Lunch Like A Local: Harrison's Roast Beef In North Andover

NORTH ANDOVER, MA -- For a sandwich that is so simple -- shredded roast beef on an onion roll with barbecue sauce and (maybe) mayo -- there's a lot of debate. And by debate we mean screaming and shouting about who makes the best one. People on the North Shore and in the Merrimack Valley tend to be connoisseurs of what is a regional staple, and seemingly every non-vegetarian you run into in these parts has an opinion on which joint makes the best roast beef sandwich.

In North Andover, there's no argument: hands down, Harrison's Roast Beef on Chickering Road makes the best roast beef sandwich in town, or anywhere else for that matter. We dare you to tell a local or any of the big, beefy guys waiting in line during a recent lunch rush otherwise.

Harrison's started out as Riley's Roast Beef in Lawrence before moving to its present location and changing the name in 1984. Since then it's mostly maintained the same, no frills dining room. That hasn't deterred a few famous faces from popping in regularly for a "beef, three-way" (in English, a medium roast beef sandwich with sauce, mayo and an impossibly thin-slice of white, American cheese). Congressman Seth Moulton is a fan, as are the members of Godsmack.

Lunch Like A Local isn't meant to be a restaurant review -- we just want to highlight local places that offer good food without forcing you having to resort to lunch at a chain. But if we may opine for a the rest of this paragraph, we always wonder why other roast beef places are ranked "the best" over Harrison's. That chain that claims they invented the unofficial sandwich of Massachusetts on Revere Beach slices their beef too thick, making it dry and tough. And the other places we've sampled either use a barbecue sauce that is more sugar than tang or give us funny looks when we ask for horseradish on our beef.

Lunch Like A Local is an occasional series exploring unique, one-of-a-kind and locally-owned eateries. To nominate a restaurant, email dave.copeland@patch.com.

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Photo by Dave Copeland/Patch.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).