Joe Schweska, who was the chef at Springfield, Illinois' Leland Hotel, in the late 1920s, needed a new item for his lunch menu. His wife suggested a sandwich featuring a Welsh rarebit sauce.
The first horseshoe sandwich got its name because the meat was ham cut off the bone in a horseshoe shape. It was served with potato wedges instead of fries.
Today's horseshoe, usually presented on Texas toast, features a variety of meats — most often hamburger, chicken, or pork tenderloin as well as ham and “secret rarebit style cheese sauces.
You will find the horseshoe available at almost all of Springfield's bars and restaurants.
This one, from Gabatoni's Italian Restaurant, is a pork tenderloin “Pony shoe”, which is half of a regular horseshoe. The meat covered a normal dinner plate and the fries were stacked at least six inches high!
I could only eat less than half of this half-sandwich! All this for less than $9.00!!
Gabatoni's Italian Restaurant has been family owned for more than sixty years. Also pictured is a sausage and pepperoni pizza and a chicken-bacon alfredo pizza. Gabatoni's is frequently voted the best pizza in Springfield and I agree! The small house salad also great.
The horseshoe has been featured on national TV shows as well as. The Wall Street Journal
