The Sandwich · The Story
If you grew up here you already know. If you didn't — this is your education.
Part One
A North Shore Beef starts with an onion roll — soft, slightly sweet, nothing like a sub roll. On top of that goes thin-sliced rare roast beef. Not shaved deli meat, not a hot beef sandwich. Thin. Rare. Piled.
The "three-way" is the canonical order: James River BBQ sauce, mayo, and American cheese. That combination, on that roll, with that beef — is something people from Lynn and Peabody and Beverly have been ordering since before their parents were born.
The sandwich style dates to the 1950s and '60s, born in the roast beef shops that dot the North Shore from Revere up through Gloucester. It never needed to go national. It never needed the internet to tell people it existed. The North Shore already knew.
But now the internet knows too.
Soft onion roll. Not a sub roll, not a hoagie. The onion roll is non-negotiable.
Thin-sliced, rare roast beef. The quality of the slice is how you judge a shop.
James River BBQ sauce + mayo + American cheese. The full order. Don't overthink it.
It's the kind of thing you eat twice a week your whole childhood and still want when you leave.
Part Two
North Shore Beefs started with a simple question: who makes the best roast beef on the North Shore? Andy Ferg had eaten hundreds of them. He had opinions. He had strong opinions. He decided to write them down.
I started my beefing journey as a young buck growing up in Peabody. My hometown spot was Land 'N Sea — I could ride my bike there. Snag a couple junior beefs and a fry for under $10. I fell in love with this sandwich. I didn't realize how lucky I was to have such easy access to beefs.
As I got older I started to expand my options — especially after a night of heavy drinking. I'd find myself at Bill and Bob's in Peabody, ordering far too much food, consuming it in the parking lot with friends. We'd hit Mak's when Williams and Roberts was too busy. Literally 200 feet away. I was spoiled.
I eventually moved to Salem. Dina's became my new local spot. I've never not lived near a beef shop. As I got older I realized the North Shore is littered with the mom and pop — usually Greek-owned — "famous" beef shops. I wasn't lucky to have these shops. I was lucky to live where they are.
Being able to have this sandwich as a daily lunch option makes me happy. It makes me fat. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
What started as a private Facebook group became a community — and then a movement. The group now has over 50,000 members. The Instagram has 40,000 followers. The app has 2,000 users and growing. All of it constantly growing, because they either grew up eating these sandwiches and want to argue about the rankings — or they discovered them through NSB and are now fully converted.
Then we built the app. A full interactive map of every reviewed spot on the North Shore, available on iOS and Android. Nobody else in this space has done that. We did it because the obsession demanded it.
Now there's this site. The full headquarters. The beef bible. The commandments, the gauntlet, the story — all in one place. The map lives in the app. And in September 2026, North Shore Beefs will be at Fenway Park for Major League Eating. We're just getting started.
See the Fenway EventPart Three
The Face
Host, reviewer, and the reason 90,000+ people across Facebook and Instagram care about roast beef rankings. Also co-hosts F-Buddies with Mike Wendt.
