Does Cincinnati "loaf" sandwiches? Maybe, but not as much as other cities, we "sub"-pose.
In honor of National Sandwich Day, a new study from Lawn Love is taking a look at which U.S. city is the best sandwich lovers, ranking the 200 biggest cities. According to the study, Cincinnati ranks in the top half of the list, coming in at No. 77, with a total score of 8.78, just behind Cleveland at No. 76 (score of 8.79). Columbus ranks closer to the top at No. 39 (score of 13.15).
To figure out which U.S. city is the bun-all-end-all, Lawn Love says it looked for cities with lots of high-end sandwich shops and award-winning sandwiches and also used Google searches for sandwich-related terms to measure residents’ cravings. It grouped those factors into three categories – access, quality and interest – then calculated weighted scores for each city in each category and averaged those across all categories.
Access – or sandwich-serving establishments per square mile – came with the meatiest value in the rankings with six points. Quality's points ranged from one to five points in each subcategory, looking at the number of reviews each eatery received, along with the ratings in those reviews, how many held 10 or more 4.5-star reviews and awards those shops or their sandwiches received.
The quality category also took into account sandwiches that landed on the top lists of outlets like the Food Network, Food & Wine, travelmagazine.com, Mashed and Yelp.
Finally, interest – a value of three points – looked at residents who over the past year Googled “Best Sandwich Near Me” and “Sandwich Shop Near Me.”
Cincinnati ranked 30th for access, 64th in interest and 146th in quality out of the 200 cities. And while the Queen City ranked closer to the middle of the pack and poorly in quality, we still boast Izzy's famous reubens and their now-permanent menu addition the Codfather.
According to Lawn Love, if you’re looking for the best places to grab a sammich, New York City is the place to be, followed by New Orleans – which stands out for its muffuletta and po’boys – and Washington D.C.
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