South Orange Sloppy Joe Shop Makes National Best Sandwich List

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ - The Sloppy Joe sandwich is the stuff of legend in northern New Jersey and now the iconic deli classic, and the shop that invented it, has made Big Seven Travel's list of the 50 best sandwich spots in America.

To be clear, the Town Hall Deli's culinary triumph is not the loose meat sandwich with the sticky tomato-based sauce, but the turkey, roast beef and swiss cheese stacker dripping with coleslaw and Russian dressing.

According to the list, there’s an endless amount of delicatessens and sandwich shops in New Jersey, but none can compete with Town Hall Deli and their hefty sandwiches.

According to their website, Town Hall Deli opened in 1927 and during the 1930's, the Mayor of nearby Maplewood visited Havana, Cuba and visited Sloppy Joe's Bar and Eatery. Joe, the proprietor, was well-known for the disarray in the bar hence the nickname "Sloppy" Joe.

The Mayor had a sandwich that he loved so much that when he returned home, he asked the owners of the Town Hall Deli to duplicate the recipe which was coleslaw, ham, cow tongue, swiss cheese, with lots of dressing served on thin rye bread. Hence, the origin of the Sloppy Joe sandwich and how Town Hall Deli of South Orange became "The Birthplace of the Sloppy Joe."

You can see exactly how the sandwich, sans the cow tongue, is made below:

The Town Hall Deli treats ranks 30 on the list which includes a braised beef brisket, caramelized onions and white bbq from Brick and Tin in Birmingham, Alabama as well as a Koja Korean Cheesesteak from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a Po-Boy of the shrimp, oyster or sausage variety from Domilise's Po-Boy and Bar in New Orleans, Louisiana.

You can read over the complete list for yourself here.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter by clicking here. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading our Apple iOS app here, or by visiting the Google Play store for the Android app here.