Critic of Sandwiches

Who's behind this

StackSandos is run by Case Critchlow (@stacksandos on Instagram), an Austin local documenting the city's sandwiches — one review at a time.

He is the resident sandwich expert and critic of the Sandwich Capital of the World.

Case Critchlow first formally proclaimed Austin, Texas, the Sandwich Capital of the World on October 22, 2026.

The Saturday ritual

Every Friday, Case films at a sandwich shop around Austin. Every Saturday morning, a new review reel goes up with a Stack Score out of 10 — and the Best Sandwiches in Austin leaderboard updates.

Each new sandwich is framed against the reigning champion. A challenger only takes the crown by scoring higher, head to head. No ties, no mercy.

The Stack Score

• Scored out of 10. One number per sandwich — announced in the review reel, then kept live here.
• Kept honest by pairwise comparison. Every sandwich is ranked head-to-head against the ones already on the board — that's what sets the score. And each is judged on a single visit — one meal, no rematches. The bar rises over time — a dethroning has to be earned.
• Graded on the experience. No fixed rubric — a banh mi and an Italian beef are perfect in completely different ways. The test never changes: if Case could only have one more sandwich, which one would he choose?
• Public leaderboard. Every score lives on the leaderboard, ranked highest to lowest.

Independence

Case pays for his own food on every scored review. Scored reviews are never sponsored, never gifted, never announced in advance — and restaurants get no special treatment. If a sandwich is ever received as a gift or partnership, it's disclosed up front and stays completely outside the Stack Score system: no score, no leaderboard spot.

Guidelines

• Established spots first. A shop needs five years in business before it earns a review — classics over hype, places that have stood the test of time.
• Permanent menu only. No weekly specials, seasonal items, or limited-time offers. The sandwich you see reviewed should still be there when you go try it.
• No restaurant money in the scores. Case pays for his own food, and nothing a restaurant pays for ever touches a Stack Score.
• The sandwich, and only the sandwich. The score grades what's between the bread — not the decor, the service, or the neighborhood.
• One critic, not a committee. The Stack Score is Case's judgment alone — not an average, not a panel. Public votes live separately as the Crowd Score.
• Austin-area only. Case wants to highlight the flavors of the Austin area.
• No big chains. With chains, sometimes the quality isn't the same from location to location.

Every brand color has a food story

Olive comes first. Case rates every sandwich in a Field Notes Expedition notebook, carried in an olive Lochby pocket journal — so when the brand needed its first color, Olive was already the answer.

Mint has always been one of his favorite colors — a pop of color on Olive's earth tone. Milk came in as the neutral tone, and it made him think of the lattes he likes after eating sandwiches. Espresso replaced black to go with the Milk — milk plus espresso is a latte. Mustard is the #1 mark, and mustard is everywhere on Texas sandwiches.