Although I prefer to attribute the origin of the Reuben sandwich to divine intervention into the fallen human world, a more historical acknowledgment belongs to a man named Reuben who invented the sandwich for his weekly poker games at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha, Nebraska.
The Crescent Moon Alehouse across the street from that hotel produces its Reubens in the classical style. It also holds an annual ReubenFest that celebrate's America's greatest sandwich. Featured variants of the Reuben include the Reuben Chimichanga and Reuben Pierogi.
This is one of sixteen restaurants that Takeout insists are the best in the country for Reubens.
My fondest memory of the Reuben is a now long-defunct Greek restaurant named The Oven on Dolly Ridge Road in Birmingham, Alabama that served Reubens on pumpernickel buns the size of footballs. They were, alas, too good for this world.
Photo: Crescent Moon