History
The Polish Boy was popularized at Virgil Whitmore's Bar-B-Q in Mount Pleasant in the late 1960s and 1970s. Whitmore, a Texas migrant, combined Southern barbecue with the local Polish kielbasa to make a stacked sandwich that became Cleveland's unofficial signature. The format spread to lunch counters across the East Side; Freddie's Southern Style Rib House and Hot Sauce Williams now anchor the modern Polish Boy circuit.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 4 large kielbasa links, about 600g total
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into thick-cut fries
- Neutral oil for frying, about 1 litre
- 4 long sub or hoagie rolls
- 300g sweet coleslaw, drained
- 120ml sweet-style barbecue sauce
- Yellow ballpark mustard to finish
- Sea salt
Method
- Heat the frying oil to 165C and blanch the fries until soft but pale, about 4 minutes. Drain and rest 10 minutes.
- Raise the oil to 190C and fry the rested fries a second time until deep gold, about 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper and season with salt.
- Score the kielbasa lengthwise and grill or pan-fry over medium-high heat until charred and heated through, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Split each roll, lay in one kielbasa link, top with a generous fistful of fries, then a heap of slaw.
- Squeeze barbecue sauce in a heavy zig-zag across the top, finish with a stripe of yellow mustard.
Tip from the editors. Don't skip the double-fry; soggy fries collapse the stack and the sandwich becomes a slaw cup.
Where to eat polish boy
Polish Boy in Cleveland
Mt Pleasant Bar-B-Q ★ 4.2
Mt Pleasant Bar-B-Q on Kinsman Road in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, a family-run sit-down rib house and Polish Boy counter, runs the city's archetypal.
TryPolish Boy and Texas-style barbecue ribs
Seti's Polish Boys ★ 4.6
Seti's Polish Boys is Cleveland's longest-running Polish Boy food truck on the festival circuit, with the canonical kielbasa-fries-slaw-BBQ stack on a bun.
TryPolish Boy: grilled kielbasa, fries, slaw and BBQ sauce on a bun
Prosperity Social Club ★ 4.4
Prosperity Social Club on Starkweather Avenue in Tremont, a 1938 tavern with wood-paneled walls, runs late pierogi and tavern fare on weekends to 01:00.
TryPierogi, kielbasa and tavern fare
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