SPRINGFIELD – Springfield’s Souper Sweet Sandwich Shop, located at 929 Belmont Ave., offers an array of delicious – dare I say gourmet – sandwiches, soups and desserts. This week in the Best Damn Sandwich series, G. Michael Dobbs, Stephanie Trombley, Carling Willis and I took a trip to the storefront in search of the latest best damn sandwich.

For those of you who may not be following along, the last Best Damn Sandwich review I wrote was on The Student Prince’s Monte Cristo. I shared that my taste in sandwiches is usually quite simple: a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise – maybe mustard and onion if I’m really spicing things up. However, I had stepped out of my comfort zone with the Monte Cristo and found the “best damn sandwich” I had ever had.

In the spirit of trying new things, I decided once again I would not succumb to my turkey on a roll safety net and really go crazy by trying something out of the box. I wasn’t sure what types of sandwiches Souper Sweet Sandwich Shop offered, but as I glanced at the sandwich menu which is scrawled across blackboards on the wall, I instantly knew Souper Sweet would have exactly what I was looking for. With humorous sandwich names such as the “hot mess,” “the devil made me do it,” “I shot the sheriff,” “train wreck,” and “hey meathead,” I found myself chuckling as I struggled to choose my ideal sandwich.

After reading through the menu several times and going back and forth between a few options that piqued my interest, I finally decided on “I shot the sheriff.” This sandwich consists of jerked rotisserie chicken, hand pressed pineapple mango spread, arugula, plantain mayonnaise and provolone cheese. Far cry from a turkey sandwich if you ask me.

The sandwich was served on a white bread that seemed to be some form of Italian-style loaf. Then, the sandwich was toasted Panini-style with aesthetically pleasing grill lines.

As I opened my sandwich and separated the slices (the sandwich is so big that it’s served in three sizeable slices) cheese was oozing out of the centers in delicious strings. From the first bite, I was hooked. The rotisserie chicken was fresh and flavorful, the pineapple mango spread was a sweet touch that I never would have thought of to put on a sandwich, and the plantain mayonnaise also had a slightly sweet flavor to traditional mayo.

This sandwich was a 10 in my book, and now sits right beside the Student Prince’s Monte Cristo as far as my best damn sandwich ratings go! Following our sandwiches, we each taste tested three desserts: the lemon bar, sweet potato pie, and cheesecake. I thought that I would like the sweet potato pie the least, but honestly, it was the best out of all of the deserts. It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory, and of course, it has sweet potato in it so I can trick myself into thinking it’s “good for me!” Hey – it has a vegetable in it!

I wholeheartedly recommend our readers give Souper Sweet Sandwich Shop a try. With their unique sandwiches, savory soups and delightful desserts, this eatery is sure to be a hit. Souper Sweet is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Souper Sweet is closed on Sunday. For more information, call the shop at 209-8260.