After fifteen months of reviewing sandwiches, it's time to take a step back, time to consider what has passed between many, many slices of bread, time to take a break from sandwiches and offer a countdown of the ten best I've had.

It's easy to pick twenty good sandwiches, but narrowing those down to ten is hard. Still, eating all those sandwiches has given me some stomach fortitude, so here, in reverse order, are my favorite sandwiches of the past fifteen months.

10) Spanish Ham and Cheese
Fisher Clark Deli
723 South University Boulevard, 303-722-2091
Nine bucks is a lot to spend on a sandwich, but the ingredients used here are so good and so fresh that I always find a stop is worth it. On this sandwich, I'm not sure what I like better -- the incredible, tangy-sweet onion and pear jam, or the ham and chorizo, or the soft, fresh focaccia made Bluepoint Bakery-style. Fair warning: Try to take small bites, as the meat is piled high. Yes, just try to take small bite - if you can.

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The sandwiches: Benny Mac and Persian Chicken Sandwich
What's on them: The Benny Mac is a breaded chicken cutlet, with mac-n-cheese, bacon and BBQ sauce; the Persian chicken is spiced chicken meatballs, mild roasted green chiles, lettuce and tomato, harissa and tahini.
Where to get them: Sputnik (3 South Broadway, 720-570-4503)
How much: $9 and $8

Macaroni and cheese is a meal in its own. So are chicken fingers. Shwarma is a meal in its own. So is spaghetti and meatballs, turkey and stuffing, and tortilla Española.

So why would someone take something that is already lunch or dinner and turn it into a sandwich?

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The staffers at Lenny's Sub Shop at 726 Lincoln Street watch a lot of traffic roll by their windows every day, especially at rush hour, when that traffic rolls very slowly.

So what did these enterprising sandwich makers do? They set up a little curbside stand where a Lenny's employee will hand off sub orders to anyone who calls ahead. The only problem: after two weeks, they have yet to see a customer there.

But no matter: The Lenny's crew is too upbeat to care. Besides, the manager believes she'll start seeing some business eventually, especially in the mornings, since Lenny's offers a wide range of breakfast sandwiches.

Lenny's a large Tennessee-based chain with only four spots in the metro area, but the Lincoln Street outpost is only one with a curbside stand - basically a rolling valet stand with a sign. And while some restaurant chains, like Ruby Tuesday and Outback Steakhouse, have offered curbside service for a while, most of those have a parking lot.

Lenny's, on the other hand, has a single parking meter out in front where the stand is set up, and if the curbside service eventually takes off, it could be a real traffic stopper.

The sandwich: 'Atsa Turkey Meatball
What's on it: Sage and cranberry turkey meatballs, melted provolone and marinara sauce on a roll.
Where to get it: Larimer Hot House (2810 Larimer Street, 303-292-3008)
How much: $7 for the sandwich; $10 for a meal deal

A couple of years ago, I started my quest for the perfect meatball recipe. The idea was to make a meatball that was as good as what I'd eaten at any number of Italian joints in any number of cities across the United States.

My quest was short-lived, however. After the second recipe left me with dried-out meatballs over-filled with fennel, I gave up. The meatball seems so easy, so simple, but it is not, and I envy and admire anyone who can make a good meatball.

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The sandwich: The Fax
What's on it: Turkey, bacon, choice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, mayo and mustard
Where to get it: Fat Jack's SuperSubs (1245 East Colfax Avenue, 303-830-7827
How much: $6.99

I'm a big fan of quality. But dammit, I like quantity, too.

So the name Fat Jack's sounded more and more attractive today as I ravenously watched the lunch hour slip by, fifteen minutes at a time. And when I finally escaped the office and made it to Colfax, I wasn't disappointed.

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The sandwich: Three Sisters Club
What's on it: Roasted turkey, shaved ham, smoked bacon, red onions, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo on a Bavarian roll.
Where to get it: Three Sisters Café & Catering (1717 Stout Street, 303-991-8772)
How much: $5.95

I'm not a big fan of standing in line at lunchtime. I'm usually too hungry, in too much of a hurry and have little patience for the guy at the front who can't decide what he wants in fifteen seconds or less. So when I walked into Three Sisters Café, I was ready to turn around and walk out. The line on this first, very cold day of fall was twenty people long and doubled back on itself inside the small space. I don't know if Three Sisters is always that busy, or the crowd was the psychological reaction of an entire city switching from the light-appetizers-on-a-patio mentality to the hot-soup-for-comfort mentality -- because Three Sisters makes some killer, steaming, hearty soups.

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The sandwich: Rare Roast Beef
What's on it: Rare roast beef, grilled red onions, lettuce, tomato, horseradish havarti and aioli on a baguette
Where to get it: Cafe Options (1650 Curtis Street, 303-573-0733)
How much: $7.25

Do you believe in second chances? I do.

That's why I'll probably try a cheesesteak again, even though I can't stand them. And it's why I keep sampling sandwiches that combine roast beef and horseradish, a popular combo that's difficult to pull off, judging from the lackluster versions I've tried.

Roast beef itself can be tricky. The meat is often overcooked and can be bland or filmy or slimy or gamey. Horseradish is a delicate matter as well; it can easily overpower everything else on a sandwich, leaving even the biggest horseradish lover longing for something more.

That's what made the Rare Roast Beef at Cafe Options all the more rare. (For more on Cafe Options, see this week's story at westword.com.)

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Cheba Hut raised a toasty toast this week when a Weld County District Court judge overturned a ruling that had denied a liquor license to the sub shop's Greeley location.

In April, Robert Frick, who rules on Greeley liquor licenses, turned down the company's request, citing Cheba Hut's pot-related marketing strategy, and spanking it with this: "This restaurant is founded upon the principles and theme of the illegal drug marijuana and incorporates other illegal controlled-substance-related themes."

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The sandwich: Panama Red
What's on it: Grilled chicken breast, home-grown marinara sauce, parmesan and provolone on white, wheat or garlic "herb" bread.
Where to get it: Cheba Hut (1531 Champa Street, 720-974-1880)
How much: $6.50

A lot of people like Cheba Hut. They've been telling me it's good, strongly suggesting that I try it. But I'd been afraid to, scared that I'd like it too much, that I wouldn't be able to stop going there -- that it would lead to more, bigger sandwiches.

The truth is: It was really good, although I'm sure I'll just hit it on special occasions or with the right person.

Cheba Hut calls itself America's only "counter-culture" themed deli, and it's worth going to just for the artwork -- ´60s-style music posters and such -- the colorful decorations and the hilarious menu, which includes about thirty sandwiches named for pot. There's the Magic Mushroom, Endo, Afghani, Schwag and Pacific Blue, just to name a few.

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The sandwich: # 9 panini
What's on it: Turkey, olives, olive oil, tomatoes, cheese, portabella mushrooms on panini
How much: $7.49
Where to get it: Gourmet Corner, 830 17th Street, 650-291-6945

"Hungry?" the guy asked when I walked into Gourmet Corner, almost as if I'd have to be starving to stumble into this new and somewhat odd little joint on the corner of Champa and 17th streets. Yes, I was hungry.

Open for about two months, Gourmet Corner is a deli that also serves omelets and crepes and has a soup, pasta and salad bar. The family-owned and -operated -- according to its website -- place also offers a large selection of pastries, muffins and other baked goods.

I went with the #9 panini in part because it had olives on it, and I'm a sucker for weird.

The bad: the panini bread tasted like burnt toast and the mushrooms were decidedly not portabella, appearing to be regular mushrooms straight out of A can.

The good: The olives lent this sandwich its only unusual flavor. The sandwich itself held together and tasted decent, aside from the burnt flavor.

For previous sandwiches, see the Our Weekly Bread archive.