Taliercio's Challenge: The Bean Town

I spent the week in Massachusetts last week to celebrate the birth of my girlfriend's nephew, David (welcome to the world and to your blog debut!).  As per tradition on my trips to Massachusetts, I always make sure to get a roast beef sandwich.  Why? Because roast beef sandwiches have been a specialty of the Boston area since the 1950s (my girlfriend grew up there and had no idea this was a thing, luckily for her, she's living with the world's premier sandwich blogger*). Kelly's Roast Beef in Revere claims to have invented the sandwich in 1951, which includes white American cheese, mayo, and optional horseradish sauce (always, and I can't stress this enough, take the horseradish sauce). So, did Taliercio's put any of those ingredients into their Bean Town grilled cheese? NO! Because if regional rivalries serve me right, we would never emulate exactly what goes on a sandwich.  Sure, there's roast beef (Taliercio's roast beef=heaven) but that's all there is in common with a Kelly's Roast Beef sandwich.  The white American cheese is replaced by Mozzarella and Cheddar, and the horseradish sauce is replaced by a distant cousin, Russian Dressing.  Does it stack up? I investigate. 

Bean Town: Roast Beef, Cheddar, Mozzarella, Russian Dressing

This was different than any of the roast beef sandwiches I had in Massachusetts.  Off the bat, they aren't "grilled cheeses" there, the sandwiches there are served cold.  Since this is a grilled cheese there are two melted kinds of cheese on this one, mozzarella and cheddar which to me was a strange blend to me.  The roast beef is always a standout meat at Taliercio's and it was no different in the "grilled cheese" form as the panini form.  Like the White Russian, Russian dressing isn't Russian, in fact, in Germany, it's called American dressing.  Its first appearance was in 1910 in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is the key dressing in a Reuben sandwich.  As far as authenticity goes, the roast beef is generally sliced thinner in Massachusetts and served on an onion roll so I'm going to go towards this being just like the rest of the "traveling grilled cheese sandwiches." I have to give the Boston roast beef the edge here.   

Overall: 7.6/10 

*Unconfirmed