…from Jersey Mike’s. I’ve never been in one, or TTBOMK, eaten a sandwich from one. But, I got a $10 gift card to the place from my supervisor (for showing up to work in a snowstorm), and there’s a shop around the corner, so I thought I’d check out my options.
So, what’s good on their bill of fare? Do they have a meatball sub? A French Dip? A sausage with Italian beef and bell peppers (hey, it’s the middle of winter; am I gonna choose a COLD sandwich)?
I would prefer to not walk into a place that wants me to supervise the construction of my lunch, though (this is the reason I don’t go to Subway or Chipotle). Order a sandwich off the menu, they make it per their recipe, I pick it up and pay for it. Easy-peasy.
Jersey Mike’s isn’t like Subway. You order a sub off the menu, and you only need to tell them what kind of bread you want. They slice everything right there and put it on the bread, and then you can choose your toppings. They do have oregano, which is nice on a sub. They will ask if you want it “Mike’s Way,” which includes oil and vinegar, but you can skip that and just get the toppings you want. I don’t think they have meatballs, but they do have cheesesteaks. The cookies and brownies are good.
Get the Big Kahuna cheese steak if you want a hot sub, the Roast Beef & Provolone if you want a cold one. They also make a surprisingly good tuna salad sub.
“Mike’s Way” is the standard topping for the cold subs - shredded lettuce, tomato, onions, salt and pepper, oregano, and “the juice”, which is red wine vinegar and olive oil. You can add or remove from it as you like. If you’re ordering to go and you’ve got a long drive or you’re saving a sub for later, I recommend asking for the juice in a side cup so your sandwich doesn’t get soggy. They’ve also got a cherry pepper relish which adds a nice kick. The menu says “all combinations gladly accepted”, so if you want a combination of meats and cheese that isn’t on the menu, you can ask for it and they’ll make it happen for you. I like to order the #13 (pepperoni, salami, capicola, prosciutto, and ham with provolone) and have them sub the ham for extra pepperoni. They slice the meats and cheeses when you order. They used to cook the roast beef in-house but switched to a precooked beef during the pandemic and I’m not sure if they’ve switched back. Some locations will be willing to toast your bread on the grill or grill cold meats if you ask, but it varies and mostly they won’t do it during busy periods. All the sandwiches have numbers assigned to them and the employees will know what you want if you ask for it by number. Subs come in three sizes. The regular is about 8 inches, a mini is half a regular, and a giant is twice the size of a regular. Hot subs only come in regular or giant, though.
They used to have meatball and sausage subs, but those got dropped during the pandemic - they just have cheesesteaks, chicken cheesesteaks, and vegetarian portabella cheesesteaks. As mentioned above, the #56 Big Kahuna (steak with onions, sweet peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos, and double cheese) is about the best cheesesteak you can get from a national chain, but I recommend subbing provolone for the white American they use. They also have a chipotle mayo which goes really good on the cheesesteaks. I’ve never tried the chicken cheesesteaks or the veggie cheesesteaks.
Sign up for the rewards program. You get 6 points for each regular sub you buy and 72 points gets you a free regular, and they also give you enough points for a free regular every year on your birthday.
I like the #13, too. I love a combination Italian cold cut sandwich, and I prefer oil and vinegar to mayo and mustard. I get a #13 regular with 1/2 the oil and vinegar “juice” and add in some pepperoncinis. Yum! Now I want one, and there aren’t any in downtown San Jose.
