Utica, NYSandwiches

A downtown Utica sub counter that Rome Sentinel's Thomas Caputo folded into his Genesee Street guide, open Monday through Saturday from late morning to mid-afternoon. Mohawk Valley Living's sandwich roundup points to the half-turkey, half-roast-beef build as the order here, stacked to go from the 242 Genesee Street storefront. It is the kind of no-reservations walk-up lunch spot that anchors the street's daytime trade.

Spectrum News profiled this Genesee Street newcomer as part of the corridor's growing food scene, and the kitchen leans on two things: a French dip and a fried chicken sandwich, with beef-tallow fries alongside. The dip's roasted beef and the crisp chicken cutlet are the reasons regulars line up, and the fries fried in beef tallow round out a short, focused lunch menu downtown.

Rome Sentinel covered the grand opening of Aqua Vino's New Hartford location, and Mohawk Valley Living's sandwich guide singles out the Geno's Steak Sandwich as the plate to get. It is a fuller sit-down restaurant that also does a serious sandwich, so the steak sandwich holds up as a quick lunch and as part of a longer meal at the New Hartford dining room.

This Rome kitchen made Mohawk Valley Living's sandwich roundup and its second restaurant issue on the strength of two builds: Chris' Slow Roast and The Negotiator, a fried chicken cutlet sandwich. Chef-owner Chris Destito's slow-roasted beef and the crisp-cutlet Negotiator are the signatures, served in a bar-and-restaurant format that draws a Rome crowd well beyond the lunch hours.

A New Hartford deli that Mohawk Valley Living's sandwich guide recommends for its house-made turkey, roasted and sliced in-house rather than bought pre-cooked. That house turkey is the reason to order the classic turkey sandwich here, a straightforward deli lunch that trades on doing the basics from scratch.