A weekly sandwich review · Cincinnati, Ohio

Bread&Butter
Connects

Food is the connective tissue in all things. It is the great equalizer. So we booked our one‑on‑one at a sandwich counter and never looked back.

Every week, two coworkers — Taylor MacDonald and Shay Scarberry — sit down over a sandwich, talk about work and everything else, and score what we ate. We are on a mission to find the best sandwich in Cincinnati.

Illustrated stacked sandwich with a Bread & Butter flag

How the ritual works

Same meeting we always had. Better table.

  1. 01

    Pick a shop

    Neighborhood deli, gas station cooler, counter with four stools. No chains.

  2. 02

    Have the one‑on‑one

    Wins, blockers, the stuff that never fits in a status update. Napkins double as notepads.

  3. 03

    Score the sandwich

    Five categories, ten points each. Then it goes on the board for good.

Latest review

Highland Square Deli

The Classic Club and the Hot Italian, plus the potato salad and the broccoli and cauliflower salad

I’ve lived in Fort Thomas since 2008 and didn’t walk into this place until a few months ago. Two honest sandwiches, built right: a club with crispy bacon and mayo you can actually taste, and a Hot Italian with banana peppers that mean it and a juice leaking out the side that Shay rated ten out of ten on its own. The broccoli and cauliflower salad is the reason to come back.

  • Bread 8
  • Build 9
  • Mess 9
  • Value 9
  • Talk 10

Total 45/50

Read the field notes →

The Classic Club from Highland Square Deli, cut in half on foil, turkey and ham stacked under swiss and crisp bacon on white toast
Fort Thomas · 9/23/26 · the Classic Club

The Board

7 in. 45 weeks to go.

  1. 1 Carl’s Deli Salami Mommy + Godfather · Hyde Park WK 04 47
  2. 2 ’Wich Doctor Angry Bird + Cuban + Reuben + Muffuletta · Newport WK 03 45
  3. 3 Highland Square Deli Classic Club + Hot Italian · Fort Thomas WK 07 45
  4. 4 Danny Boy Timmy Ray + Sponziello · Mariemont WK 01 43
  5. 5 J & W Little Italy + New Yorker · Norwood WK 02 43
  6. 6 Young Buck Deli New Deal + Classic Club · Over-the-Rhine WK 05 40
  7. 7 Knuckles Deli Italian Beef + Italian · East End WK 06 39
  8. 8 Alveo ON DECK ——

Fifty points, five ways

Bread
Does it hold, or does it surrender in the parking lot?
Build
Ratio, seasoning, and whether anyone thought about the last bite.
Mess
Napkin count. A little chaos is a good sign.
Value
What you paid against how full you left.
Talk
The real category. Did the table make the conversation better?

The map fills in

One pin a week. Over the Rhine to Norwood to whatever we find on the way. If a shop is missing, that is a scheduling problem, not an opinion.

Got a spot? Send it over. ↓

Seven in. Each dot is a stop — open one for the write-up.

Two people, one sandwich each

Shay Scarberry

Shay Scarberry

Orders the thing he has never heard of

Keeps the notes, keeps me honest, has strong feelings about pickle placement.

Taylor C. MacDonald

Taylor C. MacDonald

Always the Italian, for science

Partner and CTO at Ample, a digital agency here in Cincinnati. Booked the first lunch on a hunch that a better table makes a better conversation.