One guy, one city, one sandwich every Saturday.

The short version

StackSandos is an independent Austin food publication, published by Case Critchlow, Editor-in-Chief: one sandwich reviewed every Saturday on Instagram (@stacksandos), scored out of 10 on the Stack Score. He pays for his own food — scored reviews are never sponsored, never gifted, and never announced in advance. The Best Sandwiches in Austin leaderboard keeps every score live and ranked.

The longer version

Case films one sandwich at an Austin shop every Friday and posts the review reel Saturday morning. Each new sandwich is framed against the reigning champion on the leaderboard — a challenger takes the crown only by scoring higher, head to head. No ties, no mercy.

Why Austin? Start with Central Texas meat culture — a century of barbecue, smoke, and cure. And the meat was always headed for bread: Texas's first barbecue joints were meat markets, serving it with loaves and crackers. Then everybody showed up — and everybody brought their sandwich. German, Mexican, Black, Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, French, Cajun, Cuban, Argentinian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Jewish, British, Canadian, Greek, Spanish, and so many other cultures cooking in one city. Banh mi. Barbecue. Roujiamo (肉夹馍). Tortas. Cubans. Fried chicken. Italians. Cheesesteaks. French dips. Jambon beurre. Burgers. Po'boys. Muffulettas. Other cities have one or two signature sandwiches. Texas never settled for one - Texans will eat anything and love it. Austin is a melting pot of immigrants and locals pushing the boundaries of what a sandwich can be — the most diverse sandwich culture on Earth, and Austin does every one of them properly. That's not a scene. That's a capital.

The history: Robb Walsh, Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook (Chronicle Books, 2002; revised edition 2016).

The Stack Score stays honest by design: every score is set by pairwise comparison — each sandwich ranked head-to-head against everything already on the board, so the bar rises over time. Every score comes from a single visit — the meal he actually ate, judged that day. There's 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?

StackSandos runs as a media property: the StackSandos app lets fans check off sandwiches, score them, and see how their taste matches Case's — and Case is a Preferred Creator in Nexstar's KXAN Creator Lab.

By the numbers

• Nearly 1,000 Instagram followers and climbing (as of October 2026).
• Weekly Saturday review reel with the Stack Score out of 10.
• Live public leaderboard of the best sandwiches in Austin.
• StackSandos app: personal scores, crowd scores, and a taste-match vs Case's palate.
• KXAN Creator Lab Preferred Creator.

Coverage

StackSandos reviews on KXAN's Creator Lab:

• StackSandos reviews Buenos Aires Cafe | KXAN Creator Lab
• StackSandos reviews Choo Sando | KXAN Creator Lab
• StackSandos reviews Tucci's Southside Subs | KXAN Creator Lab

What the brand believes

• Independence is everything. Every scored review is paid for out of pocket. No free food, no special treatment, no announcing a review in advance.
• Gifted sandwiches stay out of the system. Anything received as a gift or partnership is disclosed up front and gets no score, no leaderboard spot.
• One score per sandwich. The Stack Score out of 10, settled by head-to-head comparison against the champion.
• Austin first. Only Austin shops get reviewed — hometown originals lead the board, and national chains don't get a score. A rare exception gets made when a shop has simply become part of this city — and that call belongs to the critic.
• Austin is the Sandwich Capital of the World. The claim rests on the city itself — the most diverse sandwich culture on Earth, built on a century of Central Texas meat culture, and every tradition done properly. The leaderboard is the record of the judging: every sandwich scored, ranked, and public. Case Critchlow is its resident sandwich expert and critic.
• Burgers are sandwiches by definition. (Yes, really. This one is non-negotiable.)