Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on October 30, 2025.
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Do you love sandwiches? We know the answer is yes, but we feel like we have to ask anyway.
Since you likely fall into this category, we're just going to cut to the chase and tell you that you need to make it over to the North Side to check out their annual sandwich week- taking place starting October 27th in 2025.
This annual event challenges all North Side restaurants to showcase a special sandwich for the week and throw down against each other for a judged event at The Priory Hotel to kick off the festivities.
We were invited to check out the opening night party in 2025 as guest judges and were able to get a sneak peek at some of the creations.
This is one party you don't want to miss in future years!
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Northside Sandwich Week is a Fun Party
The Northside Chronicle brought Northside Sandwich Week back in 2025 after a fairly long hiatus. It pitted eight local restaurants against each other in a friendly competition to crown the king or queen of sandwiches in the North Side.
This event had the likes of Penn Brewery, The Foundry, California Coffee Bar, Mayfly Market, Ida's Sandwich Shop, Breadbox, Wise County Biscuits, and North Shore Tavern come together, each bringing their best, with samples for hungry patrons to enjoy. (We will note that there are far more restaurants in the North Side that did not attend, which we hope will join in a future year!)
Admission allows for unlimited samples of sandwiches from each of the vendors, as well as two drink tickets for select brews from Penn Brewery- a really great deal for the nominal admission price!
- Note: We had a couple guests approach us and mention that the event had a lack of vegetarian and seafood-only options, which was a good point to highlight. Admittedly, given the nature of this event, where restaurants bring just one item each and do not necessarily plan around each other, it may be hard to accommodate dietary restrictions. A local vegan restaurant was listed to attend per the event website, but ultimately did not. We would recommend keeping this in mind for future events if you have dietary issues as it may be hard to accommodate.
At the end of the night, the audience, as well as a panel of celebrity judges (ourselves plus Johnny Angel and Allante of Talk Pittsburgh), cast their votes for who will be crowned king or queen of sandwich week.
In the end, The Foundry was crowned victorious with their Yinzer Dipper with apple and rosemary braised short rib, horseradish coleslaw, apple beef au jus (yes, I did drink it separately), and was served on a homemade focaccia roll. Although my photo doesn't do this one justice, it was a runaway favorite with a unanimous first-choice pick from the three judges, as well as the audience vote!
Second place went to Breadbox for their Steakhouse Panini, and Ida's Sandwich Shop in Perry North took home 3rd with their Chopped Cheese hoagie.
Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll quickly be running out to each of the three winners' restaurants to try more!
Sandwiches to Look Out For in 2025
Admittedly, the quality of the sandwich competition was quite high, and all of the participants brought a strong game to the fun, yet friendly, neighborhood throwdown. A complete list of sandwiches to look out for during sandwich week is:
- The Foundry – Yinzer Dipper
- Breadbox – Steakhouse Panini
- Ida's Sandwich Shop – Chopped Cheese Hoagie
- Wise County Biscuits – Crispy Pork (an honorable mention favorite of ours personally)
- California Coffee Bar – The Western Breakfast Sandwich
- North Shore Tavern – The Yinzer Wrap
- Penn Brewery – Steel City Schnitzel
- Mayfly Market – Southwestern Roast Beef Sandwich
So go out and support the participating North Side restaurants and give any sandwich that sounds interesting a try!
Be on the lookout for the return of North Side Sandwich Week in 2026 and grab your tickets to the competition early- this one is almost always a sell out and is a ton of fun for the price.
North Side's Sandwich Week returned in October 2025 for the sandwich competition; however, in the past has been in different months. We'd like to thank the Northside Chronicle for inviting us out to be judges for the event.
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