The Best Sandwich in Philly Is Saad’s Chicken Maroosh

Today, we introduce a new feature, “The Best Sandwich in Philly,” in which contributors make an argument for what they think is the best — or, at least, their favorite — sandwich in the area. Disagree? Want to tell us about the best hoagie? cheesesteak? Make your case in 300 words or less, and submit it at bit.ly/40JvDBI, click here.

In the first installment, writer Alexandra Jones makes a case for the chicken maroosh.

I can’t count how many times I’ve eaten the chicken maroosh, the menu item for which Saad’s Halal Restaurant at 45th and Walnut is best known. Dozens? Hundreds? Enough to earn a “Where’s the Maroosh?” T-shirt — the prize for filling a punch card as part of a short-lived frequent buyer program.

I probably ate my first in 2008. That was my first year in Philly, and I quickly came to love the tight, typically crowded dining room, which welcomes you in with a wall of aroma from the fryer, and more than one sign insisting “NO CELLULAR PHONES.”

Stuffed abundantly with fillings, spanning the length of my forearm, and composed to give each bite a transcendent combination of meaty/bready/creamy/tangy, the chicken maroosh is possibly the perfect sandwich.

To make the Chicken Shish Tawook Maroosh Way — its official name on the menu — owner Saad Alrayes packs juicy chicken grilled on skewers into a long hoagie roll rather than swaddling them in the usual pita. It’s finished with grilled onions, sliced tomatoes, and spears of tart, snappy pickle, then topped with curly parsley and generous drizzles of unctuous garlic sauce. A moment in a hot panini press gives the roll a crisp-toasted exterior and melds everything together.

I asked Alrayes why the chicken maroosh has become the shop’s most beloved menu item. “It has the hot grilled chicken and onions, hot and cold together, like a burger. The hot and cold tastes so good, and the crunchiness.”

Alrayes blessed Philadelphia with the chicken maroosh, but he’s not its originator. “We opened a long time ago — 34 years, 26 years in this location,” he said. “We noticed that customers, they were not too familiar with the pita bread.” He decided to offer an alternative he’d seen at a restaurant called Maroosh in his native Lebanon, where the proprietor served sandwiches on American-style hoagie rolls. You can get your beef or kofta maroosh way, too.

Each maroosh is double-wrapped in foil-lined paper to contain its abundance. Eating one without wearing it is a delicate art — perhaps the only advantage of the traditional pita. When you find the perfect sandwich, you don’t need to order anything else, though I sometimes add a side of grape leaves or Greek salad (and everything on the menu, from the falafel platter to the lentil soup, is worth ordering).

The experience has never not been incredible, satisfying, and comforting, although the price has jumped from a recession-era $9 to a pandemic-era $14, which I still gratefully pay. As Alrayes said, “People are willing to pay more, but don’t change the quality.”

Out of the thousands of sandwiches I’ve eaten over 15 years living in this city — corner store cheesesteaks, roast pork sandwiches, tofu banh mi, Italian hoagies — the chicken maroosh remains my No. 1. I have loved this sandwich for longer than I have loved my husband. I devoured one — how could I not? — while writing this piece.

When I first moved to Philly, I lived right around the corner from Saad’s, in an apartment above a hair braiding salon and a phone card store. My roommates and I bought our produce at the truck on 44th and Sansom, scoured Second Mile for housewares and clothes, and ate Saad’s whenever our budgets would allow. It became a ritual to get your fix right before the restaurant closed for Ramadan each year, then again as soon as they reopened a month later. In the years since, I’ve biked over to sate a craving only to find the dining room dark and the doors locked because I didn’t double-check the calendar.

Eating the chicken maroosh reconnects me for a moment with all the versions of myself that have stepped through Saad’s doors in search of this big, beautiful sandwich. Like a longtime friend who feels immediately familiar even when you haven’t seen each other in a while, the chicken maroosh brings joy — and a reminder of how far I’ve come.

Saad’s Halal Restaurant, 4500 Walnut St., 215-222-7223