Best of New York 2012 • Eating

Minetta Tavern's French dip.   (Photo: Riad Nasr/Courtesy of Minetta Tavern)

• French Dip

• Minetta Tavern

  113 Macdougal St., at Minetta Ln.; 212-475-3850

  Los Angeles may have invented it, but New York has perfected it. Lunch only.

• Horseradish Sandwich

• 606 R&D

  606 Vanderbilt Ave., nr. St. Marks Ave., Prospect Heights; 718-230-0125

  It’s not just a condiment anymore. Ilene Rosen gives the ancient root a star turn on Grandaisy Pullman with butter and red onion. Even optional Benton’s bacon gets second billing.

• Goat Face Sandwich

• Goat Town

  511 E. 5th St., nr. Ave. A; 212-687-3641

  House-smoked goat on Texas toast by way of the neighborhood Japanese bakery. It’s Julie E. Farias’s deliriously good tribute to the Lone Star State’s butcher-paper barbecue joints. Mondays only.

• Saratoga Club

• Parm

  248 Mulberry St., nr. Prince St.; 212-993-7189

  The triple decker gets the Torrisi Boys treatment. The key is what they call “zesty mayo”—good housemade stuff mingled with the kind of herbs and spices you might associate with a bottle of Wish Bone Italian.

• Croque Monsieur

• La Promenade des Anglais

  461 W. 23rd St., nr. Tenth Ave.; 212-255-7400

  Alain Allegretti’s clever, New Age take combines all the elements of the old classic (béchamel, melted Gruyère, ham) twirled together like a modern-day wrap.

• Fried-Chicken Sandwich

• Smith Canteen

  343 Smith St., at Carroll St., Carroll Gardens; no phone

  Crispy thigh meat, a buttermilk dressing, and iceberg lettuce on a Martin’s potato bun—it’s better than Chick-fil-A, and that’s a compliment.

From the 2012 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine