And the best sandwich in Fort Collins is ...

Erin Udell, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·4 min read

What is your favorite sandwich in Fort Collins?

We asked and you answered.

As part of our annual March Madness-inspired food bracket, the Coloradoan took on sandwiches this year, with voters flocking to our Instagram story last week to narrow down the initial field of 32 contenders to one lucky winner.

But first, the full list of contenders:

  • Avogadro's Number (veggie steak sub)

  • Babalu's Cuban Cafe (cubano)

  • B&B Pickle Barrel Deli (the Toonces)

  • Butterfly Cafe (turkey avocado sandwich)

  • Cheba Hut Toasted Subs (the White Widow)

  • Choice City Butcher & Deli (reuben)

  • City Park Gelato & Amore (Hot Chicago Italian beef sandwich)

  • The Colorado Room (Rhine sammy)

  • Daddy O's Jr. (Spicy Italian sandwich)

  • Deli Works (reuben)

  • Elevated Sandwiches (Cheese Steak)

  • Fat Shack (the Fat Shack sub)

  • Fiona's Delicatessen, Bakery & Catering (Fiona's Reuben)

  • Firehouse Subs (Hook & Ladder sub)

  • The Fox and the Crow (cubano)

  • Half Fast Subs (the Big Apple)

  • Jersey Mike's Subs (No. 4)

  • Jimmy John's (Jimmy cubano)

  • La Piadina Italian Flatbread Sandwichs (the Daniele flatbread sandwich)

  • Music City Hot Chicken (hot chicken sandwich)

  • Obee's (Italian sub)

  • Potbelly Sandwich Shop (Wreck sandwich)

  • Road 34 (Lil Nick Italian sandwich)

  • Scrumpy's Hard Cider Bar and Pub (the Normandy)

  • Silver Mine Subs (Cripple Creek sub)

  • Snack Attack Specialty Sandwiches (Chicken Up-In-Da Club)

  • Spoons (turkey avocado sandwich)

  • Subway (sweet onion chicken teriyaki)

  • Taste of Philly (original cheesesteak)

  • Tasty Harmony (French Philly)

  • Which Wich Superior Sandwiches (Grinder sandwich)

  • Yampa Sandwich Co. (the Ridgeline)

One last reminder:Great Plates ends Tuesday. Here are its 40+ meal deals to pick from.

And the winner is ...

Cheba Hut's White Widow sub!

The popular "White Widow" sandwich comes out of the oven at Cheba Hut on Laurel Street in Fort Collins on Feb. 28.
The popular "White Widow" sandwich comes out of the oven at Cheba Hut on Laurel Street in Fort Collins on Feb. 28.

Made up of grilled chicken breast, bacon, ranch, mushrooms and all the fixings, Cheba Hut's White Widow toasted sub is an all-time favorite on its menu, the sub chain's founder and owner Scott Jennings told the Coloradoan last month.

The sub made it through each round, ultimately facing Music City Hot Chicken in a true nail-biting championship round Friday.

After founding Cheba Hut in Tempe, Arizona, in 1998, Jennings moved to Fort Collins in 2003 — the same year he opened the city's first Cheba Hut location at 104 E. Laurel St. Since then, two other local locations have joined the fray, including a shop on Taft Hill Road and a spot on East Harmony Road.

Cheba Hut, Pickle Barrel, Half Fast: How 3 sandwich shops ended up calling a stretch of Laurel Street home

Cheba Hut now includes 52 locations in more than a dozen states. Its corporate headquarters has been located in Fort Collins since 2014.

"Fort Collins is home," Jennings told the Coloradoan last month.

How we got to the winner

With a field of 32 contenders, readers went to the Coloradoan's Instagram story to vote for their favorite sandwiches last week.

Voting started Monday, with a new round of voting taking place each day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Here were the initial match-ups (with the winner bolded).

  • Avogadro's Number vs. Butterfly Cafe

  • Music City Hot Chicken vs. Taste of Philly

  • Deli Works vs. Fat Shack

  • Babalu's Cuban Cafe vs. Tasty Harmony

  • Cheba Hut Toasted Subs vs. Choice City Butcher & Deli

  • The Fox and the Crow vs. Firehouse Subs

  • La Piadina Italian Flatbread Sandwiches vs. Daddy O's Jr.

  • City Park Gelato & Amore vs. Jersey Mike's Subs

  • The Colorado Room vs. Silver Mine Subs

  • Elevated Sandwiches vs. Potbelly Sandwich Shop

  • Fiona's Delicatessen, Bakery & Catering vs. Jimmy John's

  • B&B Pickle Barrel Deli vs. Which Wich Superior Sandwiches

  • Half Fast Subs vs. Snack Attack Specialty Sandwiches

  • Obee's vs. Subway

  • Scrumpy's Hard Cider Bar and Pub vs. Spoons

  • Yampa Sandwich Co. vs. Road 34

The Sweet 16

  • B&B Pickle Barrel Deli vs. Butterfly Cafe

  • Yampa Sandwich Co. vs. The Colorado Room

  • City Park Gelato & Amore vs. Deli Works

  • Music City Hot Chicken vs. La Piadina Italian Flatbread Sandwiches

  • Obee's vs. Spoons

  • Fiona's Delicatessen vs. Elevated Sandwiches

  • Cheba Hut vs. Babalu's Cuban Cafe

  • The Fox and the Crow vs. Snack Attack Specialty Sandwiches

The Elite 8

  • B&B Pickle Barrel Deli vs. Yampa Sandwich Co.

  • Deli Works vs. Music City Hot Chicken

  • Fiona's Delicatessen vs. Obee's

  • Cheba Hut vs. The Fox and the Crow

The Final 4

  • B&B Pickle Barrel vs. Music City Hot Chicken

  • Fiona's Delicatessen vs. Cheba Hut

Congratulations to our finalists and winner!

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: What's the best sandwich in Fort Collins? Results of March Madness vote