The best bacon egg and cheese sandwich in NYC

The stakes are high for a spot that's actually named BEC (Bacon Egg Cheese), and Wednesday's sandwich from the Chelsea breakfast spot delivered, with our testers finding nary a fault with the fancified bacon and cheese crusted brioche bun, runny egg, smoked bacon and sharp cheddar. This bacon egg and cheese moved our hearts, and became the new #1.

The bacon-egg-and-cheese from this Midtown deli is a total class act, winning oohs and ahhs from our satiated judges. The bacon was super crispy, the bun was crisp yet fluffy, and bedecked with poppy seeds - and the egg was perfectly gooey in all the right places. This was kind of the Beyonce of breakfast sandwiches.

A go-to morning travel eat for one of our editors, the bacon egg and cheese from Grand Central's Shake Shack felt like comfort food; familiarity on a bun. Fluffy eggs, that same ol' reliable pretzel bun we've all come to know and love and crisp bacon, a smart layer of cheese. Truly, our only complaint was the diminutive nature of this one; our appetites demanded more.

Another one of those artisanal types, this SoHo gem largely stole the hearts of our judges, who (somewhat) approved of the runny egg, but pined for crispier bacon (and a little more cheese, please?). You'd expect a restaurant dedicated to eggs to have their breakfast sandwiches down pat, and their bacon-egg-and-cheese was clearly made by seasoned experts. Or should we say, eggs-perts?

With a fancy-town English muffin style bun and a bit of a cheat with melted white cheddar, this Carroll Gardens morning market sandwich got us riled up, save for one Time Out judge who felt it was akin to fast-food. Despite the outlier, we really dug this quite eggy, salty gourmet bacon-egg-and-cheese.

We scooped this bacon-egg-and-cheese from the Greenpoint outpost of this Jewish comfort food deli and appetizing counter. Maybe not where you'd expect to find bacon, but alas, our editors noted ample portions of the good stuff on this sandwich and it was an all around win.

Time Out testers tried the bacon egg and cheese from this Theater District cafe and, aside from one four-star review (from a Dunhill regular amongst us), our editors felt this breakfast roll needed a boost in flavor.

Friday's bacon egg and cheese from this East Village deli brought mixed feelings to the group, its myriad faults listed as too bready, tasteless bacon and unequal cheese distribution, but overall, it earned our seal of approval, tying with Dunhill Cafe for first place.

A middle of the road breakfast sandwich on a standard roll, there was nothing fancy about this day-starter. No one outright hated it, but cries of "more bacon" and "the yolk was gooey and gross" drowned out any satisfied exclamations or contented sighs. Overall, not bad, but it blends in amongst a sea of basic bodega-fare out there.