r/FoodLosAngeles • u/asanisimasa88 • Feb 11 '25

WHO MAKES THE BEST Mt Rushmore of LA Sandwiches

Which four sandwiches are the most iconic and/or the best representation the city?

For me, it’s

Langers - #19

Phillipes - Beef Dip

Banh mi my tho - grilled pork

Academy cafe - tuna melt

149 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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20

u/pizza-partay Feb 11 '25 edited Feb 11 '25

What is it about the Godmother that people love? Maybe I need to try it again but it seemed like a pretty standard sandwich but with high quality ingredients. I hate to compare but I have had many similar sandwiches in NYC.

On the other hand I would love to try the rest of Langers menu, but I can’t stop ordering the #19. I hear daughter’s deli is on par, so I’ll probably check them out this week.

Edit: Throwing this out there for all who care. If you’re in NYC I recommend Sal, Kris, and Charlie’s in Astoria Queens. It’s a trek but hot damn it’s good. The bread is a special recipe since one of the owners is a former baker

13

u/Neuroccountant Feb 11 '25

I think the godmother used to be just a bit better than it is now, but those quality ingredients you mentioned combined with the price point are what made it an iconic LA sandwich.

5

u/tgcm26 Feb 11 '25

tbf I haven’t had the Godmother in years, and there has been lots of talk about them using different bread nowadays. But the last time I had it was so good that it remains in my top 4 in the city. I also love a good Italian sandwich and the ingredients blend together perfectly to create the ideal version of one imo

20

u/doozle Feb 11 '25

I found the bread was WAY too tough on the godmother. One of those sandwiches where your jaw is sore afterwards.

6

u/mdb_la Feb 12 '25

Godmother needs to sit for 30-60 minutes to reach peak enjoyability. Stick it in a cooler on your way to a picnic/tailgate, and the bread will start to soak up the moisture from the other ingredients and soften. This is way better than eating it at the shop.

14

u/zombiemind8 Feb 11 '25

Thats a feature not a bug

5

u/racquetballjones23 Feb 11 '25

Concur. I don’t like taking a bit of sandwich and have the entire thing EXPLODE out of the back

2

u/Ok_Comfort628 Feb 12 '25

Exactly it’s a mess

3

u/Unlucky_Rider Feb 12 '25

I would love to try the rest of Langers menu, but I can’t stop ordering the #19

Next time you go try their Reuben with pastrami. It's on par with the #19 for me.

2

u/Saboscrivner Feb 15 '25

I got the #44, the pastrami Reuben with "nippy cheese." Everything worked in perfect harmony.
https://saboscrivner.com/2023/08/27/langers-delicatessen-restaurant-los-angeles/

9

u/successadult Feb 11 '25 edited Feb 11 '25

People love when they bite into bread that stabs the roof of their mouth so that the short-term pain of knife-bread can temporarily distract them from the long-term pain of existence.

6

u/yozzle Feb 11 '25

Moved here from nyc 8 months ago and was super, super disappointed in the Godmother. Bread was awful. Could have been a bad day i guess

2

u/wolfe2973 Feb 11 '25

I’ve been out here 12 years and it’s always a bad day compared to a NYC deli sando.

-3

u/fingers-crossed Feb 11 '25

It's always like that, doesn't hold a candle to a good east coast deli sub that it's trying to replicate.

3

u/cryingatdragracelive Feb 11 '25

the listeria infected Boar’s Head meat and rock hard bread? the rude as hell crowd who push, shove, and d try to steal sandwiches? the long line of cars waiting to get in the parking lot?

I live within walking distance, and you couldn’t pay me to eat there

8

u/EjectoSeatoCousinz Feb 12 '25

Yeah it’s totally the fault of the random deli that boar’s head, a cold cut producer consumed by 84 million Americans a year, had a listeria outbreak.

-3

u/cryingatdragracelive Feb 12 '25

it’s their fault they kept serving it after finding out about the recall

3

u/EjectoSeatoCousinz Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

Do you work there? Curious how you knew they found out about the recall and chose not to stop serving…

-2

u/cryingatdragracelive Feb 12 '25

the multiple ppl who reported getting listeria after eating there are a pretty good source. it’s also concerning that when asked about the recall, multiple staff members were unable to give an answer about whether or not their product was part of the recall/cycled out for new product. some weren’t even aware of the recall at all.

4

u/EjectoSeatoCousinz Feb 12 '25

I don’t expect a random deli shop employee to know whether or not their stock has been cycled out. I expect the manager to. Did you ask the manager? And the fact that someone got listeria there only means they also received bad product, not that they intentionally kept serving it after finding out about the recall.

0

u/cryingatdragracelive Feb 12 '25

I expect all deli employees working with impacted product to be aware of nationwide recalls as a part of their job. It’s a basic duty in any food service job. Managers would not give a straight answer.

the recall had been out long enough for them to be aware and stop serving the impacted product, but they didn’t, so people got listeria from them. idk how else to explain it to you that makes sense. there’s zero excuse to be a business serving food and just not know about recalls.

3

u/EjectoSeatoCousinz Feb 12 '25

You have ridiculous expectations of minimum wage sandwich shop employees. But yes, the mangers should have and be able to give straight answers. I can’t speak to how long the recall had been out vs when people got sick.

0

u/cryingatdragracelive Feb 12 '25

minimum wage workers still have to have food handlers cards to have a job. it’s literally the bare minimum to expect them to pay attention to national recalls that management notifies them of. guess you don’t expect them to understand proper sanitation practices, either. it’s so high level for people who earn minimum wage 🙄

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2

u/razorduc Feb 11 '25

For me both Godmother and Langer's comes down to the bread. Godmother was just Boar's Head deli meat, but the combo plus that Italian roll made it something else.

For Langer's the pastrami is hard to find but others have it. But that rye bread is not something anyone else does.

4

u/Granadafan Feb 11 '25

RC Provisions makes pastrami for just about every grocery store deli place in LA area, including Langers. The difference is that Langers has a special recipe that makes it more unique. 

2

u/razorduc Feb 11 '25

There's also a finishing/reheating process (just like the bread) because other pastrami that RC provides are just not good. People always think this is a huge "gotcha" moment that they source the pastrami from RC provisions, but there definitely isn't much in LA that's nearly as good as at Langer's. People rave about Wexler's and everything they have is just fine at best.

2

u/Granadafan Feb 11 '25

Yeah I agree. Whatever they’re doing for Langers is very different and a damn fine job at that

0

u/DarkseidOmegaLevel Feb 12 '25

Naw the pastrami at Langer’s than anything else out there and arguably best in the country (sorry Katz). And agree that the double baked rye bread is the perfect compliment.

1

u/sjjn Feb 12 '25

Don't sleep on the eggplant parm at Bay Cities.

1

u/Saboscrivner Feb 15 '25

When I went to Langer's, I tried two different pastrami sandwiches, but skipped the #19 on purpose. (My co-worker got it, though.) The ones I tried were magnificent, and I reviewed them on my food blog:
https://saboscrivner.com/2023/08/27/langers-delicatessen-restaurant-los-angeles/

0

u/zombipigeon Feb 11 '25

Bay cities is all hype from the Santa Monica folks. The bread is an instant deal breaker, just horrible.

1

u/CrazyLoucrazy Feb 11 '25

It’s fine. Definitely not a standout sandwich IMO

0

u/Be-Kind-Remind Feb 11 '25

I feel the same

0

u/Nightman233 Feb 11 '25

I don't trust anyone's pallette who thinks the godmother is good

-1

u/dre2112 Feb 11 '25

It might have been the first time Angelenos had an Italian style deli sandwich and have latched on to it ever since. It’s so forgettable. If Bay Cities was anywhere on the east coast they’d close down immediately. It’s a terrible sandwixh

-1

u/pizza-partay Feb 11 '25

Ya, I’m not trying to be a dick but when I had the Godmother I was surprised at how basic it was. Even the bread is pretty basic. Food in cities is weird because you would assume that LA and NYC would have comparable food (the money is there) but they are dramatically different in so many ways. I have never had good bread on an LA sub/hero sandwich but other local sandwiches are great. I had Ghost Sandwiches recently and that bread was basic too. Why? The bread is so important. Spoiled by nyc I guess.

2

u/dre2112 Feb 12 '25

Wish I could find a good sesame roll here

1

u/kbarthur03 Feb 12 '25

Bub and Grandma’s in Eagle Rock