. What the cheese changes runs through the whole sandwich.
USA
Cheese Coney
A Cincinnati cheese coney finishes with a haystack of finely shredded cheddar over a cinnamon-spiced beanless chili, built in a fixed order on a steamed bun. Born at Empress Chili in 1922.
Carolina Whole Hog Sandwich
Whole hog (every part) slow-smoked over wood coals, chopped and dressed with vinegar-pepper sauce; the purest form of NC BBQ, served on a...
Carolina Slaw Dog
In the Carolinas you say "all the way" and get a fixed four-topping build: chili, mustard, slaw, and onions on a steamed bun. The slaw dog, a regional standard with no single author.
Carolina Pulled Pork
Pulled pork with vinegar or mustard-based sauce.
Carne Asada Fries Torta
Carne asada fries in a torta roll; San Diego hybrid.
Capriotti's Bobbie
Capriotti's Bobbie folds a Thanksgiving dinner into a sub roll: turkey hand-pulled from whole birds roasted overnight, herbed stuffing, cranberry, and mayo. Wilmington, Delaware, since 1976.
Cannibal Sandwich
Raw ground beef on rye with onions and salt; Wisconsin holiday tradition, controversial.
California Fish Taco
San Diego-style fish taco with white sauce.
California Club
Club sandwich with avocado and sometimes sprouts.
California Burrito
Carne asada, cheese, guacamole, and French fries in a flour tortilla; San Diego creation.
Butter Burger
Wisconsin finishes its burger with butter meant to be tasted: Solly's has melted it over patties and stewed onions since 1936, Culver's toasts it into the bun, and state law still sides with the cow.
Burnt Ends Sandwich
The brisket point, cubed and run through the smoker a second time into sticky, bark-heavy meat candy on a bun. Kansas City's most coveted cut, once given away free.
Burger King Whopper
Flame-grilled quarter-pound beef patty with lettuce, tomato, mayo, ketchup, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun; created 1957 in Mia...
Buffalo Chicken Sandwich
A single breaded chicken fillet tossed in Frank's RedHot whisked with butter, the Buffalo wing emulsion, on a soft bun with a swipe of blue cheese dressing. The 1964 Anchor Bar sauce, on bread.
Buffalo Chicken Finger Sub
Fried strips tossed in the cayenne-and-butter emulsion of the Buffalo wing, laid end-to-end down a sub roll with blue cheese on the bread; a Western New York pizzeria specialty.
Brisket Sandwich (Texas)
At a Central Texas barbecue joint, the brisket sandwich is a counter cut made portable: post-oak-smoked beef sliced to order, plain white bread, pickles and raw onion, sauce kept on the table.
Brisket Sandwich (NYC Deli)
The New York deli brisket is cooked in water, not smoke: a wet oniony braise sliced soft onto seeded rye with mustard, the delicatessen's reading of a cut Texas sends through fire.
Brisket on Texas Toast
Central Texas smoked brisket on thick-cut white bread buttered and griddled until rigid: the bread choice that survives where a soft slice would dissolve.
Breakfast Taco
A soft flour tortilla folded around loose scrambled egg, bacon and papas, or chorizo, or bean and cheese, ordered by the dozen at a Texas taqueria before dawn.
Breaded Steak Sandwich
A pounded beef cutlet, breaded, deep-fried, and drowned in marinara on an Italian roll, with giardiniera cutting the richness. Chicago's South Side counter sandwich.
Breaded Pork Tenderloin
A pork loin cutlet pounded to the width of a plate, breaded and fried until it hangs inches past its bun. Indiana's sandwich, eaten from the bare overhang inward.
Bratwurst
The Sheboygan bratwurst is cooked twice, simmered in beer then charred over coals, and laid two to a buttered hard roll. Ordering a single is treated as an error.
Boudin Sandwich
Cajun boudin is a soft link of pork, liver and seasoned rice, squeezed from its casing onto soft white bread in the gas stations and meat markets of Acadiana. The rice-sausage of southwest Louisiana.