Best Breakfast Sandwiches in the US

By Food & Wine

The megatrend of restaurant breakfasts has spawned a mini-trend: the restaurant breakfast sandwich. From biscuit bombs to a version that uses sliced bread pudding in place of bread, Food & Wine editors name the best breakfast sandwiches in the U.S.

Gjelina Take Away; Los Angeles, CA Gjelina Take Away; Los Angeles, CA
To satisfy customers when they can't get into Gjelina's main dining room, owners Fran Camaj and Travis Lett opened GTA (Gjelina Take Away), an annex serving to-go foods like a breakfast sandwich with fried egg, bacon, tender cooked kale and cheese served on a homemade English muffin. (Sorry, vegetarians, Gjelina is a no-substitution establishment--the bacon stays).

Photo courtesy of Gjelina Take Away.



Jam; Chicago, IL Jam; Chicago, IL
Formerly of Charlie Trotter and North Pond, Jeffrey Mauro re-energized the city's brunch scene with the recently relocated Jam. Though the new space now serves dinner regularly, the restaurant is famous for breakfast items like a pork-shoulder-and-egg sandwich with ricotta salata and tangy green-apple ketchup.

Photo courtesy of Jam.




Meat Cheese Bread; Portland, OR Meat Cheese Bread; Portland, OR
Chef John Stewart's sandwich shop uses slices of fresh maple-currant bread pudding for the outer layers of its belovedly rich breakfast sandwich, the Maple. The creamy exterior gives way to a sausage patty, gooey melted chipotle-cheddar cheese and fennel shavings to temper the sweetness.

Photo © Dominic Sigari.




Dahlia Bakery and Serious Biscuit; Seattle, WA Dahlia Bakery and Serious Biscuit; Seattle, WA
The offshoot of chef Tom Douglas's flagship restaurant, Dahlia Lounge, offers a gourmet twist on an Egg McMuffin: a fresh-baked English muffin topped with a fried-to-order egg, house-cured ham, cheddar cheese and a spicy dab of Dijon mustard. Douglas's new joint, Serious Biscuit, serves over-the-top sandwiches on the house specialty. One biscuit sandwich includes fried green tomato, bacon, remoulade, and egg.
Photo courtesy of Dahlia Bakery.



Sweet 16th; Nashville, TN Sweet 16th; Nashville, TN
In addition to creative desserts like an Elvis-inspired peanut-butter-and-banana layer cake, the 1950s-style bakery offers a single savory breakfast item: A doubly cheesy sandwich composed of a cheddar scone and a hunk of egg-and-cheese casserole studded with green chiles.

Photo © Melissa Madison Fuller.




Peels; New York, NY Peels; New York, NY
At Manhattan's Southern-chic canteen Peels, chefs Preston and Ginger Madson offer a build-a-biscuit sandwich with fillings like supersoft scrambled eggs, ham, sausage, different kinds of cheeses and a coffee-spiked redeye gravy.

Photo courtesy of Peels / Nick Johnson.






The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen; San Francisco, CA The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen; San Francisco, CA
Opened by engineer-turned-sandwich-artist Heidi Gibson, this hyperfocused restaurant even serves grilled cheese for breakfast. The Breakfast Piglet is filled with sharp cheddar, ham, egg, apple-mustard and aromatic rosemary butter.

Photo © Tillamook CCA.



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