What Belgian sandwich typically contains meat, fries, and sauce in a baguette?

A mitraillette is a Belgian sandwich containing meat, fries and sauce in a baguette.

The usual format is a half-baguette filled with fried meat—such as a sausage, burger or steak—along with a generous portion of fries and one or more sauces. Mayonnaise, ketchup, garlic sauce, béarnaise and sauce andalouse are among the variations found at Belgian friteries and cafés.

The name mitraillette literally means “submachine gun” in French, a nickname often linked to the sandwich’s long shape and dense row of fries. It is especially associated with Belgium’s snack-bar culture, where friteries specialize in fries and fried foods.

The sandwich is sometimes confused with the French “sandwich américain,” a related fries-and-meat baguette sold in northern France. Regional naming also varies inside Belgium: similar preparations may be called a routier or spécial in some areas. Despite those alternatives, mitraillette is the standard canonical answer for this Belgian sandwich.