There are just a few weeks each summer time when Nashville quietly turns into a greater metropolis, and it has nothing to do with a buzzy new restaurant or one other honky-tonk opening on Decrease Broadway. It is tomato season, that fleeting stretch when heirlooms arrive at farmers markets in shades of pink, yellow, inexperienced, and purple, nonetheless heat from the sphere and tasting precisely as summer time ought to.
It is a quick window, and everybody appears to understand it. For just a few treasured weeks, Nashville turns into obsessive about one factor: piling these tomatoes between two nice slices of bread, slathering on an unreasonable quantity of mayonnaise, and, if fortune smiles upon you, including just a few strips of bacon.
I’ve spent the final a number of weeks chasing down the town’s finest tomato sandwiches, from basic BLTs to chef-driven interpretations that push the boundaries of what a tomato sandwich might be. The excellent news? Nashville is spoiled for alternative this time of yr. The higher information? I’ve accomplished the exhausting give you the results you want.
Listed below are the tomato sandwiches price searching for out earlier than the season slips away.
As I embarked upon this journey, I thought of the next standards:
Bread-to-Tomato Ratio | Ideally, the bread needs to be a car, not a competitor. An excessive amount of bread and the flavors get misplaced; too little and the entire sandwich collapses. White bread, brioche, or an excellent sourdough toasted simply sufficient to carry up.
Tomato High quality and Ripeness | For me, that is non-negotiable. It needs to be peak-season, ideally heirloom, sliced thick sufficient to style like one thing.
Mayo ( sort and quantity) | Do-it-yourself or Duke’s, utilized with precise conviction on each slices, not a well mannered smear. In any case, that is the binder that makes or breaks the chew.
Salt and Seasoning | Flaky salt and cracked pepper straight on the tomato earlier than meeting is vital, not simply folded into the mayo.
Structural Integrity | Does it maintain collectively for greater than three bites or does it disintegrate right into a juice-soaked mess the second you choose it up? A fantastic one manages the mess with out falling aside completely, and a little bit juice working down your wrist is a part of the allure… whole collapse just isn’t.
Courageous Fool
Parked behind No Quarter
922 Fundamental St, Nashville, TN 37206
Web site and Instagram
Courageous Fool Tomato Sandwich | Native tomatoes + Hidden Valley Seasoned Crispy Onions + Scorching Hen Mayo + Pickle de Gallo
Did I count on my favourite tomato sandwich within the metropolis to come back from a sizzling rooster meals truck? Completely not. But right here we’re.
Courageous Fool has spent years constructing a cult following round smashburgers and rooster tenders spicy sufficient to make grown adults query their life decisions. So when the Courageous Fool Tomato Sandwich appeared on the menu, it instantly caught my consideration.
It begins with native tomatoes, however what really units it aside are the Hidden Valley-seasoned crispy onions, sizzling rooster mayo, and a beneficiant layer of pickles. It is all served on tender, untoasted white bread, which could sound like an oversight till you’re taking the primary chew and notice that toasting it could solely get in the way in which. When the juices of the tomato and pickle mix with that mayo… brace your self for deliciousness.
It is a two-handed sandwich, loaded and unapologetically messy, but it surely’s so ridiculously good you will not wish to put it down. Belief me once I say this: it is the perfect tomato sandwich of the season.
Mama Bread
1600 Woodland St, Nashville, TN 37206
Web site and Instagram
Mama Bread | Native Farm Tomatoes + Whipped Feta + Balsamic + Basil + Brioche + Benton’s Bacon 
Mama Bread’s tackle the tomato sandwich delivers one of many extra attention-grabbing taste profiles on this lineup. There is not any towering stack of components right here. As a substitute, the whipped feta works its means into each chew, whereas the balsamic provides a pointy, tangy word and the basil brings the freshness you’d count on. And sure, I added Benton’s bacon as a result of even essentially the most thoughtfully composed sandwich can profit from one thing smoky and salty.
The thick-cut heirloom tomatoes are stunning, although they often make the sandwich a bit unwieldy, with slices attempting to flee with each chew. Happily, the whipped feta balances the richness of the thick brioche exceptionally nicely, creating a mixture that feels each indulgent and refined.
As for the bacon, I’ve zero regrets. First, it is Benton’s bacon. Second, I do not suppose the sandwich would have landed the identical means for me with out the added depth and savory distinction it dropped at the desk. The additional smoke and salt tied all the pieces collectively and elevated an already inventive tackle a basic.
Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse
800 Meridian St, Nashville, TN 37207
Web site and Instagram
Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse | Thick Reduce Heirloom Tomatoes + Basil + Dill + Duke’s Mayo + Sunflower Seeds + Buttered White Bread 
Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse pulled out all of the stops. It is a tomato sandwich I have been admiring from afar for years, and at last getting my fingers on it felt extremely satisfying. Thick-cut heirloom tomatoes are stacked so excessive the bread feels virtually secondary, whereas basil and dill pull double responsibility as each garnish and taste. Add Duke’s mayo, sunflower seeds for crunch, and bacon as a result of restraint wasn’t on the agenda and you have got one thing particular. To finish the expertise, I ordered the Tomato Tini, one other summer time favourite I would been eager to attempt.
The sunflower seeds are the actual revelation. Most tomato sandwiches lean closely on tender textures, counting on toasted bread or bacon for distinction. This one takes a special method, including a delicate crunch to each chew that retains issues attention-grabbing from begin to end.
The tomatoes themselves are excellent: vibrant, thick-cut heirlooms with loads of taste. However what actually received me over was the freshness the herbs dropped at the sandwich, elevating each element with out overpowering it. Of all of the tomato sandwiches I’ve tried this season, this one earns a snug spot as my second favourite.
St.Vito Focacceria
605 Mansion St, Nashville, TN 37203
Web site and Instagram
St. Vito Focacceria | Heirloom Tomatoes + To-Mayo + Bacon + Focaccia 
St. Vito’s sandwich is for anybody who thinks the good tomato sandwich debate has develop into unnecessarily sophisticated. No whipped feta, no specialty aioli, no surprising twists. Simply heirloom tomatoes, tomato mayo, bacon, lettuce, and focaccia stacked excessive sufficient to require a skewer to maintain the entire thing collectively.
The focaccia is the star right here, which ought to come as no shock given the place it is coming from. Thick, sturdy, and topped with a fantastically crisp crust, it stands as much as a mountain of thick-cut heirloom tomatoes in a means most breads merely could not. Relatively than turning soggy, it appears to soak up and amplify all the pieces taking place round it, changing into extra flavorful with each chew.
Make no mistake, it is a juicy sandwich. You will possible have tomato juice working down your arm earlier than you are completed. However that is a part of the expertise. Easy, unfussy, and deeply satisfying, it is proof that when the components are this good, there is no must overthink it.
Sally’s Keep Awhile
611 Wedgewood Ave, Nashville, TN 37203
Web site and Instagram
Sally’s Keep Awhile | B.L.T. | Applewood Smoked Bacon + Cherokee Purple Tomato + Greener Roots Lettuce + Basil Mayo + Toasted Brioche
Our remaining sandwich got here from Sally Stays Awhile in Wedgewood-Houston. Their BLT options thick-cut Cherokee Purple tomatoes, crisp bacon, a beneficiant heap of lettuce, and basil mayo unfold throughout slices of brioche. The bread is griddled darkish, almost charred in some spots. Whereas that helped the sandwich maintain collectively beneath the burden of its components, the extent of toastiness was a bit extra aggressive than I choose.
At its core, it is a basic BLT accomplished nicely. The tomatoes are juicy and flavorful, the bacon delivers the requisite crunch and salt, and the basil mayo provides a delicate herbaceous word with out reinventing the system. My solely critique is that I needed the basil mayo had been utilized a little bit extra generously. The flavour was wonderful, however one other swipe or two would have added some much-needed richness and helped steadiness the closely toasted brioche.
In the event you’re searching for an easy, satisfying BLT that lets high quality components do the speaking, that is the sandwich for you.
5 sandwiches, 5 fully completely different interpretations of what makes an excellent tomato sandwich.
With out hesitation, Courageous Fool is the one I would order repeatedly. It earns my vote as the perfect tomato sandwich of the season, with Turkey and the Wolf Icehouse ending a really shut second. Each handle to raise a easy idea with out dropping sight of what makes a tomato sandwich price craving within the first place: nice tomatoes.
Tomato season is fleeting, and life is just too quick for a disappointing sandwich. Benefit from it whilst you can.
Till Subsequent Time!
