Vote for the best representation of Grand Rapids food culture in Grandwich competition

The largest annual sandwich competition for Grand Rapids starts today, July 23. Dozens of venues will offer their sandwiches and let the public decide which one is the best.

Through August 16, Rapidians are encouraged to try the many different sandwiches offered, ranging from more traditional combos found in delis to cuisine that is proudly called unique by its creators.

The sandwiches for the contest range not only in ingredients but in price, size and other factors as well. At the beginning of the alphabet and on the lower price range, Bagger Dave's is offering a different take on a Sloppy Joe sandwich with "Dave's Sloppy BBQ" for $5. On the other end of the alphabet and pricing, Winchester's entry is "The Dom," a specialty hamburger priced at $40. The highest priced entry in the competition, The Dom is described as "two house ground, flat top cooked all natural beef patties, Hudson Valley foie gras, Michigan white cheddar cheese, house made dijonnaise on Nantucket Bakery brioche bun. Served with a side of hand cut French fries, mornay sauce and River Valley Poultry Farms organic egg." 

At almost 20 of the venues, the Grandwich will be running a "Grandwich Crawl" for voters to try more sandwiches for less money. On Tuesdays during the sandwich competition, July 30, August 6 and August 13, the Crawl will be happening and participants will be offering their sandwiches for $5- most at smaller portions.

Hopcat, whose sandwich is a frozen dessert sandwich with beer gelato between two strawberry cookies, has their dessert sandwich'offered at the $5 price at all times. It is the only chilled entrant in Grandwich 2013.

Last year's winner, Skywalk Deli's "Melting Pot Two," was the last hurrah for the establishment. It was an mix of many different local ingredients and flavors such as Lewandowski Kielbasa, Mrs. Dog's Mustard from Ada, as well as coleslaw and sweet potato mash made from ingredients from a farmers market. Skywalk Deli, a local downtown favorite for years, was evicted shortly after winning the 2012 competition. 

Voting is open to anyone online from July 23 through August 16. There are more venues offering sandwiches eligible for the contest than days in the contest with a total of 28 total sandwiches listed thus far.

Aiming to assess the entire competition in the first week, Rapidian reporter and EatGR founder Chris Freeman will be trying all of the sandwiches along with three assistants, who will be reporting back their findings on The Rapidian.

After the initial judging by the public from July 23 through August 16, the top 10 dishes will be presented to a panel of 10 judges for a final round to select the sandwich to represent Grand Rapids. The winner will become the representative sandwich for Grand Rapids.

The idea for the large competition aimed at building the local food culture began just two years ago.

In 2011, Nicole Infante pitched the idea of a sandwich competition nicknamed "Grandwich." Her idea was well received and quickly thereafter became the starting block for a sandwich competition that highlighted the best sandwiches in the area and chose a signature dish to represent Grand Rapids.