Grab a Sandwich

A Mexican bakery and kitchen on Research Boulevard that bakes pan dulce every morning and lists well over a dozen tortas. The Infatuation's pick is the Cubana, with milanesa, sausage, ham and cheese; the Hawaiana adds pineapple.

Margarito Pérez's former food truck, now a taquería on North Lamar a few blocks south of Airport Boulevard. The Infatuation calls its torta "near-perfect": toasted bread, a thick layer of meat, melted cheese, refried beans, grilled jalapeño and onion, and mayo spiked with Valentina.

Chef Mariha Hinojosa's fast-casual counter on East MLK, where the torta gets a loose, chef-driven treatment: brisket barbacoa, carnitas, buffalo fried chicken, or pulled pork with smoked bacon, ham, mustard and pickles. The Infatuation counts it among Austin's best tortas.

A daytime barbecue market on North Lamar in Clarksville that does its best work between two slices of bread. Its cheesesteak swaps the steak for chopped brisket and pork sausage, with smoked queso and caramelized onions on a Philly-style roll.

A trailer behind Batch Craft Beer that cooks Central Texas barbecue with Louisiana flavors. The sandwich to get is the ham muffuletta: house-cured smoked ham, served hot with melted Swiss and a pickle spear on the toothpick holding it together. There's a brisket debris po'boy too.

A Manor Road smokehouse and deli built around its own pastrami, served on griddled sourdough rye. Texas Monthly named it the best barbecue pastrami sandwich in the state in October 2026. For something bigger, the Rachel adds slaw, Swiss and Russian dressing.

A former food truck turned full restaurant off Stassney Lane, serving what it calls inventive barbecue. Its chopped brisket sandwich gets a beet barbecue sauce, pickles and pickled onion. Its L&L Burger is a smoked-then-seared half-pound brisket patty with American cheese.

An East Cesar Chavez barbecue joint with a whole board of sandwiches on potato buns. Get the sliced brisket with pickles and onions, or the chopped brisket in the house Bobby sauce. If you're hungry, El Sancho Loco piles sausage, pulled pork and chopped brisket under pickled red onions.

The East 11th Street joint whose line made Austin brisket famous. The brisket sandwich is the simple way in, with slaw, pickles and onions if you want them. On a budget, the chopped beef sandwich costs less than half as much.