Newsletter Signup
Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.com
On the North Shore, roast beef sandwiches are more than just a menu item
There are rules and boundary lines. There's nostalgia. There's even an influential Facebook group that reviews them. You might say the North Shore has an obsession with the roast beef sandwich.
The Modern Butcher isn’t a roast beef shop. But they sure do sell a lot of roast beef sandwiches.
Married couple and co-owners Warren Means and Lisa Nichols have been serving up the North Shore specialty once a week since they opened their whole animal butcher shop in 2019. At first, they experimented some, trying out brioche buns and homemade barbecue sauce over onion rolls and James River barbecue sauce.
But as they would find out quickly, the people of the North Shore like their three-way beef sandwiches to be traditional — that includes thinly sliced rare beef, that James River sauce, Cain’s mayonnaise, and cheese on the bottom, squished between two slices bread, typically an onion roll.
Advertisement:
“Over those couple of months we really changed that sandwich and tweaked it to more of a traditional one,” Nichols said. The only ingredient they wouldn’t compromise on is the mayonnaise — they use Duke’s.
The sandwich’s devotees are sort of purists in that way, but it isn’t just about clinging to tradition. New England is known for its seafood, but inside the region people have been cooking up hyper-local specialties for decades. The North Shore beef, with an origin story dating back to the ’50s that Kelly’s claims, is to North Shore people what “bar pizza” is to the South Shore. Ask a North Shore resident where you can find a great roast beef sandwich outside their boundaries, “there are none” is the answer you’ll most likely get.
Advertisement:
The Modern Butcher in Danvers had a steady stream of customers who loved the shop’s sous vide roast beef, but in late 2020, that changed. They suddenly had to make 30 sandwiches, up from 20. Then 40. It slowly crept up to where it is today: more than 300 sandwiches every Saturday, with a line out the door and a “beef bouncer” in place to tell the unfortunate stragglers at the end of the line they’ve run out.
“We had a guy who lived in California who was in a wedding in Quebec and drove down to get the sandwich before he flew back to California. It’s ridiculous,” Means laughed.
One very vulgar, unfiltered Facebook group may be partially responsible for their rise to beef fame.
Made up of nearly 36,000 members, the group North Shore Beefs prides itself on knowing where the best roast beef sandwiches can be found.
Andy Ferg, who calls himself the “commander-in-beef,” created the group because all he did was talk about where to find the best roast beef sandwiches — and he got kicked out of a similarly named Facebook food group for “having an opinion.” It was October 2018 when the group was born while Ferg was “on the toilet.”
Advertisement:
“The group’s not polite. That was my plan all along,” said Ferg, who also runs an Instagram page of the same name where he shares roast beef memes. “It’s meant to be fun, but also we’re honest and review sandwiches.”
There’s plenty of arguing, they trade barbs, and the phrase “GFY” (go f— yourself) is almost as ubiquitous in posts as pictures of roast beef in the group.
As it grew, the group also developed its own coded language, or “BEEFtionary”: B2B is beef-to-bun ratio, and SOS means sauce on the side.
“When they don’t use the acronyms, they get shamed,” Ferg said.
The reviews are also mostly written in emojis because Ferg jokes the group is “illiterate.”
Jeff Cala, managing partner of Jamie’s Roast Beef, joked that the group’s obsession with the sandwich is cult-like. Ferg agreed that he’s created a cult.
Jamie’s, which has two locations in Peabody and Manchester, has a traditional three-way on their menu, but they’ve also reimagined the North Shore roast beef several different ways. There’s the “Sorry J.R.,” which replaces the beloved James River barbecue sauce with a barbecue sauce made in house, paired with a garlic aioli and an onion ring. Ferg gets a shoutout on the menu with “The Angry Ferg,” which aptly uses a spicier aioli and a “jacked up” James River sauce.
“A lot of people thought that was sacrilege,” Cala said.
Advertisement:
He said the Facebook group is tough, but it keeps them in line, holds their stores accountable.
“Truth be told, they actually do know what they’re talking about,” Cala said. “These guys, they live, eat, and breathe this.”
It might not be for everyone, particularly “thin-skinned babies,” as the group rules say upon joining, but North Shore Beefs has been influential.
Harry Kanellos, owner of Bella’s in North Andover, said customers are consistently coming in because they heard about their roast beef sandwich in the group. Bella’s is also considered one of the greats among the group members and Ferg himself.
“They have definitely brought my shop to a new level,” Kanellos, who opened Bella’s seven years ago, said. “Between my personal Facebook, the restaurant’s Facebook, and the roast beef group, it’s insane. We grow every day.”
In a recent ranking of roast beef shops on the group’s page, Bella’s came in at No. 2. And in No. 1? The Modern Butcher.
Ferg said he thinks the internet has certainly helped get the word out about these sandwiches beyond Massachusetts, with chefs around the country asking him for his recommendations when they visit the area.
“I’m going to take a lot of credit for that, too — it’s because of us, the page,” Ferg said.
But even without the page and its influence, the roast beef sandwich has lasting power in this region. Nichols of The Modern Butcher would get one after high school football games at Supreme’s. Ferg grew up in Peabody across the street from a pizza shop that served roast beef. Before Kanellos opened his own place, he worked in his family’s roast beef restaurant.
Advertisement:
“There is so much that connects people to how they grew up,” Nichols said. “The sandwich was this inexpensive go-to at these roast beef shops. It was a sandwich for everybody.”
Terms to know:
Ordering your first North Shore roast beef? Know these words and phrases before you go:
- North Shore “three way”: That’s the combination of mayonnaise, cheese, and James River barbecue sauce on a North Shore roast beef sandwich.
- J.R.: The abbreviation you might see for James River barbecue sauce, which is tangy, sweet, and the only barbecue sauce most restaurants use on a roast beef. (Fun fact, this didn’t become a mainstay until Bill and Bob’s owner Nondas Lagonakis created the gold standard.)
- Cain’s: The mayonnaise usually used on three-way sandwiches, though you’ll also find Hellmann’s or Duke’s as alternatives.
- B2B: Beef-to-bun ratio
- SOS: Sauce on the side
- COTB vs COTT: Cheese on the bottom vs. on the top. As stated above, placement matters, and in the world of North Shore roast beefs, the cheese is preferred on the bottom.
- Other possible toppings: Onion rings, horseradish sauce, lettuce, pickles
Sorry. This form is no longer available.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com