My fellow West Benders, I know what you are thinking. We absolutely do not need another sub sandwich shop in town. I mean, there’s already what like six of them here? We’re like the sub sandwich capital of the world. Furthermore, we most certainly do not need another chain eatery in town. You know all of this to be true because you are a decent human being with a functional culinary moral compass and because obviously.
But you, my friend, are wrong.
Jersey Mike’s opened today on South Main Street and it is glorious. Don’t get me wrong. I love me some Cousin’s (especially the one on Paradise), and you can’t beat a Club Classic from The Chocolate Factory. But Jersey Mike’s brings a whole new level of sandwich craftsmanship to Our Fair City.
The deal is, they slice everything fresh when you order it. The provolone, the cappacuolo, the prosciuttini, all of it–just like you’re at the Sendik’s deli. Of course you can have them tweak your sando any way you like as they’re assembling it in front of you, but they do have actual menu items rather than making you create your own every time (looking at you, Subway). You can just say I’ll have it “Mike’s Way”: Onions, lettuce, tomato, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and their own signature spice blend.
When you see them do this, especially when they invert the bottles with the shaker tops to apply the vinegar and then the olive oil, the uninitiated will gasp. Can they put that much on a sandwich? Are people even allowed to do that to a sandwich? Trust me: they can, they are, and you want this. You really do.
It’s actually been a couple of years since I’ve been to a Jersey Mike’s so I’ve kinda lost touch with the menu. I don’t have a go-to order anymore so I guess I’ll have to sample the menu widely this summer to figure it out. This evening I opted for the “Original Italian,” Mike’s way of course. It is a thing of beauty.
I’ll conclude by giving a shoutout to the newly minted Jersey Mike’s staff members. They’re fast and friendly and from the looks of it when I visited at 5:15pm this evening, they’re handling opening day rush with aplomb.