roast beef – Michael Eats

Seriously Good Sandwiches at Alfie’s Sandwiches & Market

Published on September 19, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 36 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.alfies.ca/

Alfie’s is part of the recent wave of Italian sandwich shops sweeping the city. And hey, if all the sandwich shops can be this good, sure — open a million of them.

It’s hard to pick here. The menu is split into two halves (“classic” and “signature”) with 10 sandwiches each. And they all sound extremely tasty.

After some deliberation, I went with the Parma Classico: “24 Month Prosciutto Di Parma, Lemon basil Pesto, Artichoke in Oil, Truffle Aioli.”

Wow, it’s good. I mean, if you put a decent amount of high-quality prosciutto in pretty much any sandwich, it’s going to be tasty. And yeah, the prosciutto here is pretty fantastic.

But everything else in the sandwich complements it so well, from the zippy pesto to the generous amount of tender artichoke to the creamy aioli. I’m not really a fan of truffle oil, but it’s used sparingly enough that I didn’t find it particularly objectionable. Everything here just works.

It’s all served on some pretty great quality sourdough flatbread (“Alfie,” in this case, is the name of their sourdough starter). It’s crispy, chewy, and flavourful, and stands up quite well to the generously filled sandwich.

On another visit, I tried the Alfie’s Roast Beef (“House-smoked Roast beef, Sliced tomato, Chilli oil, Roasted Pepper, Baby Arugula, Rosemary and Roasted Aioli”), and it was just as good; the chili oil, in particular, really makes the roast beef sing.

Tasty Sandwiches at Frank Ranalli’s Pizza & Italian Beef

Published on February 16, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 185 Baldwin Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.frankranallisitalianbeef.com/

I should note that this place is actually inside Woofdawg Hotdog in Kensington Market, so if you’re looking for Frank Ranalli’s signage, you won’t find it.

They serve Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches here, which you can get topped with sweet or hot peppers.

This style of sandwich consists of a hearty amount of thinly-sliced roast beef topped with giardiniera (pickled veggies) and, since I ordered the spicy version, hot peppers. The thing that makes an Italian beef sandwich stand out is the fact that the bread is given a quick dunk in a beefy au jus sauce. It’s a sandwich that pretty much cannot be dry by default. It’s delightful.

They also serve this type of sandwich nearby at Marq’s Chicago Beef, and I’ll admit that I liked that one a bit better (it has a more satisfying beefy flavour), but the sandwich here was still thoroughly delicious.

Amazing Sandwiches at Charlie the Butcher in Buffalo

Published on February 9, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: https://www.charliethebutcher.com/
Website: 1065 Wehrle Drive, Buffalo, NY

You’ll have to drive to Buffalo for this one, but you know what? It’s worth it.

If you’re not familiar with a beef on weck (which is a Buffalo thing that is, sadly, unavailable in the GTA, though please correct me if I’m wrong about that), it’s a pretty simple roast beef sandwich. What makes it so magical is the kummelweck roll it’s served on, which features a generous sprinkling of chunky salt and caraway seeds.

You wouldn’t think the salt/caraway combo would add all that much, but it gives the sandwich a ton of personality.

The version at Charlie the Butcher comes piled high with good quality medium-rare roast beef, some jus to moisten the bun, and a little cup of horseradish on the side.

It’s simple enough that if any element were lacking, the whole sandwich would fall apart, but I’ve been getting sandwiches from this place for years, and it’s consistently great. It’s beefy and delicious. Top 10 sandwich contender for sure.

Tasty Dipped Sandwiches at Hot Dip

Published on June 27, 2021 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1186 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/hotdiptoronto/

Hot Dip is a new sandwich shop on Queen Street that specializes in meaty sandwiches you can dip into things, and yeah, gimme that. That’s a genius idea.

They actually only have four sandwiches on the menu (at the moment, at least), which I appreciate. I always freeze like a deer in headlights when I see a menu with dozens of things on it — I know that everything on this huge menu cannot possibly be great, so just tell me what the good stuff is and what I can ignore.

Focusing on only a few things solves this problem entirely.

I ordered the Hot Dip (because you should always get the menu item that shares a name with the restaurant) which is a roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayo topped with crispy onions and served on a pretzel roll. The dip, in this case, is sharp cheddar.

It’s a very good sandwich. The thinly-sliced roast beef is super tender with a nice beefy flavour, and there’s a generous amount of it — the menu says eight ounces (i.e. half a pound, i.e. a lot of beef), and based on how substantial the sandwich is, I have no reason to believe they’re skimping on the meat.

The pretzel roll is just as good as the beef. Sometimes pretzel bread can be a bit on the dense side, but this struck a great balance between softness and heft, with a lightly crispy exterior.

As for the dip, weirdly enough it’s the weakest part of the sandwich. Despite being called “sharp cheddar” it has a thoroughly mild flavour — it basically has the taste and texture of watered-down Cheez Whiz. It mostly just adds moisture to the sandwich, but between the fresh bread and the tender meat, it doesn’t particularly need it.

My other big issue: it’s an incredibly heavy sandwich, and it really needs something acidic to cut through the overwhelming richness. I guess the horseradish mayo is supposed to fill this role? But it’s completely overwhelmed by all the beef; you can barely even tell that it’s there. It’s certainly not a deal-killer (it’s still very tasty), but it makes the sandwich feel a bit one-note rich, which is a shame.

Roast Beef Perfection at Donna’s

Published on July 10, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 827 Landsdowne Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://donnas.ca/

Yep, another sandwich from Toronto Life’s top 25. Another damn good one, too, so clearly this list is not to be trifled with. These sandwiches aren’t kidding around.

Donna’s serves a roast beef sandwich that’s topped with parsnip, horseradish sauce, crispy fried onions (or shallots?), and watercress. As per Toronto Life, the meat is marinated in beef fat and honey. It’s superb.

The sandwich is awash with flavour, but everything works so well together — it never feels too assertive or busy. First and foremost is the very healthy pile of thinly-sliced roast beef. It’s beefy, tender, and just a little bit sweet from the honey. It’s great.

The horseradish sauce is creamy and zingy, with a nice even burn that makes its presence known, but doesn’t overwhelm. The parsnip is kind of ingenious. It’s thinly sliced, and on first glance it looks like cheese. But it’s soft and creamy, and adds a bit of a starchy heft.

It’s all on a soft, fresh, slightly chewy roll that compliments it perfectly. Toronto Life calls it the fifth best sandwich in the city; that sounds about right to me. It’s really, really good.