Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwich Quest Continues Where It (Allegedly) All Began: Earl Of Sandwich
We’re just over two weeks away from Thanksgiving — considered by many to be the Super Bowl of Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches — which means our quest to find the best of the best cranberry and stuffing-ivied turkey sandwich is kicking into overdrive.
After getting some quality reps in from the comfort of my kitchen island where I sampled the wares of Firehouse Subs, Publix, and a local BBQ joint called Ellie Lou’s Brews & BBQ, I decided that it was time to venture out and play a road game.
But not a real road game. Like a neutral site exhibition game.
So, I decided the girlfriend/camera-lady, and I needed to head for the most e̶x̶p̶e̶n̶s̶i̶ve magical place on Earth: Walt Disney World.
Specifically, Disney Springs.
If you’re not familiar with Disney Springs, it’s a shopping and entertainment complex where you can shove Guy Fieri chicken tenders slathered in Donkey Sauce in your stupid face, then take a couple steps and get some Wolfgang Puck California fusion schnitzel, and then wash it down with some beverages from the World of Coca-Cola store just a couple of doors down.
But that’s not why we were there. We walked right past all of that stuff, plus a Harley-Davidson store, a Rainforest Cafe, and a store that only sells socks to a little mom-and-pop place called Earl of Sandwich.
Alright, it’s not exactly a mom-and-pop place, but it is named in honor of the real Earl of Sandwich who is credited with inventing the sandwich back in the 18th century. Although, I find it kind of hard to believe that at some point some dude in Ancient Egypt didn’t throw some pork between two pieces of bread, but no one took credit until the Earl of Sandwich, apparently, so he gets the credit for inventing the entire sandwich genre.
He is the Black Sabbath of sandwiches.
Whatever the story is, who cares, because this place makes a mean sandwich and you can find them in different parts of the country, usually in airports. There’s another location at Disneyland and another one at a seemingly random rest stop on the Florida Turnpike between Orlando and Miami, but they’re out there.
I’m a big fan of their one sandwich which has roast beef, cheddar and horseradish, but on this day, I walked in hell-bent on getting their Holiday Turkey sandwich. Now, full disclosure this puppy is on the menu all year long and this hombre (me) gets it all year long. However, this was the first time I walked in as the self-appointed czar of Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches, so it was up to the sammich jockeys at Earl of Sandwich to wow me like they’ve never wowed me before.
OutKick writer/Thanksgiving sandwich expert/legendary pool-side margarita-drinker Matt Reigle continues his quest to find the best Thanksgiving turkey sandwich by checking in where it (allegedly) all began, Earl of Sandwich.
Can The Earl Bring The Thanksgiving Sandwich Heat?
Let's unwrap the Union Jack wrapper on this bad boy — ironic given the Thanksgiving turkey sandwich's status as the most American sandwich there is — and see what we've got.
Earl of Sandwich is known for its hot sandwiches that are served on what I can only really describe as small loafs of bread. It's not exactly a roll, it's more like you baked a small load, cut it in half and served it up that way.
It is some of my favorite bread out there, and because it has such a nice crisp on the outside it's the perfect choice of bread for a Thanksgiving turkey sandwich given that the guts of that kind of sandwich are usually on the softer side.
While I could've used a bit more turkey on this sandwich, the stuffing flavor was so good, as was the little bit of gravy that was on it, a welcome touch.
Of the sandwiches we've sampled so far, this is the one that at least to my taste buds hit that sweet spot where it tasted like it had been made out of home-cooked leftovers.
To me, that's the gold-standard, and it came through in the score: a whopping 4.5/5 Union Jacks.
That makes Earl of Sandwich the new leader in the Thanksgiving turkey sandwich clubhouse (what a delicious clubhouse that is). It's a high mark, so can anything top it?
We shall see…