Shopsin's

Getting my hands around a sloppy joe, and holding it together as long as possible, was always part of the fun, and I missed that in Shopsin's beef version ($6). I also might have liked more meat, and less of the tomatoes, peppers, and onions, but only because that's what I remember from the school cafeteria. The toasted bun, the zingier filling, a pair of gherkins, and (off to one side) a one-ounce bag of Ruffles mark this as a standard-bearer of sloppiness.

Shopsin's
In the Essex Market, 120 Essex St. (Delancey-Rivington Sts.)
Closed Sunday