'26 · '24
Woburn · MA
Pete's Roast Beef
"Two-time champion. Nobody argues this one and nobody should."
Find on App →★ 2× Champion
North Shore Beefs is heading to Fenway Park on September 12, presented by Nelectron Solutions. The sponsor roster is now closed at fourteen: Samuel Adams and Mini Warehousing at Platinum, 1620 Workwear and Georges Cote Law at Gold, and nine community partners behind them. DanBob took the ninth and final seat, and Badlands Chugs opens the day with a boot of James River. Meanwhile the app just shipped 2.2.7, bringing Open Now, review drafts, and follow suggestions to iPhone for the first time.
A soft bun, buttered and griddled. American cheese on the bottom. Thin-sliced rare roast beef piled high. James River BBQ sauce and mayo - that's a three-way.
It is not a deli sandwich. It is not a cheesesteak. It is its own thing - and people from Lynn to Gloucester will fight you about which spot does it best.
Six parts. One sandwich. Numbered 01 to 06 in build order — bottom bun first, top bun last. Out of order, it isn't a beef.
The build — bottom to top
Buttered, griddled, crown side up. The final word.
Applied to the top bun only. It meets the BBQ mid-bite. This matters.
Not Sweet Baby's. Not Bullseye. James River or the beef is forfeit.
Sliced paper-thin. Piled high. Pink in the middle or don't bother.
On the BOTTOM. Melts up into the beef. Non-negotiable.
Hit face-down on the flattop. The foundation of the republic.
Thou shalt have no other sauce before James River.
Pink in the middle. Rare. If it ain't pink, send it back.
The bun gets griddled. Butter, flattop, face down, gold edges. More shops are baking their own now - and some have gone to sub rolls. The shape is up for debate. The griddle is not.
Cheese on the bottom. It melts up into the beef. This is not a preference. It is architecture.
Know the order before you order. Beef + cheese + BBQ + mayo = three-way. There will be a test.
Thou shalt eat it hot. Within minutes of assembly. Standing in the parking lot counts.
Kelly's invented the North Shore roast beef sandwich. Kelly's is also one of the lower-ranked spots on this list. Both are true at the same time. Handle it.
The three-way was born at Bill & Bob's. Nondas Lagonakis built it - and had a direct hand in creating James River BBQ sauce. Know where it came from.
Thin-sliced. Paper-thin. Piled high. If it looks like a deli sub, something went wrong.
This is not a trend. This is not New England's answer to anything. The North Shore didn't invent this for you. It invented it for itself.
Every reviewed spot in your pocket. Find the nearest beef, see the rating, read the verdict - wherever you are.
"Two-time champion. Nobody argues this one and nobody should."
"Rt. 125's finest. The first two-time champion. Consistent as gravity."
"Sous-vide 16 hours, sliced by hand, served Saturday only. Worth every minute."
"Hand-crafted, no shortcuts. One of Peabody's finest - and a Beef Madness champion to boot."
Every town has a spot. Here's where to start.
I ate three beefs today. One of them was at 9:30 in the morning. I have no regrets and I would do it again tomorrow.
A guy from Worcester told me his town has "beefs too." I laughed. I laughed until I cried. I'm still laughing.
The proper way to carry a beef to the car is both hands. Two hands. Always. This is not a one-hand sandwich.
If the cheese is on top it's a roast beef sandwich. A fine one, sure. But it is not a beef. Know the difference.
Major League Eating. Game On! bar. Right outside the Green Monster. North Shore Beefs will be there, and the whole country is going to know what we already know.
Nine seats. Nine eaters. One Major League Eating sanctioned championship, one block off the Green Monster, and nobody has ever won it before.
The ninth and final chair is filled. He turns up in a cape and a mask, which tells you everything about how seriously he is taking the cape and the mask, and nothing about how seriously he is taking the beef.
Before a single beef is eaten, he puts down a full boot of James River. Not beer. Sauce. We asked whether he would and he answered faster than any reasonable person should have.
Every sponsor on the board, and the presenting sponsor gets the top of the sheet. Printed, photographed, posted.
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