The best sandwiches in Melbourne

Hector's Deli has been serving the good people of Richmond its signature sandwiches since 2017, and has developed a cult-like following in that time (evidenced by the never-ending queue out the door). With expansions into South Melbourne and Fitzroy, Hector's have continued its commitment to its promise to serve simple, authentic and delicious sandwiches, made with ethically sourced ingredients and produce of the highest quality. Crowd favourites include the signature chicken schnitzel with tarragon butter and housemade pickle mayo on a steamed potato bun, the tuna melt with pickled green chilli and onion on light rye, and the brisket with mustard pickle spread and kraut on toasted rye – just to name a few. 

If you're looking for the perfect Cubano sandwich in Melbourne, it doesn't get much better than this. Award-winning chef Charlie Carrington (Atlas Dining) has opened a brand new sandwich bar inspired by the famous Cuban neighbourhood in Miami, Little Havana. What makes a traditional Cuban sanga unique is in the little details – the high-pressure pressing of the crisp crusted bread (which helps better integrate and concentrate the fillings' flavours), dual-meat combinations lending a savoury complexity, and the exclusive use of sweet, mild and nutty Swiss cheese. Little Havana gets it spot on.

Falco serves up an inimitable egg salad sandwich that keeps locals and regulars coming back for more, and more. Those in the lane snaking down Smith St share a collective, unspoken understanding; the wait, no matter how long, really is worth it at Falco. All the sandwiches at Falco are special, owing greatly to the housemade dense slices of bread with the perfect crust. Save space for a selection of the outstanding pastries and baked goods too, such as the always-popular cookies. 

Rocco’s excels in many things, but none more so than the cult-favourite meatball sub. Rocco’s famous pork and veal meatballs, which also make an appearance in the mainstay spaghetti on the menu, are smothered in sugo, salsa verde, parmesan and signature white-sauce, making this a sandwich you won't forget for some time. Rocco’s combines the warmth of an Italian mom-and-pop restaurant with a menu that is elevated comfort food – every dish is meticulously curated and crafted with care.

Nico's serves up stellar sandwiches to queues of people lining up outside its CBD, Brunswick and Fitzroy stores most days. Nico's have amped up the humble Cuban sandwich by adding not one, but two types of meat. Think layers of smoked pork belly and grandma ham with Nico’s original salad cream, Emmental cheese, dill pickles, apple cider reduction and American cheese between grilled, buttery slices of bread, and a side of pickled chillis to cut through the richness. And don't miss the vegan schnitzel sandwich stuffed with cheese, lettuce, salad cream, koji chimichurri and pickles. 

Lactose intolerant? Keep scrolling. Iron guts? Read on, for Maker and Monger is the stuff of cheese dreams. Operating out of Prahran Market, you can't go wrong with any of its delicious toasted cheese sandwiches, but we have a soft spot for the fondue number. This is no pedestrian ‘I’m-a-bit-peckish-where’s-the-jaffle-maker?’ affair. This is loads of molten Marcel Petite Comté and Swiss Gruyere, shallots, wine and garlic reduced into a sharp, umami burst, all encased in crunchy, butter-slathered sourdough bread and finished with a light sprinkling of salt flakes.

This is the place you go to for grand, hunking baguettes and sandwiches you hope will never end for lunch. Toasties arrive thick as a forehead and as big as a face, yet achieve the all-important mission of properly melting the abundance of sweet and nutty Comté inside couched around sticky, worcestershire-rich onion. Meanwhile, old-school salad sambos achieve new crush status when folded into chewy sourdough baguettes, lifted with the zip of pickled carrot and tempered with soft avo and roast beetroot.

It’s time you got acquainted with tortas, otherwise known as hot Mexican sandwiches. Slow cooking is an arduous process which deserves all the recognition it can get, and this is definitely the case with the cochinita pibil torta by Frankie's Tortas and Tacos. Tender 24-hour slow-roasted pork shoulder, melted Oaxaca cheese, pickled onion, lettuce and coriander come sandwiched in a toasted roll and warrant a stadium full of people clapping in its favour. There’s also a pollo milanesa torta which comes with Milanese chicken (a lunch staple in many Mexican homes) and a mushroom torta for vegetarians.

While it may seem that northsiders get to have all the fun as far as sandwich shops go, Applehead Deli is playing its part in changing that by bringing a stellar sanga offering to the south with its store in Mentone. Most of the ingredients are made in-house, including slow-cooked pickled beef, housemade Russian dressing, pickled cabbage and gherkins, and 15-20 kilograms of meatballs are made each week. Venture off your usual path to lunch next time you're in need of a sanga, and check out Applehead Deli for an outstanding meatball sub, an unmissable Rueben or a delectable tuna melt. And save room for one of the best cinnamon scrolls going around Melbourne (sebbys.scrolls).  

This newcomer to the sanga scene is nailing made-to-order panini, generously filled with delicious Italian ingredients. There are about 12 to choose from, or you can get creative and make your own. Go classic with a Caprese (tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil) or go further afield with the epic Bologna (mortadella, stracciatella, pickled peppers and olives) or Roman-style porchetta panini. They're all just so insanely good. You might as well also get an espresso to go, just like they do in Italia. 

What makes a sandwich great? Quality bread, certainly. Ingredients that play well together: acid cutting through creaminess, meat cut with pickles. And if it's a toastie, the perfect degree of toastie-ness, snatched from the grill after the bread has become crisp and golden and just before it begins to char. All of the sandwiches on the short menu at Indonesian sandwich joint Warkop meet that bill, but our favourite is the pork belly, the fattiness of the meat complimented by shallot, lime leaves, lemongrass and tomato. 

Looking for a sandwich with a bit of a kick? Then Belles Hot Chicken’s southern-style chicken sandwich is for you. A fiery piece of deep-fried chicken thigh fillet joins forces with double cheese, shaved onion, lettuce and good-good sauce on a soft milk bun, and comes with your choice of side and pickles. There’s also an equally succulent mushroom version for vegetarians. These ones are finger-licking good. 

Shooter McGavin's is bringing housemade brioche scrolls, pancakes, thick shakes and some superb sandwiches to Carlton. The menu is broken down into fresh, toasted and hot sandwiches, and no matter which direction you head in, you're in for a treat. We can't go past the fish butty, with fried market fish, chips, tartare, lettuce and malt vinegar stuffed between thick white bread and the hot honey-fried chicken with ranch, pickles and iceberg sandwiched between a biscuit bun. Sweeten the deal with a choc malt thick shake and pancakes with coffee ice cream for dessert, and you're in for a real treat. 

Yarraville was voted one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the world in 2020, and Rocco’s Delicatessen in Yarraville definitely lends itself to that title. Run by passionate Italians who know their food, they offer a variety of panini which follow the cardinal rule that thou shalt only have thinly sliced, ribbon-like cold cuts. Choose between crisp ciabatta or the traditional soft bread roll and pick your deli meat. Mortadella, prosciutto or salami are on offer and come with varying combinations of grilled eggplant or artichokes, provolone, green split olives, grilled capsicum, and tomato pesto.

Sandwiches are by no means a new invention, but Melbourne’s obsession with them has intensified in the last few years. Enter Jolly Good Sandwiches, a former pandemic pop-up sandwich bar now with permanent premises nestled within corner side craft beer bar Near & Far. The menu is short but sweet – and absolutely delicious. Try the French dip, a roast beef melt that comes with a stout gravy for dipping. Or go for the cheese salad with cheddar, beetroot, carrot, alfalfa, lettuce, mayo and mustard for something light but still satisfying.

Pop in or book a table between noon and 6pm on a Sunday to sample a taste of Poodle's opulence and order items off the exclusive hangover-busting menu. There's a lavish club sandwich and fries for $20, spritz jugs for $40 and Poodle's signature saviour: the Poodle Bloody Mary for $15. You come for the sammich but you stay for the bevvies. 

Sometimes all you want is a simple sanga done well, and that's what new Collingwood deli Hi Fi has sought out to accomplish. It's run by the same group behind Terror Twilight and Tinker, and we love their four-cheese toasties with French dip and mortadella sandwiches. The eclectic vinyl soundtrack only adds to the buzz.

Entrecôte’s classy take on the mitraillette is worth knowing about. Slices of succulent grilled entrecote, frites, and a silky herb butter sauce come together in a crisp baguette. All that’s missing is a sunny park and your friends. This may not be an everyday sandwich, but it ticks all the boxes for a special lunch. 

Rusty may be the name behind this mysterious joint, but rusty it's sandwich-crafting skills certainly are not. This northside-dwelling writer thinks the loaded sangas at Rusty's may just be the best in all of Melbourne. The Cubano's a revelation, sandwiching succulent orange juice-braised pork, Swiss cheese, pickles and dijon. If that's not your jam, you might like a vintage-style seafood sanga, with spicy school prawns, avo salsa, sour cream and pickled jalapenos. Slap on one of Rusty's double choc cookies for $4 and you're golden. 

If you, like many, have developed a new found appreciation for the classic meatball sub, this is the place for you. Free-range pork meatballs are coated in sugo and topped off with spinach, basil salsa verde and the holy Italian trinity of cheeses – provolone, scamorza and Parmigiano-Reggiano, all in a neat little sub.

The team at Ollie's Deli were dealt a very tough hand all the way from the venue's birth during a pandemic right through to it being damaged by a fire. But like the phoenix, this sandwich joint has risen from the ashes and is serving sangas, coffees and pastries in Footscray. These are some of the west's most coveted sandwiches, including a pastrami and buttermilk fried chicken number.

There’s a modest thrill in any deli that’ll slap its cold cuts into a sandwich for you on the spot, rather than you having to do so yourself at home. At Matteo’s Delicatessen in Altona, customers have the choice of several panini stuffed full of the deli’s cold cuts and various other fresh and pickled accoutrements. The namesake panini, the Matteo’s Original comes filled with your choice of cold cut and bread (ciabatta or baguette) plus marinated eggplant, olives, capsicum, provolone and a slathering of pesto. Grab a coffee (or a That’s Amore cannoli) and enjoy your sanga on the nearby Altona Beach for extra points.

Bowery to Williamsburg aims to bring a little bit of New York to the streets of Melbourne. Reubens, turkey clubs and Cubanos are just some of the Yankee sangers that make an appearance, and meal upgrades come with your standard fries and choice of soda. The classy take on a Philly cheese steak sub here takes a long, warm white roll, tender beef brisket roasted for 14 hours, strips of sweet and softened onion and capsicum and coats it all with melted provolone. It’s so juicy and flavoursome that your taste buds are bound to break out into song.

Nestled in Hawthorn, this clean, bright sandwich shop is extremely popular for its tasty lunch panini that are made fresh to order. These Italian-style deli rolls are loaded with an array of fillings, but word on the street is that the prosciutto and pesto with fior di latte is everyone's crowned fave. There are tables out front if you want to enjoy your sanga out in the sun, or Glenferrie Oval is a hop, skip and a jump away if you want to take it away for a picnic.

Kelso’s Sandwich Shoppe focuses on making "legit sandwiches, house-made pickles and damn fine coffee". It’s a simple café with a retro feel, notably cheerful service and cheeky green pickle characters dotted about the shop. We know that tinned tuna divides people, but what sandwich list would this be without mention of a few excellent tuna melts? Kelso’s does a damn fine version: buttered dark rye is loaded with a super creamy tuna and mayonnaise blended with plenty of house-made pickles and red onions to prevent things from being too rich. 

French Fix offers a taste of Paris in Melbourne. It's not your average boulangerie, with the team baking fresh baguettes and loading them with all sorts of fillings. You might have to wait a few minutes, but hey – at least, it's fresh. Le Roast-beef comes with layers of roast beef, crisp pickles, a healthy smear of Dijon mustard, mixed lettuce, tomato and mayo, and might just be our top pick of the bunch. All baguettes come in at just $14 each. Heaven.

Offering a seasonal spread of meats, cheeses, marinated and fresh vegetables, pickled goods, spreads and more, this Panini Bar allows customers to choose up to six fillings to sandwich between freshly baked panini bread or house-made focaccia to create their ultimate Italian sanga. And yes, they taste as good as they look.

Roast porchetta is one of the finer things in life. It’s hard to beat the perfect union of pork and fennel, made all the better with crackling pork skin. King and Godfree’s deli manage to elevate slices of roast porchetta with friarielli and salsa verde. And for lovers of caprese salad, there’s a fior di latte, basil and tomato panina, along with a variety of other sandwich options available in the deli.