Jersey MIke's Subs

Jersey Mike's may have started with a single store along the Jersey Shore back in 1956, but I didn't "discover" Jersey Mike's until a few years ago. With fifteen recently opened stores stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific and another fourteen scheduled to be opened shortly, it appears that this chain is growing rapidly. I can see why. When the Jersey Mike's near my house opened three years ago, I was instantly hooked.

It Starts With The Bread
When reviewing a chain restaurant it is hard not to make a comparison to chains with a similar market. In this case, the most well known sandwich chain in the United States is Subway. It is hard not to use Subway as the standard to measure another chain restaurant. If you want to talk deli sandwiches...just go to the deli...you are not going to get a real deli sandwich anywhere else. When it comes to the bread, Subway and Jersey Mike's both make it fresh in the store. While Subway has a wide variety of bread flavors, Jersey Mike's has a smaller selection. The store near my house has just two choices, plain or rosemary. The rosemary bread is delicious. My sandwiches all start with this bread. The other bread comparison relates to size. Subway offers a measley six inch and a hearty twelve inch sub. The bread at Jersey Mike's is substantially longer than Subway.

Meat Versus Lunchmeat
One thing that has always bothered me about Subway is the meat and cheese. Some bean counter in a corporate office somewhere in Subway-dom figured out a precise measurement to maximize profit while delivering enough meat-flavor to satisfy diners. The perfectly identical meat and cheese slices are generic and drab. If I want pressed meat stuff, I can go to a school cafeteria or the grocery store. (Okay...I'll admit that I eat that Subway stuff at least once a week...Jersey Mike's is not near my work.) At Jersey Mike's, they cut your bread and lay it beneath the meat slicer. They proceed to place a hunk of beef or turkey breast onto the slicer and heap handfuls of delicious freshly thin sliced meat onto the bread. After selecting your cheese, they do the same with the cheese. No skimping, no bean counters, just a hearty helping of the good stuff.

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