After years of intense sandwich research, I was lucky enough to fill the pages of the Weekly with a list of my top 10 sandwiches in Las Vegas in July. But something weird happened along the way; Johnny McGuire's, the Town Square shop behind that issue's cover sandwich, closed that same week. Bad luck.

Now I'm starting to wonder if there's some mystic negativity afoot, akin to the Sports Illustrated jinx. Eddie D's, the southwest Italian deli whose meatball sub made my top 10, closed about two months ago. The friendly Jersey family that operated this restaurant, first located on West Cheyenne Avenue in 2009 before moving to Rainbow Boulevard just south of the Beltway, served up some of the Valley's best sandwiches, pizza and more. Their homemade meatballs in marinara were the foundation for one of my all-time favorite Vegas sandwiches, covered in cheese in a hard roll and topped with succulent broccoli rabe.

The good news is the Eddie D's folks sold the biz to another local operator, and now it's another location of Rocco's NY Pizzeria, which serves some of my favorite old-school New York pie. After I grab a slice, I'm planning to hit up Zoozacrackers, Pop's cheesesteaks, and the rest of my top 10 sandwich joints. You know, just to be safe.