Submitted by Unbreaded reader Shane D. Have a sandwich you love? Submit it to us and we’ll post it on the site.

Philadelphia might be the home of the cheesesteak, but again, and again, we are seeing a rise in popularity of the Italian roast pork sandwich. According to Shane D., you don’t have to be downtown to find a delicious take on this sandwich:

Wasko’s, located at 223 Gay St. in Phoenixville, Pa. has, in my opinion, one of the best roast pork sandwiches in Chester County. I’m a regular customer and have consumed a number of the sandwiches there (the Ultimate Italian, Hot Italian and meatball), but by far the roast pork is the marquee item. It starts with a great, fresh roll from the Conshohocken Bakery. Jim Wasko, the proprietor, then lines the roll with some fresh onion slices before dipping each slice of pork au jus, but that’s not the end of it. The sandwich is then topped with sharp provolone and placed in the oven until the cheese melts. The final touch is the roasted long, hot Italian peppers, which are made in-house. You could opt for broccoli rabe instead, but I prefer the hots. The end result is absolutely brilliant! Other options for the sandwich include getting it juicy (I usually go dry), but if you’re in the Phoenixville area, I definitely recommend it. Also, if pork isn’t your choice of meat, I’ve heard that the prime rib sandwich is great.

This is the first time we’ve heard of a roast pork being placed in an oven, a brilliant idea for that perfect gooey, melted cheese and toasty bread.

Wasko’s
223 Gay Street – Phoenixville, PA 19460 (Google Map)

Submitted by Unbreaded reader Tim Fagan. Have a sandwich you love? Submit it to us and we’ll post it on the site.

It puts a smile on my face when I see newcomers order sandwiches at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen. You know, the people naive to how incredibly large the portions are. The best was an older couple who each ordered their own sandwich; I thought the woman was going to fall out of her seat when she saw the mound of whitefish placed in front of her. And, that was just the “regular” sized sandwich. On the back of the menu, are the holy “Ungashtupt” (Yiddish for over done, or stuffed) sandwiches, each named for a location in New York where the family has owned a deli. Tim Fagan recently ordered one such sandwich, and sent us his story.

Hit the jump to read all about it.

So I live about a block away from the Famous Fourth Street Delicatessen at 4th and Bainbridge and decided to pick up a game-day sandwich for the official start of football season yesterday. I usually just get a regular sized hot brisket sandwich, which might just be the best sandwich I’ve ever had (brisket, cheese, coleslaw, Russian dressing, amazing rye bread). But yesterday I opted for the “Far Rockaway” – brisket, turkey, swiss, lettuce, tomato, onion, Russian dressing, and I had them add cole slaw on top. What arrived was a sandwich so huge they didn’t even have a box big enough to fit it (it was fortified with two layers of plastic wrap). They basically placed a brisket sandwich on top of a turkey sandwich and gave it a name. Pure genius.

Needless to say at 6 inches high I had to eat it a quarter at a time and nearly passed out from simply inhaling the brisket.

Famous 4th Street Delicatessen
700 S. 4th Street – Philadelphia, PA 19147 (Google Map)

Submitted by Unbreaded reader Shea Roggio. Have a sandwich you love? Submit it to us and we’ll post it on the site.

Have you ever created a sandwich so good that you thought it should forever be immortalized on a menu at your favorite lunch spot? That was the challenge the owner of On A Roll in Conshohocken presented to frequent lunch customer, Shea Roggio; if his sandwich was epic enough, it would be named after him and put on the specials menu. Returning to the office, Shea found himself struggling to concentrate on work, as all he could think about was the sandwich. After some deliberation, he came up with the perfect idea:

“I tried to create a sandwich for spice enthusiasts who are not on the low fat, low carb diet. And hence the creation of the “Shea’s Lounge”. It’s a sandwich that prohibits any physical activity for about 2 hours after digesting, and forces you to “lounge” around and not get any work done. That’s why I like it so much.”

So what does the Shea’s Lounge (photographed beautifully above by Andrea Monzo) consist of? Two homemade turkey burgers are stacked on a large, fluffy kaiser roll that is smeared with habanero paste and topped with two layers of bacon, melted American and cheddar cheese, a fried egg and Sriracha. I can feel the perspiration gathering on my brow just thinking about it.

On A Roll
523 Fayette Street Conshohocken, PA 19428 (Google Map)

Submitted by Unbreaded reader Thad S.  Have a sandwich you love?  Submit it to us and we’ll post it on the site.

You have probably driven by this place on Snyder, near Target, and wondered what the deal was. It appears to be some sort of food shop built from the remains of an old auto supply store. I have been told by many of my friends that they, “always see it and think about stopping, but it’s never open.” Well, that’s because it isn’t ever open (at least when the average person is down in that neck of the woods). And the reason – because they don’t have to be.

John’s Roast Pork (aka John’s Lunch, The Snyder Avenue Lunch Bar, and The Shack), has been around since 1930, and has been a family run business for 3 generations, and it shows. The sandwiches are made with love (and grease), and they are divine. Although your only chance to eat there is Monday thru Friday 6:45 AM to 3 PM (the grill closes at 2:30), it is absolutely worth the journey to experience the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia. Wait, what?

Although the “John’s Roast Pork” name implies “hog” – it is, in fact, the beef that is the true magic. Now don’t get me wrong; I have, at a point in my life, called their roast pork italiano, with sharp provolone and sautéed spinach – an overly juicy, garlicky-peppery torpedo of flavor served on a fresh seeded Carangi roll from the South Philly Bakery – the best hot sandwich in the world, but I am afraid I have to relinquish the throne to their cheesesteak as the best in the land. You see, I am a very ethnocentric person, but I have been all over our great country, and I believe that Philadelphia makes the best sandwiches around. So, if this is the best cheesesteak in Philadelphia, (and if cheesesteaks are the pinnacle of sandwichery) then it obviously is the best hot sandwich in the world.

Let’s start with the line. Because there WILL be a line. In line, you will see construction workers, city workers, office suits, older folks (some of whom might have been eating there since the place opened), and a basic cultural sampling of the diversity Philadelphia has to offer. Except for the one thing EVERYONE there has in common. They are in the know. John’s is the type of place you don’t mind telling people about, because more than likely, they will not be able to find themselves there, thus making the line even longer, with any regularity. I admit, I don’t go as often as I would like, as I have a job and go to school, although I do plan my non-holiday days off around the sandwiches there. In doing so, I’ve discovered a secret that most people don’t know about – if you are ordering Roast Pork, you can jump ahead in line. The line is waiting for the grill. The cheesesteak grill. The pork will be sitting on the counter bubbling away in its juicy goodness, and so if that is your sandwich for the day, by all means, poke around ahead in line and you will get called up to the front like a coach calling the scrawny kid up from the end of the bench. However, if you are getting a cheesesteak, hold fast and know your order.

While you may wait for what seems like an eternity, just be patient, cheesesteak nirvana awaits. You might be bored and sweaty from standing in line, but make sure you have your specs in mind. Take note of all of the various awards, newspaper articles and old pictures, but keep an eye on the order girl because your time there will go faster than expected, and you’d better know what you are ordering when your number is up.

John’s cooks the steaks to order, and they use a cut of sirloin, unlike the typical ribeye found at many steak shops. He does not freeze the meat, rather chills it in the freezer to slice it, and then has individually wrapped bags of steak. The meat is heavenly. You can get it with sharp provolone too. I alternate between the sharp prov and American, but never whiz; add fried onions, sometimes mushrooms. The juicy steak, which drips with twice as much cheese as your ordinary joint puts out, is a perfect storm of tender meat, sweet onions, cheesy goodness and grease. Oh god that grease. The South Philly baked Carangi roll, tough and crispy on the outside, soft in the middle, gets gutted in order to cram the maximum filling inside. It holds up perfectly to the drippy, gooey task presented by both the steak and the pork, and makes John’s food, much like their store front, truly stand-alone. Two final words of advice: first, CASH and second, PATIENCE – let your sandwich sit for a few minutes. It really allows the flavors to meld, and reduces the chances of a molten cheese bite burning off your taste buds before you can savor the rest of your meat-packed masterpiece.

John’s Roast Pork
14 Snyder Ave Philadelphia, PA 19148 (Google Map)