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

Alveo

The Piccante and La Rustica, plus a Caprese to go for my wife

Roman-style flatbread baked that morning, prosciutto that’s lean and clean, and a counter running flat out at the margins. The flavor is a ten — even Shay, who doesn’t believe in tens, admitted it. The catch: one thin slice of prosciutto on a twenty-dollar sandwich, and enough ricotta to end up in my beard.

  • Bread 9
  • Build 8
  • Mess 7
  • Value 9
  • Talk 10

Total 43/50

Read the field notes →

Shay at a table at Alveo, holding half a sandwich on thick schiacciata, arugula and prosciutto showing at the cut
Mariemont · 9/30/26 · Shay

The Board

8 in. 44 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 Alveo Piccante + La Rustica · Mariemont WK 08 43
  7. 7 Young Buck Deli New Deal + Classic Club · Over-the-Rhine WK 05 40
  8. 8 Knuckles Deli Italian Beef + Italian · East End WK 06 39

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. ↓

Eight 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.