Big Apple Inn (509 N. Farish St., Jackson) has to be the best lunch deal in town–their sandwiches cost $1.05 each. What year is this, 1950?

Although the sandwiches aren’t exactly large they’re also not mini–two would be plenty for lunch for me. They only come in a few flavors, including smoked sausage, bologna, breakfast sausage, and pig ear. Add an egg for 50 cents. All are topped with a yummy spicy mixture of coleslaw, hot sauce, and possibly mustard.

I’ll get the least appealing out of the way first, but don’t let it scare you away from reading the rest.

This is the pig ear sandwich. The Big Apple is mildly famous (infamous?) for this sandwich, at least on the internets (check out here, here, and here). I’ve liked most (definitely not all, but most) of the relatively gross-sounding animal parts I’ve tried, so I was totally game for giving this a shot. I’m glad I tried it but I will say that it was quite…mushy. Mushy and…odd. The flavor wasn’t at all bad, especially with the spiciness of the coleslaw (we chose Hot slaw), but I can’t say I finished my sandwich (or ate more than a bite and a half). I haven’t sworn off pig ear though–I tried Lumpkin’s version and it was much less squishy. Now I’m on the lookout for a fried ear.

Anyway, on to happier things. The tamales at the Big Apple are great. You have the choice of Hot, Mild, or No Hot. We chose Hot and were not disappointed by the level of hotness. Next time, however, I’ll probably go with Mild, to see if there were some more subtle flavors hiding under that heat. They are plenty hot—maybe not subtle, but delicious. These are $5 for half a dozen, $8.50 for a dozen.

This is the smoked sausage sandwich, the favorite dish of most of our party. The sausage had a very full flavor that stood up to the spicy slaw. It was a ground sausage that reminded me a bit of chorizo–but chorizo made with red hots. I’ve been looking forward to getting this sandwich again, and next time with that 50-cent egg on top. Yum.

Big Apple Inn has a second location at 4487 N. State St.

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