5 sandwiches to eat this week: The Chikalicious at Slow Bone, a fried ribeye, a crab po’ boy & more - The Dallas Morning News

Chef Jeffrey Hobbs at Slow Bone BBQ has entered the Chicken Sandwich Wars. It was the Popeye’s version that did him in. The fast-food chain’s fried chicken sandwich, which launched in 2019 to a customer frenzy, was a disappointment to Hobbs. It left a sour taste in his mouth, as he tells it, compared to a personal favorite, the “Mother Clucker” smoked thigh sandwich at Stanley’s Famous Pit BBQ in Tyler, Texas. It sent him straight into the kitchen to fire-up his own version.

“It’d been a long time coming,” Hobbs says. “It’s definitely the trendiest thing we’ve done.”

Still, Hobbs’ sandwich doesn’t taste like another empty trend. The fiery comforts of his fried chicken sandwich with the uncomfortable name, the ChikALicious, is a local fast-food game-changer. Hobbs’ chicken sandwich is decked with two kinds of pickles, one housemade set of sweet and sour Slow Bone pickles, the other the Best Maid puckery-dill variety. On top is a nest of reddish-purple cabbage tossed in chimichurri, because Hobbs understands that extra sauce is half the fun. A boneless chicken thigh gets fried until it’s armored in craggy gold. Then comes a swipe of sriracha aioli and red ripe jalapeños sauced and smoked, a dazzling dragon compared to weak mayo on a bun.

Slow Bone BBQ, 2234 Irving Blvd. slowbone.com.

Dallas has no shortage of these winter gem sandwiches right now. These five all combine heat and pickled tang, creamy against herb-bright and crispy, to carry you away from the end of year stress.

The Patty Melt at Brown Bag Provisions

The first person to ask about the patty melt does so with stars in her eyes. On a weekday morning, there is a quiet before the lunch rush, the sounds just a griddle hissing and the Rolling Stones. Then, the doors clang open.

“Excuse me,” one customer asks, eyes wide, “what is that?” She points at the cutting board in front of me that holds a patty melt shining bright white with Swiss cheese.

It was understandable: Just the look of the sandwich can grind a room to a halt. It’s a record-scratch special. Chef Brent Hammer is delivering window-rattling flavors: Imagine a deep sear on an aged-chuck flap and brisket patty (half and half of each in the blend) like the shattery crust of a corner brownie. Rounds of Bresnan Bread and Pastry toasty rye bread bookend the gleaming patty, slices of melted Swiss cheese are above and below, topped with caramelized onions.

The stunner in this patty melt is the beef itself, run-through with coppery, well-seasoned grease-juices that baste the marbled rye with a condiment of itself.

The off-menu special is one of Dallas’ most exciting new sandwiches. Maybe the irregularity is a good thing. It probably should be more of a special event, like the beef version of Halley’s comet.

Brown Bag Provisions, 150 Turtle Creek Blvd Suite 202. brownbagprovisionsdallas.com.

The Bánh Mì Xíu Mại at Sandwich Hag

A stunning meatball sub in Dallas that has no origins in Italian-American cuisine is the chef’s special, available only when chef Reyna Duong at Sandwich Hag has cornered the time to build its flavors: Her bánh mì loaded with garlicky, tomato-y meatballs. There are few components in this sandwich (no more-no less is needed), and each is tall enough in flavor to scrape against the clouds. The tomato sauce clings to the meatballs like sticky gloss, bright red, and flash-bulb-like from all of the fresh garlic. The French bread soaks up the sauce to the edges — still flaky-crusty on the outside — and big leaves of cilantro roughs-up the heavier sensations with grassy herbs. To get it, keep an eye out on Hag’s Instagram page, and jump as soon as you see its availability: It sells out quickly.

Sandwich Hag, 1902 Botham Jean Blvd. sandwichhag.com.

The El Rey Milanesa at Ruins

A ribeye gets fried until it’s coated like a brittle blade. Steak that’s tender inside and crunchy all over. Tomato, onion, slices of avocado, pickled jalapeño — zaps of pickled heat to break up the richness. Oaxaca queso drapes over the flash-fried ribeye like a fitted sheet. The toasted Telera roll is a good bookend, not so puffy that you feel overwhelmed, thin enough to crunch.

Ruins, 2653 Commerce Street. ruinsdeepellum.com.

The Soft Shell Crab Po’ Boy at Krio

You’re somewhere else for a while when you get the soft shell crab sandwich at Krio. New Orleans is nearby, it seems, music’s in the breeze, or the salty brine waft that roils in from the ocean of whatever coast. Wherever it transports you, it doesn’t feel like Oak Cliff — even though it is so patently Oak Cliff. That vibrant food that can only come from the little city swinging in the hammock below Dallas.

Krio’s sandwiches are ebullient things, veggie-loaded hoagies beset with family recipes and hands-on energy. How about Connie Cheng, who batches her own seasonings and sauces, no matter what? The soft crab gets a dry coat of her seasoning and then a dunk in the wet batter. Before that, the crab’s been given a deep plunge to ensure that it’s sparkling fresh and clean.

“It amazes me how often other seafood places don’t wash their seafood,” Cheng says. “You can tell when people don’t purge it. The little things make all the difference.”

How about those snappy nests of pickled carrots? They’re straight from her dad’s food toolkit. It’s a joyful sandwich, a meld of pickled things and creamy and crunchy fried things. There’s plenty of salt and spice.

“For me, food ... it just makes me happy.”

Krio, 233 W. 7th St #100. kriodallas.com.

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5 sandwiches to eat this week: The Chikalicious at Slow Bone, a fried ribeye, a crab po’ boy & more - The Dallas Morning News
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