Playboy says best sandwich in America at Wong’s Inn. But…
It’s always nice to make the national lists, but there’s some inconsistency in the recent inclusion of the St. Paul sandwich at Wong’s Inn, 2666 South Big Bend in Maplewood, on Playboy.com’s list of Best Sandwiches in America.
Let’s parse the text that goes along with the award. “Found mainly in the St. Louis area but invented by a chop suey shop owner from St. Paul…” This is a one-source legend dating to a 2006 article by Malcom Gay in the RFT, in which Park Chop Suey’s owner claims that a former owner of the restaurant, who was from St. Paul, Minn., invented the thing. But there’s no corroborating evidence, and the way it’s worded, it sounds like the sandwich was invented in St. Paul and migrated here. I’m pretty sure you can’t find a St. Paul anywhere but in St. Louis.
“…a sandwich invented by Chinese immigrants who wanted to attract uneducated American palettes to their cuisine.” Rather than transcribing from Wikipedia, if you just cut and paste, you’ll even spell “palates” correctly.
“Although the sandwich has only been around for less than ten years—migrating west to San Francisco due to the city’s large Chinese population and perhaps because of the massive number of stoners residing in the area—it has quickly gained legendary status nationwide.” Huh? I think Tommy Crone alone has been writing about the St. Paul sandwich for more than 10 years. And where can you find one in San Francisco (or in Miami, as the article later implies)?
It’s a really weird piece. But at least they spelled our name right.
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Joe Bonwich has been the restaurant critic for the Post-Dispatch since 2002 and has covered the local food scene for various publications for more than 25 years. He does his best to maintain his anonymity so that he isn't recognized in restaurants (which is why his picture looks like it does). 
The Playboy article is, more than weird, inaccurate. I was born in the late 50s; grew up in North St. Louis. One of the most popular Chinese restaurants in town (up to the early 80s) was Chinatown Cafe on the corner of Page and Walton; people came from all parts of town to eat at this old-style Chinese, sit-down restaurant where the waitress had worked there for over 15-20 years when I was a kid. The restaurant became strictly take-out shortly after the original owner (Tommy) sold the restaurant to his nephew when he retired and returned home to China. I worked there as a teenager on weekends in the early 70s (I lived a couple of doors down). The St. Paul was on the menu before I started working there.
The “where” and “how” the sandwich got its name is still a subject of long-standing debate, but what is undisputed is its longevity and near exclusivity to the St. Louis area until the 80s. I saw it listed on a menu in a Chicago take-out in the mid-80s.
I am 36 and St.Paul sandwiches have been around since I was little.. It just seems when different race learn of these things its new.. If you were raised in a certain area you would know they have been around a long,long time..
This story is so inaccurate in it’s assertion that St. Paul sandwich has only been around about 10 years! I began eating this sandwich in the 1950s at a chinese restaurant in the 5000 block of Page! I will try the sandwich at Wong’s Inn to compare it to the St. Pauls I have been eating for over 50 years!
The most inaccurate thing about this story is the complete B.S. headline of “Playboy says best sandwich in America at Wong’s Inn. But…”
But…..They didn’t say that. It is simply on their list of best sandwiches. Plural. There is a distinct difference. Good job Joe, or whomever the headline writer is. Stay classy Post Dispatch.
I only read Playboy for the sandwich ratings.
This is so cool! Growing up not far from there we used to only get our Chinese at Wong’s Inn (formally Wong’s Wok)! Kudos!!
wonder who sourced um….guess brain sandwiches have fallen from St. Louis’s claim to fame. St. Paul huh? thought it was just cheap eats.
wow fsuga00, you are right. and they still have not changed the headline.
what do you really expect though from a food critic for the Post-Dispatch? not that aren’t some slightly above average places to get food in this town, but come on, the dining scene here is weak at best. i went to college in miami, and frequent atlanta for business and get so excited to go either of those two places because the food quality is so much better. food here can only be described as sloppy. very few dishes have clean flavors that let the ingredients shine. daniel boulud says a quality dish should have no more than 5 ingredients, and he is so right. i challenge you to find something like that in this town.
can’t wait to see this guy’s next review of imos pizza….
Wikipedia never lies.
The St. Paul sandwich is a type of sandwich found in Chinese American restaurants in St. Louis, Missouri. The sandwich consists of an egg foo young patty (made with bean sprouts and minced white onions) served with dill pickle slices, white onion, mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato between two slices of white bread.
Origin
One source has the origin of the St. Paul sandwich dating as far back as the early 1940s; when Chinese restaurants, desperate to attract the American food going public to try their cuisine, invented the sandwich to appeal to their palates.[1] According to local legend, the St. Paul Sandwich was invented by Steven Yuen at Park Chop Suey in Lafayette Square, a neighborhood in downtown St. Louis; Yuen named the sandwich after his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Variations
According to one source, the phrase “St. Paul sandwich” has meant multiple things over the past sixty years. Originally, the St. Paul sandwich was known to contain four pieces of white bread with chicken and egg stuffed inside; later it was just egg and hamburger on a bun. The current version of the St. Paul sandwich gained traction around 1999.[2]
Availability
It is usually only available in Chinese restaurants in the St. Louis metropolitan area, as well as at least one Chinese American restaurant in Columbia, Missouri. However, the St. Paul sandwich can now be found in San Francisco and various Chinese eateries nationwide. This sandwich was featured in the PBS documentary Sandwiches That You Will Like in 2003.