teatpuller wrote:Jersey Mike's has the best sandwiches within one block of my office.

Wow, that's certainly high praise

jesteinf wrote:I'd say Jersey Mike's is about a half a step up from Jimmy John's...and that's no compliment.

RIP Mangino's for Loop subs.

Mangino's had the BEST italian and meatball subs!

Anyway, I've been to the Jersey Mike's in Lisle which opened a few months ago. Friendly and fast service, good subs (so far I've had the Steak and Cheese, Tuna and Ham and they are all several steps up from Subway and Quiznos. My wife has had the Meatball sub and said it was very tasty.

Went there once, the Vernon Hills location....this was a few months ago and there was something I didn't like about my sandwich. Mr. Maki got the chicken parmesan sandwich, and while I'm sure they're known more for their cold sandwiches than hot, it was one of the worst chicken parmesan sandwiches he's ever had. Totally dried out, was practically chicken nugget-sized. Not that we'd want a larger piece in the condition it was in

Just last night I was craving a meatball sub and lamenting the loss of Mangino's - so sad - and it's still sitting empty!!

Still haven't been to Jersey Mike's and I work next door at 230 West.

-Ellen

Their roast beef is quite good in my opinion. Tastes like beef, not overcooked. They can be heavy handed with the oil and vinegar but I make sure to let them know to go easy on it. My current fave is the roast beef provolone and pepperoni with mushrooms, bacon, and blue cheese and the red pepper relish which is the best fast food condiment at a sub shop other than Bari of course.

God I wish Bari would open a branch on the north shore!

Jersey Mikes is becoming one of those "guilty pleasures" places for me with their Philly's.

I had 2 last weekend, and am dead heading there today for lunch. Not the best Philly I have ever had, but a pretty solid version for Chicagoland.

I like the # 17 with no green peppers, just meat, bread, onions and cheese. Jalapenos on the side.

Also good is the # 56 Big Kahuna. which adds some mushrooms, x cheese, and some grilled jalapenos to the # 17.

I have only hit the Naperville location, service has been friendly and quick. I havent tried any of their cold sandwiches.

Destination dining....? nope(every meal doesnt have to be), something I crave when I have a wicked case of the munchies..? hellz yes...

jimswside wrote:Jersey Mikes is becoming one of those "guilty pleasures" places for me with their Philly's.

You and me both. Like you said, it's not mind blowing but it scratches that itch for Philly cheesesteaks.

Has anyone tried the pastrami reuben yet? That's next on my list to try.

jimswside wrote:something I crave when I have a wicked case of the munchies..? hellz yes...

Pray tell, what inspires that wicked case of munchies??

I actually think that Jersey Mike's makes a better Italian sub than the Fontano's on Jackson, which had been my go-to sub shop in the Loop. Jersey Mike's uses a better quality roll and the meat for each sub is sliced to order rather than sitting around pre-sliced (as with Subway...and Fontano's for that matter).

That is just crazy talk. I would put Fontano's Jackson location a notch below Bari's and Graziano's. Jersey Mike's is not even in the same ball park as any of them. The bread is stale and just because they hand-carve the meat in front of you does not make it high quality. I put the Jersey Mikes chain in the same family as Jimmy John's or Potbelly's (all dependable but none noteworthy).

2Utah2 wrote:That is just crazy talk. I would put Fontano's Jackson location a notch below Bari's and Graziano's. Jersey Mike's is not even in the same ball park as any of them. The bread is stale and just because they hand-carve the meat in front of you does not make it high quality. I put the Jersey Mikes chain in the same family as Jimmy John's or Potbelly's (all dependable but none noteworthy).

I disagre that Fontano's on Jackson is anywhere near Bari's (I've never been to Graziano's). The meat at Jersey Mike's is good - much better than at Jimmy John's or Subway IMHO - not in same league as Bari's but good nevertheless.

I hope that no one suggests that Jersey Mikes is even as the same league as Bari, Alpine, Fontana or Da Riv. It's just not.

What it is a a chain sub that is far superior to its chain sub competition. I'll be the first to admit that, since the days that the company started their uber-expansion, Jersey Mikes isn't what it once was when it was just a staple of good eating in sourthern New Jersey. But, it's still a pretty good mass produced east coast syle Italian Sub.

Seamus wrote:Has anyone tried the pastrami reuben yet? That's next on my list to try.

The pastrami is really lean, as in not a lick of fat on it. That's a deal breaker in my book.

I just got back from the Niles location. I was impressed with the fact that they slice their own meat, and the guys in the assembly line were very friendly and looked like they were actually were having a good time, unlike the grim specters of death that work at Subway. However, the post above about all the meats looking like ham in different shapes was spot on. I was so excited to see the "deli" at the end of the counter and then realized it was all water-injected Jewel products. I give them mad props for giving me cooked bacon that was on the crispy-but-not-too-crispy side, unlike one of the other chains that either uses microwave bacon or undercooked real bacon. I love oil & vinegar, but they put on way too much with the amount of mayo they slathered on.

All in all, it's slightly better than Subway. I don't like sandwiches much anyway, and when I don't bring my lunch to work, sandwiches are not what I go out for. But if I was presented with a Jersey Mike's at some point, I wouldn't turn my nose up at it. I wonder what this will do to the Subway that's two doors away.

I've said it before; the roast beef is the really good choice there. The rest are just ok. I got a free sandwich for my birthday today, had the roast beef with provolone and it was quite good. I like their red pepper relish a lot and the pickles are good as well.

I went to the one in wheaton. I was not impressed. Pre fab type meat but one good thing was the crusty italian type bread. there was not much taste to the sandwich. Next time we went to get subs we went back to potbelly. yummy there.

I really like Jersey Mike's turkey sub on wheat with plenty of oil. I get one every week, usually with my co-workers for lunch from the Glenview store. WAY better than Subway and better than Jimmy John's for the chains. I've only had Potbelly once or twice so I have to try that again but I wasn't impressed by Potbelly in the past. I never had Quizno's. I am a fan of this place.

Tried Mike's, Quizno's, JJ's and Subway-ONCE. They may work in Topeka or Fargo, but I don't think that they cut it here. When one can get a really good, fresh, quality ingredient filled sub at places such as Bari, Freddies, Franks, Alpine or any number of other satisfying places in and around the Elmwood Park area, this west sider has no need for the franchise offerings

Octarine wrote:Their roast beef is quite good in my opinion. Tastes like beef, not overcooked.

BINGO !!

The beef is cooked fresh on premise at all Jersey Mike's locations, I belive it is a bottom round.

After selling deli meats in a past life, there are few places that cook off their own beef for deli use.

The roast beef sandwich is the item to get at Jersey Mike's, all the other meats looked of marginal quality IMO,
but the roast beef is delicious.

my bad, double post

I tried the Jersey Mikes in Wheaton. Nothing special about it. Just standard "lunch meat" type stuff you could buy in a package at the grocery store even if they cut it there...its all labeled and made for Jersey Mikes. The vegetables and condiments are standard. The only thing is the bread is a gonella type not the soft subway stuff. Nothing horribly bad about it but nothing special. My chain sub of choice is still Potbellys. I find their sandwiches tastier than most. I do not have an independent Italian sub place near by. I have yet to try Shanes deli they say they use Boars head meat so maybe I will try that.

After moving to a new office, and seeing this thread rear it's head again, I found a JM's close by, and decided to give it a try. The roast beef is the real deal. The only other meat I saw in the case was "turkey" which looked like the standard frankenmeat that the chain sub joints are allowed to call turkey for some reason these days. Roast beef, however, was real, and cooked medium. Lotsa pink slices going on here. Mayo was not sugary space goo that some ppl are scammed into thinking is mayo. Not sure what's going on with the other meats, but, the roast beef is the real deal which automatically puts Jersey Mike's into my rolodex of places to eat if stranded and hungry. I'll be having the roast beef again.

hmm I might have to try the roast beef. Is it served warm and toasted or cold or is there a choice? Do they make the cheese steaks from the same slices of beef or do they use an actual piece of thin steak?

toria wrote:hmm I might have to try the roast beef. Is it served warm and toasted or cold or is there a choice? Do they make the cheese steaks from the same slices of beef or do they use an actual piece of thin steak?

Roast Beef is served cold. Here's the menu - http://www.jerseymikes.com/menu/

Sweet Willie wrote:The beef is cooked fresh on premise at all Jersey Mike's locations, I believe it is a bottom round.

After selling deli meats in a past life, there are few places that cook off their own beef for deli use.

The roast beef sandwich is the item to get at Jersey Mike's, all the other meats looked of marginal quality IMO,
but the roast beef is delicious.

Thanks for this intel. Finally got around to trying the roast beef; only had their riff on cheesesteak before. I agree that the beef quality is noticeably better than that of other sandwich chains.

toria wrote:hmm I might have to try the roast beef. Is it served warm and toasted or cold or is there a choice? Do they make the cheese steaks from the same slices of beef or do they use an actual piece of thin steak?

I thought you could get the roast beef sandwich toasted, but I never do, so am not sure. I'm not a fan of cheesesteaks so I've never tried Jersey Mike's version.

TomInSkokie wrote:

Sweet Willie wrote:The beef is cooked fresh on premise at all Jersey Mike's locations, I believe it is a bottom round.

After selling deli meats in a past life, there are few places that cook off their own beef for deli use.

The roast beef sandwich is the item to get at Jersey Mike's, all the other meats looked of marginal quality IMO,
but the roast beef is delicious.

Thanks for this intel. Finally got around to trying the roast beef; only had their riff on cheesesteak before. I agree that the beef quality is noticeably better than that of other sandwich chains.

Due to business, I've had the roast beef at Jersey Mike's a number of times, every location has been real roast beef that was cooked off at the store. What has differed is the cut, sometimes a bottom round, sometimes an eye of round, so it would appear to me that corp allows the stores to choose which cut of meat they want to cook off.

I can not agree more with the other posters here that the other meats at Jersey Mike's are nothing special, roast beef is the exception as it is the real deal.

In my opinion, the relatively good roast beef (ok, it's arguably better than Subway, Quizno's or Arby's but it's still nothing to write home about) cannot make up for the super low-grade quality of all the other ingredients. The bread's bland and mushy, the condiments are lousy. Everything tastes low-end and in my experience, the sandwiches have been made sloppily. With no other options, I could see possibly being okay with a Jersey Mike's sandwich but the couple of times I've had it (carried out to our office for lunch) haven't impressed me at all. I've never been the one to choose it for lunch and would be just as happy opening a can of tuna for lunch as I would be having a sandwich from JM's.

=R=

Okay, it's better than Subway - but those are mighty small shoes to fill. Like Subway it's fuel and not food. It's the place to go when all the other places are closed. The only one I've tried (and I only tried because someone I used to trust recommended it) is on Wells near Madison, around the corner from my office. However, it's also right by Cafecito, Naf Naf, Nesh, Hannah's Bretzel and BaLe - any of which will blow Jersey Mike's out of the water (sub humor?).