In 1908, two competing Los Angeles eateries, Philippe’s and the now-shuttered Cole’s, opened their doors, selling a sandwich each claimed to have invented: the French dip, a humble roast beef hero served with pan juices. It went on to become a national staple, served everywhere. Here in New York City, the sandwich is on the menu at places like Brennan & Carr and Roll & Roaster, where the “roast beef wars” are on par with the Mets versus Yankees. It’s also found in newer places like Corner Bar, Anton’s, the Landing, 4 Charles Prime Rib, and the Fulton.
While the sandwich is iconic, today’s French dip has evolved into a culinary flex, rising with the tide of YouTube sensation Salt Hank (aka Henry Laporte), whose lusty iteration has become the sandwich du jour. At the Greenwich Village storefront, he sells an average of 300 before 2:30 p.m., when it’s sold out.
Laporte, who just turned 30 and has 2.6 million followers on TikTok, has been delighting viewers since COVID, cooking big, salty, high-fat “Five Napkin” foods (which is also the name of his cookbook), including his signature French dip.
Salt Hank’s French dip sandwich ($28), made by chef Daniel Rubenfield (who is a Thomas Keller alum), is based on Laporte’s same recipe. It starts with a fresh demi-baguette from Frenchette that’s appropriately sturdy enough to absorb the jus without disintegrating. Laporte says he tasted nearly 150 baguettes before he settled on this one.
The bread gets a good swipe of horseradish and roasted garlic aioli, then a half-pound of thinly-shaved Pat LaFreida prime rib that’s been roasted in a compound butter. It’s topped with tangles of onions that have been caramelized for 12 hours. “They reduce so much you’re getting like two onions per sandwich, sticky and gooey to the limit,” says Laporte. On goes a blanket of provolone cheese, before the sandwich is thrown into the convection oven to melt everything together. A steamy cup of homemade beef stock fortified with bouillon and a massive pile of potato sticks complete the meal.
The crusty bread, hot steak, golden frizzled potatoes, and provolone blistered to the point of becoming a cheese crust bring to mind what might happen if a bowl of French onion soup became a sandwich. It’s almost too much of a good thing, like sitting across from Pedro Pascal in a muscle tee.
The French dip has not only been drawing lines on Bleecker Street; the sandwich is showing up all over the city. In the West Village at Anton’s, chef Nick Anderer serves au jus with a sesame seed baguette overstuffed with rare roast beef ($26). Nearby at Minetta Tavern, ribbons of pink steak and horseradish sauce are blanketed by a soft roll with a good crust, ideal for soaking up the terrine of jus. It’s also on the menu at 4 Charles Prime Rib ($39.99) and its Midtown sister restaurant, the Monkey Bar ($39.99), where hot prime rib is tucked into a Parisi Bakery bun, accompanied by both horseradish dip and au jus.
The French dip at Minetta Tavern. Minetta Tavern/Official
Things get a little different at the Landing in Midtown West, the first NYC restaurant from Chicago restaurateur David Morton. Chef Jon Ho said the sandwich was inspired by his childhood favorite: dry-cured rib-eye is dunked in beef au jus, swaddled with melted Muenster cheese, and topped with diced sour pickles — a welcome jolt of acidity — on a ciabatta coated in herb butter ($30). “It immediately became a best seller,” says Morton.
Down in the Seaport at the Fulton, chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has merged two viral trends: his short rib smash burger is actually a French dip. It’s layered with buttermilk crisped onions, topped with gruyere and dijon-chile mayonnaise, and it comes with a side of onion jus.
But perhaps the most bedazzled version is at the opulent Times Square steakhouse Gui, where a 24-hour koji-cured prime rib is rubbed with a five-pepper spice blend, slow-roasted for 10 hours, warmed in bourbon-beef au jus, topped with caramelized onions cooked in beef tallow and soy, and finished with a horseradish cream featuring yuzu and chiles ($29).
The French dip at Gui. Dan Ahn
“There is a reason that French dip is trending,” says Gui chef Sungchul Shim. “Thin-cut prime rib between beautiful bread and luxurious au jus is irresistible to anyone. And accessible luxury is also something very trending as well.”
The French dip is also on an influencer high. Mentions of the sandwich on social media are up 70 percent from June to July, making it the top month for French dip social media mentions over the past two years, according to global food and beverage intelligence company Datassential. The social media saturation tracks with the sandwich’s heightened popularity: the company reports that over the past four years, French dips are showing up on 25 percent more of fine dining menus.
The French dip at the Corner Store has been a top seller since the day the Soho restaurant debuted in September 2024. The sandwich puts 72-hour dry-aged wagyu on a house-baked baguette with horseradish aioli and a two-day au jus ($38.95). “There is no question that they taste amazing,” says Michael Vignola, the culinary director of the restaurant’s parent company Catch Hospitality Group. “When they’re made right, they hit every note — rich, savory, nostalgic. They’re also not easy to execute, so you can’t get a great one just anywhere.” Well, actually, maybe you can, especially throughout New York.