Not Chick-fil-A! Spiedie Declared "Greatest Sandwich on Earth"

A staff writer for a national publication is spreading the message to a hungry world about what he calls "the best bite of food I've ever had."

Drew Schwartz chronicled his visit to last October's Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally in an article for vice.com. The piece - posted Monday on the website - appears over the headline "All Hail the Spiedie, the Greatest Sandwich on Earth."

Schwartz noted Binghamton is his father's hometown. His dad has told him that spiedies "are the single greatest culinary delicacy known to man."

The author acknowledged being baffled that "everyone in Binghamton is so obsessed" with spiedies, suggesting they seemed to be "a very ordinary sounding" sandwich.

But Schwartz decided to check out spiedies first hand. So he drove up Interstate 81 from Brooklyn to the big festival at Otsiningo Park in the town of Dickinson last fall.

He wrote that he first tried a Salamida lamb spiedie. He found it impressive, writing the hunks of marinated lamb "were as tender as a filet mignon." He said the spiedie was "delicious."

Schwartz then savored a Lupo's chicken spiedie. He described the experience this way: "The chicken isn’t just moist. It’s as if it bursts with juice when you take a bite, like the chicken equivalent of a Fruit Gusher. The roll is soft and warm and just slightly soggy inside. There is no taste of chicken; the only taste is the marinade, which is vinegary, peppery, slightly lemony."

Now that he'd had an opportunity to enjoy spiedies for himself, he developed an appreciation for what his father had been telling him: "I was suddenly convinced that the spiedie was the greatest sandwich on Earth."

Schwartz grew up in Atlanta, not far from where Chick-fil-A was founded. He loves Chick-fil-A's chicken sandwiches but he admitted he found the chicken spiedie to be even more pleasing.

Schwartz told WNBF News Tuesday: "It's not even a competition. The spiedie takes it hands down!".

Chick-fil-A headquarters in Georgia was contacted to seek comment on Schwartz's review.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com.

For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

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