Sammy's Roast Beef & Seafood, 17 Canal St, Salem, MA 01970

When you drive through Salem it's hard to miss Sammy's sign whether its day or night. We are here to see if you should follow that beacon to better beef pastures or keep moving on down the road.  

Bun: The bun started out decent. First bite was flavorful and buttery, but lacked any crunch. Each subsequent bite revealed the bun to be tiresome. The texture was a bit odd, dense and crumbly.  This was the weakest part of this sandwich and by the end I would of preferred a fork.    Score: 2

Beef:  TENDER. Thinly sliced and juicy. This beef had it all. Lots of au jus flavor, and it melted in your mouth. My super beef had copious amounts of beef as well.    Score: 5

Sauce:  The sauce has good amount of tang with black pepper spice. No complaints. Score: 5

Overall:   Amazing beef, horrible bun. Score: 3

Notes: Spicy fries were tasty but over salted.

Bonus guest review

Kate's Jr Beef Extra Sauce:

Bun:            

"No flavor, blah"  Score: 3

Beef:  

"Hands down 5! I wish I didn't get extra sauce because the beef is so good. " Score: 5

Sauce: 

"Sauce plenty but not over bearing. Very peppery."  Score: 4

Overall:       

 "I'm between 3 and 4 but the beef pushed it over" Score: 3

Nick's Famous Roast Beef,139 Dodge St, Beverly, MA 01915

Since 1975 the two Nicks (and their families) at Nick's Famous Roast Beef have been roasting and serving excellent roast beef. Because of their dedication to their product, families, and community they have been well recognized by the likes of Phantom Gourmet, Boston's Best, and beef lovers everywhere.   

Bun: Expertly grilled with plenty of crispy, buttery flavor. Light hints of onion come through as well. Perfection Score: 5

Beef:  I've had Nick's a number of times before and this was an off day. But at Beefday we call them as we eat them. Tough and overcooked. Must of been the end or beginning of a roast. That being said the flavor was still there.  Score: 3

Sauce: Super sweet with light tang and moderate spice. The sweetness and tang is similar to what you would find with ketchup, while the black pepper spice builds without ever getting heavier than a threat of heat. Score: 5

Overall: Off day on the beef but this sandwich Nick's absolutely deserves their reputation of being one of the best. Score: 4

Notes:  The chicken fingers will blow your socks off.

Bonus Guest Review

Kate's Junior Roast Beef With Extra Sauce:

Bun: "Bun is really crispy and taste like butter." Score: 5

Beef: "Beef is dry and chewy, but every so often a piece is perfect" Score: 3

Sauce: "Sauce is really good, tangy and flavorful but not too hot." Score: 4

Overall: "An off day." Score: 3

Courtyard Roast Beef, Seafood, and Subs, 192 State St., Route 1 Traffic Circle, Newburyport, MA 01950

Courtyard Roast Beef (which gets it's moniker because it sits in the shadows of Newburyport District Court) comes up often when the best beef question is asked. In fact when you walk in they have a wall of accolades dating back a few decades from various magazines. They claim that their success is due to friendly service and a top secret recipe of special seasonings and twice cooking. The service is unbelievable that is easy to see, as for the twice cooked method? The jury is still out.

Bun: Your number is called and you are all excited about your super beef. You pick the perfect booth, sit down, and rip open the wrapping. Immediately your heart sinks. Sitting there on the white waxed paper, staring back at you is a SESAME SEED BUN . A bun that they further more forgot to grill. Granted it is delicious, and the sesame seeds do add some crunch. But rules are rules.   Score: 2

Beef:  In one word, JUICY. Maybe there is something to this twice cooking business. This beef was so moist and full of beef flavor that I think the top secret seasoning is just more beef or maybe beef broth. The serving size was good but occasionally this sandwich went from super tender to really tough. Score: 4

Sauce: Sauce was the first thing I noticed on this sandwich. It is sweet up front with a little bit of burn on the tail end, and a wallop of vinegar tang in the middle. I wish I had more as I started dipping my sandwich in Kate's extra sauce.  Score: 3

Overall: The staff is worth supporting and this sandwich is more than decent, but next time I'll opt for a Jr with mayo and extra sauce. There is just no reason to buy a super without that onion roll. Score: 3

Notes:  The onion rings are phenomenal but the coleslaw is disgusting.

Bonus Guest Review

Kate's Small Roast Beef With Extra Sauce:

Bun: "Bun is totally average." Score: 3

Beef: "Pretty tender minus one piece, Taste like beef." Score: 3

Sauce: "Wicked tangy with black pepper after taste." Score: 3

Overall: "Decent." Score: 3
 

Review Redo: Harrison's Roast Beef, 80 Chickering Rd, North Andover, MA 01845

Kate and I met up with Laura and Tim (an original Beef Day 2012 contributor and a beef connoisseur in his own right)  this weekend to kick off our first review redo post. Our target Harrison's Roast Beef got great marks a while back (here) scoring an over all of 4. Let's see if they keep it up?

Bun: Once again this bun was too flat. This time it lacked the crisp edges it had going for it before. Score: 3

Beef: Beef was a little cold today, might not of been a fresh batch. Score: 3

Sauce: Sauce is still great, this time they were heavy with the mayo which prevented the spice from getting out of control  Score: 4

Overall: I think this was an off sandwich for this establishment, but not bad at all.  Score: 4

Notes: Overlooked in my first review but defiantly a nice touch, Harrison's slices all these sandwiches in half for you.



Tim's super cheese mayo extra sauce:

Bun: "Flat, no texture, but good onion and butter flavor" Score: 3

Beef: "A little overdone today. It also didn't fill the bun, all the beef was piled in the middle. Still tender but needs better presentation."  Score: 3

Sauce: "extra generous with the portion, strong but not over powering" Score: 5

Overall: "Cheese was negligible but sauce and overall flavor makes it worthwhile" Score: 4



Laura's super cheese mayo extra sauce:

Bun: "Chewy and spungey,"  Score: 3

Beef: "Tender nice flavor and the perfect amount" Score:4

Sauce: "Delightful, I really like the tang and spice"  Score: 4

Overall: "a real good one today!" Score: 4




Kate's super extra sauce:

Bun: "Didn't taste fresh, I actually ate some of the sandwich without the bun. Overall flavor was fine but not enough onions"  Score: 2

Beef: "Really tender, wish it was a little less shaved." Score: 4

Sauce: "Very Spicy!"  Score: 5

Overall: "Too bad the bun was so bad because the overall flavors were great, and the fries are awesome!"  Score: 4



Review Redo Outcome:
Harrison's is a great sandwich, just don't go looking for a killer bun or presentation. This place is all about the sauce.

Charlie's Roast Beef, 152 S Main St, Middleton, MA 01949

Charlie's Roast Beef in Middleton has a great location for enjoying a classic North Shore date night. It shares a parking lot with Richardson's Ice Cream, which offers some of New England's best frozen treats along with a driving range, mini golf, and a working dairy farm that you can poke around.

Bun: I loved this over sized bun. It had nice strong onion flavor with big visible sweet onion bits, a great fluffy texture, and was butter grilled to a perfect crisp. Excellent!  Score: 5

Beef: This beef was a little dry in some spots (see the bottom corner of the above photo) but was surprisingly tender still. Portion size was great, they piled it on so much that the over sized bun had a hard time containing it. Score: 3

Sauce: Charlie's uses James River BBQ sauce, which is popular among roast beef places. It is peppery with good burn and tang. In Charlies case they could use more of it and better distribution. Most of my sauce was in the middle of the sandwich, but the parts that had plenty of sauce more than made up for the dry beef that we spoke of earlier. Score: 4

Overall: Charlies is a solid roast beef sandwich, I would recommend ordering extra sauce as the parts that are slathered with that James River BBQ are delicious. Score: 3

Notes: Charlies serving size is huge, can you believe that Kate's sandwich is a small?!

Bonus Guest Review

Kate's Small Roast Beef With Extra Sauce:

Bun: "I thought this bun was fairly regular, but toasted nicely" Score: 3

Beef: "A couple of tough pieces, Look at the serving size!" Score: 3

Sauce: "Excellent" Score: 4

Overall:  "Solid, Can we go to Richardson's?" Score: 4

Billy’s (Famous) Roast Beef & Seafood, 1291 Main Street, Wakefield, MA. 01880

Billy's Roast Beef in Wakefield is a childhood favorite of mine. In 6th and 7th grade when we had a half day of school we used to take the bus to Billy's and buy ourselves a super beef with everything. It wasn't until years later that I realized how lucky I was to have this restaurant so close by when I was growing up. One quick note: this is a cash only establishment, so hit the bank on the way over.    

I realize that looks like cheese but its mayo, this sandwich was sans cheese.

Bun: This bun is super crispy, most places just the edges are golden brown, not the case here. The entire bun was crispy. The flavor was great but I think it could use a little more onion. Score: 4

Beef:  First bite into this sandwich the thing I noticed was the beef, so so so tender. There is absolutely no pull to it. and you barely need to chew it just melt away in your mouth. The flavor is nice and understated, you taste the beef here not seasonings. Score: 5

Sauce: Good spice right off the bat. At no point did my lips go numb so I would hold this one at medium spice. Has strong black pepper notes, but isn't overly sweet or vinegary. Very balanced.  Score: 5

Overall: I may be biased but this sandwich was great, exactly what I look for in a roast beef. The balance between sauce, bun, and beef was excellent as well as the portion size. There was beef falling out as soon as you picked up the sandwich. Definitely a sandwich I could and will order again and again. Score: 5

Notes: Billy's has quite posibley the most creamy and tasty mayo I have ever had. Not sure what it is they use but its excellent. Not to mention they are not shy about using it. (see photo above)

Bonus Guest Review

Kate's Super Beef Extra Sauce:

Bun: "Loved the buttery flavor, and it was crispy right up to last bite. I also liked that the onion flavor was not overwhelming." Score: 5

Beef: "So tender. I could easily take a clean bite." Score: 5

Sauce: "It had good spice to it. At first I didn't think they gave me enough but I was surprised as I went. Nothing that made me Ooo and Ahh but solid."   Score: 4

Overall: "Definitely one of the best I've had" Score: 5

Jasmine's Famous Roast Beef & Seafood, 178 Lafayette Rd, Seabrook, NH 03874

Located just over the boarder in tax-free New Hampshire, Jasmine's Famous Roast Beef & Seafood is easily accessible from both Hampton and Salisbury beaches. While not the best roast beef we have reviewed, Jasmine's offers up a quality beef product along with a full menu of fried clams, onion rings, and fresh subs that looked every bit as tempting.

Bun:            

Talk about crispy! This over sized onion bun was grilled perfectly with nice crispy edges. The bun it's self lacks onion flavor, which you could tell just by looking at it. (hard to spot those onion flecks) Score: 3

Beef:  

A little dark and chewy on the corners this beef remained tender and pink in the center. Not ideal but not bad. Serving size on the the super beef was not over generous.   Score: 3

Sauce: 

Where they held back on beef they went gangbusters on sauce and mayo. This made for a messy sandwich that left me wanting for wet naps on the way out the door. The sauce was tangy with strong vinegar and black pepper notes but the burn didn't last long and there is no build up of spice. Score: 4

Overall:       

Over all this is an average beef. Not a place I would go out of my way to get to but you could do a lot worse. Score: 3

Bonus guest review

Kate's Jr Beef Extra Sauce:

Bun:            

"First few bites were nice and crispy"  Score: 4

Beef:  

"My beef seemed really tender but lacked any flavor of it's own" Score: 3

Sauce: 

"Sauce was really tangy, with quick burn, HUGE plus for giving me a ton of extra sauce when I asked for it."  Score: 3

Overall:       

 "Overall a solid roast beef" Score: 3