Earl’s Sandwiches in Ballston
4215 N. Fairfax Drive Arlington, VA 22203
703-647-9191

Earl’s Sandwiches didn’t go far for its second location. It is right across from the Ballston Metro station in the spot that once housed brgr:shack, only a mile from Earl’s first site near Clarendon.The sandwiches at the Clarendon restaurant are the stuff of much praise from both gourmets and bargain-seekers, and diners at the new place will be treated to a menu not unlike the original.

Most of the restaurant’s raved-about sandwiches are divided on the menu by meat topping, and it’s here that Earl’s Sandwiches stands out. Processed cold cuts have been kicked to the curb. The brown-bag classics are treated with care. The turkey is roasted in-house and carved into tender, meaty hunks instead of the sliced deli counter standard. Roast beef and chicken get the same treatment. Garden variety ham is swapped out for quality prosciutto, and roasted pork loin is a far cry from the everyday cold cut…
The entire Falls Church News Press article can be read here »



Earl’s Sandwiches, Arlington VA
Earl’s roasts its meat in-house, which bolsters the turkey-cranberry combo. Jellied sauce and thick slices of the bird remind us of the best part of the day after Thanksgiving: leftovers.

The full Washington Post article can be read here »

From strip malls to main streets, budget dining options pop up all over NoVA. We’ve tasted more than triple the amount of dishes we’ve listed here to make sure this tight group of 31 promises an enjoyable bite for carnivores (steak and stout pie) and meatless fans (eggplant quesadilla), for traditional eaters (fish and chips) and heat seekers (red curry jerk chicken) and to anyone who simply craves an indulgent plate of noodles (fettuccine Alfredo).

The full Northern Virginia Magazine article can be read here »

The Monty Sandwich, photo by Michael Temchine

The sandwiches at Earl’s Sandwiches
At Earl’s, otherwise basic meats prove the building blocks for a menu full of creative sandwiches. “I order the Beer Mustard Barbeque almost every time I go,” wrote Mike Gill of Arlington. “Every ingredient is fresh, meats properly and tenderly prepared, all served up by a friendly staff. Earl’s is where it is at.”
(2605 Wilson Blvd., Arlington. 703-248-0150. www.earlsinarlington.com.)

The full Washington Post article can be read here »

The blue-and-yellow cod hanging outside Earl’s Sandwiches in Clarendon is a sure sign that evening commuters have a new option for dinner: fish and chips, fried to order.

Fish & Chips, photo by Russell Warnick

Shop co-owner Stephen Dugan hung out his Cap’n Earl’s shingle a few weeks ago. His lunchtime trade is gangbusters during the day, having grown along with the condos and businesses on this stretch of Wilson Boulevard since he opened in late 2005. The 45-year-old New England native had been looking for just the right lure to boost traffic in later hours when he decided to re-create a favorite.

“I love Scotland. I went for the third time this past summer,” he says. “There are chip shops all over the place. I finally asked the guys at Jack’s [a chain] about how they do it.”

So Dugan now uses the same basic batter ingredients — baking soda, flour, water — adding a little salt and pepper, or beer and the flavor of chipotle to a separate, special batter. He dips six-ounce cod fillets from JJ McDonnell in flour before battering and frying them in canola oil. In five minutes, that classic, sturdy crunch develops around fish that becomes snowy white and moist.

A purist need look no further than the bottles of malt vinegar on the table, but Dugan offers housemade sauces that include tartar, chipotle mayonnaise, sweet curried mango, a vinegar-mayo combo, chipotle barbecue and chipotle ketchup.

Jerk fish sandwich photo by Russell Warnick

Fried cod is featured in the Jerk Fish Sandwich. (Russell Warnick) On the potato end, Dugan sticks with the twice-fried technique he uses for the skin-on, medium-cut specimens that accompany his sandwiches. They sit nicely atop a Fish and Fries sandwich with sweet pickle chips, a variation on Dugan’s popular Pork and Fries sandwich. He ups the ante further with his Jerk Fish sandwich by giving the cod an initial swim in a jerk marinade. The fried pieces are served on a soft sesame seed roll with honey mustard, lettuce and tomato.

The spuds are where my Earl’s dining companion, food blogger Russell Warnick, drew a polite line. I invited him, “for he is,” as the song says, “an Englishman.”

“I’m used to chips that are cut a bit thicker,” he said. “But this fish is spot-on. Very crisp. Scottish chip shops win fish-and-chip-making competitions all the time, so I’m not at all surprised.”

Dugan is still experimenting with to-go packaging. He didn’t like the steamed effect caused by restaurant parchment paper and has resorted to Styrofoam containers for now. To keep things traditional, I’m thinking the fish-wrapping concern I work for could yield the right material.

The full Washington Post article can be read here »

The Mona Lisa

Sure enough, the Mona Lisa vegetarian sandwich at Earl’s Sandwiches would live up to the level of anticipation embodied in that considerable queue.

The ciabatta takes on a hoagie-like quality, but remains lovely in its cushy tenderness. The sandwich layers a grilled-to-silky soft eggplant, with just enough mushrooms (but not too many) and thick strips of roasted red pepper. In a bold mood, Earl’s piled lettuce in the sandwich. Not greens that naturally wilt into something appetizing, such as spinach or kale, but ordinary mesclun. Somehow, the purplish greens stood up to the heat, only slightly wilting but not turning soggy.

In a most heretical statement, I find that this sandwich didn’t even need the melted layer of provolone. The soft eggplant lent enough creaminess to be left alone on that front. Earl’s offers a choice of balsamic vinegar and olive oil or pesto mayonnaise. Go with the pesto for an added snare of garlic.

One last tip: pickles come for free, when you ask for them. My advice: Ask.

The full Washington City Paper article can be read here »

Pork and Fries, Earl’s in Arlington

Average entree: under $12 ($). Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

If necessity be the mother of invention, let’s go ahead and crown Stephen Dugan the father of sly substitutions.

The Earl’s Sandwiches proprietor is rumored to have fallen for the potato-packed constructs he encountered in Pennsylvania, and quickly set about to fashioning his own starch-protein power play when he returned home.

His Pork and Fries is a fitting tribute, layering shaved, slow-roasted pork (coated in a thin layer of cracked black pepper) atop toasted ciabatta bread. Dugan seals the deal with a cadre of perfectly in-tune accompaniments, including: feisty chipotle mayo, piquant white onions, tangy pickle chips, roasted sweet peppers and, of course, hand-cut fries—their glistening skins projecting straight-from-the-fryer warmth, while the sparingly used salt allows all the other flavors to develop.

The full Northern Virginia Magazine article can be read here »

First off, there’s nobody named Earl. So don’t ask to speak to him when you want to give somebody a compliment on that Louie (roasted turkey with pesto mayonnaise) or Monty (roasted beef with a homemade barbecue sauce) you just devoured. The Earl of Sandwich is the namesake of the cozy little shop that unlike, say, Cosi, roasts its own meat every day. You can find soups, salads, chilis and delicious hand-cut fries on the menu. But there’s a singular focus — and that’s two slices of bread and the tasty stuff that goes in between. Meat dominates, but vegetarians will like the Mona Lisa (grilled eggplant, provolone cheese, roasted peppers, garlic and mushrooms), among others. Two more added bonuses: Breakfast is served all day, and save for the made-to-order crab cakes, nothing costs more than $8.

The full Washington Post article can be read here »

The tiny sandwich shop Earl’s feels like a small-town lunch counter. You don’t come here to eat delicately: Fried-egg breakfast sandwiches, pork sandwiches piled with French fries, and buttery roast-beef-and-cheddar melts with horseradish mayo are the standouts.

The full Washingtonian article can be read here »

This breakfast/lunch counter barely has room for the bags of Miss Vickie’s chips that line the walls, but big flavors come out of its kitchen. Weekdays the line is long for two-fister sandwiches overstuffed with freshly roasted meats. Turkey is a good bet, whether stacked with bacon in a club ($8.99) or slathered with cranberry mayonnaise ($6.99).

But what really makes Earl’s a destination is the hefty pork-and-fries sandwich ($7.99), a chewy ciabatta layered with roasted pork, onion, sweet pickles, chipotle mayo, and, yep, a handful of French fries. The sandwich, which has echoes of a Cubano, isn’t as heavy as it sounds—the fries are more crunch than grease—but it’s plenty filling.

The full Washingtonian article can be read here »