What’s your favorite Columbia area sandwich shop? Vote now in The State’s poll
Delis and sandwich shops have been the heroes of lunch hours for generations.
They are where you can catch the buzz of a lunchtime rush, as office dwellers, students, retirees, construction workers and others from the great cross-section of everyday life will line up for sandwiches stacked with meats, cheeses and veggies. Sandwiches are the handheld flavor bombs that power us through afternoons and cure our midday cravings.
In Columbia and the surrounding areas there are numerous sandwich shops and delis where customers are known to line up for lunch and more. Now, The State wants you to vote for your favorite from a list of 25 places, selected by the newspaper’s staff, in the 2026 Midlands Sandwich Shop Poll.
As ever, let’s set some ground rules. For the unscientific poll we kept it to mostly locally-owned places or reasonably small, South Carolina-centric chains, rather than include any massive national chains. (Sorry, Jersey Mike’s and Subway fans.) And we attempted to stick with restaurants that present themselves, for the most part, as delis or sandwich-centered operations.
To be absolutely certain, this is not an exhaustive, comprehensive list of every single sandwich shop in the Midlands. It is simply a sampling of some of the many sandwich shops in the area, chosen by newspaper staffers.
You have until 11:59 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19 to vote in the poll below. The restaurants are presented in alphabetical order.
Be sure to vote early and often, and don’t forget to put on a little extra Dijon mustard.
