Maid-Rite: a sandwich so good you'll drive for hours to taste it

The Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe in Greenville, OH may be a local favorite, but it's also well-worth a road trip just to taste their amazing little sandwiches...

How far would you drive for a sandwich? We drove nearly 2 hours for a Maid-Rite “Cheese-Rite,” and we’d do it again in a heartbeat. Nestled on the edge of the little Ohio town of Greenville, the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe has become a strange mecca for sandwich lovers from all over the midwest, and after our little trip, we can see why.

via Maid-Rite

Truth be told, we didn’t head from Cincinnati to the Ohio countryside for Maid-Rite, but to track down two trucks from my father’s youth. After scoping out the relics in a little stop-lightless town in rural western Ohio, my father’s childhood friend mentioned we should drive a little further north for a sandwich he fell in love with as a boy: the Cheese-Rite.

We soon found ourselves in the quaint city of Greenville, Ohio, home to about 13,000 folks, all of whom I think either came inside or through the drive-thru of their cherished Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe while we enjoyed lunch.

To call the Maid-Rite a Greenville institution wouldn’t do it justice. It’s almost on a level of sacred at this point. Founded in 1934, the Maid-Rite is so deeply beloved by the people of Greenville the former fire chief once worried he’d be run out of town if he couldn’t save the Maid-Rite during a fire in the 1990s. Fire departments near and far came to rescue the sacred Maid-Rite.

The first thing you notice about the Maid-Rite is the gum. There is literally chewing gum stuck all over the building, a rite of passage for any Maid-Rite newbie. It’s just another little quirk making the Maid-Rite so endearing.

via Flickr

Once inside, you’ll find a simple diner doing what its done for decades… Serving up their famous “loose meat” sandwiches.

What’s a “loose meat” sandwich you ask? Imagine a sloppy joe without the sauce. The Maid-Rite’s sandwiches aren’t just “loose meat” though. Their secret recipe makes for some sort of bizarrely sweet and savory sandwich unlike anything we’ve ever tasted. We polished off two a piece in quick order and grabbed plenty for the road.

via Facebook

While the food is certainly amazing, it’s the Maid-Rite’s status as the local gathering place that truly makes it so special. It’s the kind of place a boy has his first date. It’s the kind of place you visit first thing upon returning home from college, military service, or just a long absence. Little diners like the Maid-Rite are what we love about small towns and cities… The community supports the Maid-Rite and it supports the community right back.

via Flickr

For those of us not from Greenville, the Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe seems a little off the beaten path, but once you know about it, you’ll do anything to make sure your path takes you to its front door every now and then.

Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe

125 N Broadway St.

Greenville, Ohio

(937) 548-9340

Facebook

Note: Cash only

(Cover photo via Flickr)