Long before artisan toast wrestled the title of most confounding food trend from the cupcake, there was the open-faced sandwich. In fact, long before there were plates, Europeans were using slabs of bread as an edible form of dishware. Somewhere along the line, the bread stopped being the plate and became a vehicle for the food itself. And while it’s now much more common to use two slices of bread on a sandwich, we’d wager that this simply diminishes the eating experience. After all, the main event of any sandwich is the stuff in the middle, so why hide it with extraneous carbs? Avoid a bad bread-to-filling ratio with an open-faced sandwich at one of these ten D.C. restaurants.

Open-faced sandwiches at Ambar. Photo by Andrea Adleman.

A BAKED JOINT: A Baked Joint is the latest, erm, joint from the folks behind Georgetown’s Baked and Wired. Considering its origins, bread and other pastries get top billing on the menu, which leans heavily on sandwiches and, yes, that dreaded artisan toast. Get in on the open-faced action with smoked salmon and scallion cream cheese sprinkled with fried capers on a single baguette slice or relive your childhood with peanut butter and jam or bananas on toast. There’s even a peanut butter and Sriracha (pb&s?) for the adventurous. And given that A Baked Joint unabashedly serves artisan toast, they might be sympathetic to a request to leave off the second slice on any of their regular sandwiches.

A Baked Joint is located at 440 K Street NW.

AMBAR: Open-faced sandwiches are the heart and soul of lunch at Ambar, a Balkan cafe on Barracks Row. A thin slice of Danish rye bread is the foundation of each sandwich, upon which a colorful variety of meats, seafood, and vegetables are artfully stacked. The sandwiches are sized comparably to small plates, so your server will recommend that you order two or three sandwiches to make a meal. For the artisan mixed meats sandwich, the meats are cut, smoked, cured, and seasoned in traditional Balkan style. Just as satisfying, the smoked salmon sandwich is Ambar’s interpretation of the Scandinavian classic, accentuated with a quintessentially Balkan cheese spread called kajmak. For additional stimulation, lunch can become boozy. The lunch combo of two sandwiches for $16 includes a glass of private label red wine, a beer, or house-made lemonade. —Andrea Adleman

Ambar is located at 523 8th St SE.

BISTRO DU COIN: It doesn’t get more classically French than Dupont Circle staple Bistro du Coin. Amid the sprawling menu, somewhere between the onion soup and moules frites, there lies a small selection of open-faced sandwiches or tartines, as the French call them. Each comes in two sizes and features toppings like ham, prosciutto, Gruyere cheese, olive tapenade, and mixed vegetables drizzled in basil oil.

Bistro Du Coin is located at 1738 Connecticut Avenue NW.

Photo by LaTur.

BOURBON: Washington “one toe deep into the South” D.C. doesn’t really have a lot of amazing southern food. But while we’re talking about sandwiches without lids, the hot brown is an excellent example. Try one at Bourbon’s Sunday brunch in Adams Morgan. Start with an open-faced turkey melt, with bacon and tomato. Then slather the whole thing in gravy and put an egg on it. Now you’re in Cholesterol Country. Putting delicious ingredients together in a big messy pile might be trendy right now, but this pile dates back to 1926 Kentucky. God bless America. —Josh Kramer

Bourbon is located at 2321 18th St NW.

DOMKU CAFE: Open-faced sandwiches feature prominently in Scandinavian cuisine, where meat and seafood is often delicately piled on a hearty slice of dark rye bread. Domku serves the Danish version, known as smørrebrød, with a rotating selection of toppings. Currently on the brunch menu: chicken liver and crispy-fried onion smørrebrød topped with a sunny-side up egg, because there’s nothing better than eating both the chicken and the pre-chicken.

Domku Cafe is located at 821 Upshur Street NW.

Photo courtesy of Domku’s website.

DUKE’S GROCERY: Duke’s Grocery may technically call it toast, but I’d argue that the hefty avocado bread on the brunch menu is substantial enough to land it in open-faced sandwich territory. Slathered with a thick layer of mashed avocado, a fried egg, and a hail of greens and radishes, this is no shirking side dish. For something sweeter, try their fig version loaded with creamy ricotta cheese, fresh figs, and shaved carrots.

Duke’s Grocery is located at 1513 17th St NW.

ESTADIO: Estadio may initially call to mind tapas and slushitos, but the Logan Circle restaurant also has a wide selection of open-faced montaditos, or, as I like to call them, Delicious Things on Bread. There’s the classically Spanish garlic-rubbed toast with tomatoes or Serrano ham and Manchego cheese, though I’m partial to the roasted beets atop a healthy smear of whipped goat cheese. Estadio also gets seriously decadent with toppers like foie gras, truffle butter, and smoked duck. It might seem gauche to put such finery on a sandwich, but an open-faced sandwich is another story. Anything goes when bread is your plate.

Estadio is located at 1520 14th Street NW.

IRON GATE: The Iron Gate tasting menu isn’t exactly an everyday treat, but the restaurant’s weekday lunch menu is a chance to get a little bite of luxury at a reasonable price. Stop in for their rotating gyro special, which just happens to be served open-faced. This is no food truck gyro though; this is some classy, knife-and-fork business. A pita round is spread with yogurt and feta and then piled with the meat of the day, tomatoes, onions, and olive-oil fried potatoes. The result is more like a gyro tower instead of the usual foil-wrapped tube—pretty tasty, if untraditional.

Iron Gate is located at 1754 N St NW.

The Hot Cindy. Photo by Andrea Adleman.

LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN: The easiest place to get some single-slice sandwich action is probably at one of the many Le Pain Quotidien locations around town. Yes, it’s a chain, and yes, the service is frequently glacial, but the bulk of the menu is built around the tartine, France’s answer to the open-faced sandwich. You’ll fine the usual suspects, like ham and gruyere and smoked salmon, along with veg-friendly options like hummus and veggies and avocado with chia seeds. I’m a fan of the curry chicken salad with a piquant cranberry chutney and golden raisins.

Le Pain Quotidien has multiple locations in the D.C. area.

TRYST: There’s nothing like a tuna melt to evoke the warmth and comfort of childhood. The Hot Cindy at Tryst piles house-made tuna salad, tomato, red onion, and melted white cheddar atop multigrain bread. It’s filling, satisfying, and nostalgic. The only thing missing is the ritualistic pop of the tuna can and the jingle of the cat’s bell as it awaits its treat of salty, fishy water. Tryst also offers diners a build-your-own-toast menu where diners can pick their carb-y canvas and then add spreads, cheese, vegetables, and proteins. The open-faced sky is the limit. —Andrea Adleman

Tryst is located at 2459 18th St NW.