Jersey Mike’s Subs is a popular sandwich shop chain that originated in Point Pleasant, New Jersey in 1956. Known for its fresh ingredients and subs piled high with meats and cheeses, the restaurant has expanded to over 2,000 locations across the United States. The chain is famous for its “Mike’s Way” option, which includes onions, lettuce, tomatoes, vinegar, oil, and spices, all served on a freshly baked sub roll. The menu also features a wide variety of hot and cold subs, wraps, and salads. With its commitment to quality ingredients and delicious sandwiches, it’s no wonder Jersey Mike’s Subs is a favorite among many sandwich lovers.
Jersey Mike’s is one of the largest sandwich chains in the United States, offering a wide variety of both hot and cold subs to hungry customers across the country. Cold subs come in three sizes — mini, regular, and giant — while hot subs are only available in the regular and giant sizes. You may feel spoiled for choice when you walk in and see the wide variety of sandwiches to choose from, so we’ve tried to make things easier by ranking some of the most popular options for you, from worst to best.Â
To keep things fair and consistent, we’ve requested all of the subs we ordered be made with the standard toppings the chain offers. That means many of the sandwiches were topped with fresh onion, lettuce, and tomato before being hit with a generous dose of black pepper, then doused in oil and vinegar. The exceptions are the BLT, and the hot subs which have their own specific standard toppings.
Tuna Fish
Jersey Mike’s Tuna Fish Sub© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
This one is really bad, and should be avoided if at all possible. It certainly tastes like tuna, but not in a good way. Its intense fishy taste is closer to a seafood paste that is past its best. That off-putting flavor also lingers in the mouth, so once you make the mistake of taking a bite you’re going to have to ride it out for a while.Â
In terms of texture, things aren’t much better. Jersey Mike’s uses far too much mayo, leaving you with a filling akin to a cheap tuna salad instead of the well-dressed but still chunky and substantial mix you’d find in a high-quality tuna sandwich. The standard toppings of lettuce and tomato do nothing to make this sandwich more palatable. You can also opt to have oil, vinegar, and pepper added — which we did as we were going for standard toppings. This further loosened the over-sauced filling. There is no way to redeem this sub, as its base ingredient is tainted beyond hope.
The Veggie
Jersey Mike’s Veggie Sub© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
Hey, look! It’s the same boring vegetarian option every sandwich chain seems to offer: a few slices of uninspiring cheese topped with some salad and a drizzle of a standard condiment. In all seriousness, “The Veggie” does have some redeeming qualities and may be salvageable with the correct topping choices — but if you get one in its standard configuration you’re probably going to be unimpressed.
Let’s start with a positive: the provolone is laid on thick. Unlike other sandwiches which include a standard portion of the cheese, you’ll actually get some degree of provolone flavor from the half-inch thick serving. Then you have the standard toppings, which are onion, lettuce, and tomato — along with a dressing of oil, vinegar, and pepper. Beyond that, there’s nothing to get excited about. It could have used something to add texture — even the addition of crunchy pickles would be welcome. It’s a shame because it’s possible to create a really nice sandwich if the cheese choice is right and it’s paired with a good sauce or spread. But as it stands, The Veggie comes across as an afterthought. It’s just one of the meat-based options with its star ingredient removed.
Ham And Provolone
Jersey Mike’s Ham Provolone© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
While the Ham and Provolone sandwich may not seem too exciting, it’s actually the foundation that most of Jersey Mike’s cold menu seems to be built on. As it stands, it could really be switched for any of the next four sandwiches on the list. They’re all basically the same, and that’s a bit of an issue.
You get a generous serving of ham, but the meat is pretty bland. There are no sweet or smoky flavors, just a vague hint of salt and not much else. The ham isn’t alone in this sandwich, it’s accompanied by a few slices of provolone cheese. Unfortunately, this too is basically tasteless, at least in the quantities Jersey Mike’s serves you. Most of the flavor in this sandwich comes from the toppings, which is never a good thing — they’re supposed to elevate the sandwich’s main feature, not overpower it completely.
Stickball Special
Jersey Mike’s Stickball Special© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
The Stickball Special’s main ingredients are what you’ll find in the Ham and Provolone sandwich — a thick layer of bland meat and a couple of cheese slices that fail to add much flavor or texture to the sub. What makes it different is the addition of salami. Unfortunately, you don’t get much of the cured sausage, so it bears little impact on the flavor beyond adding a touch more saltiness.
If you go into this expecting a classic Italian sub, you’re going to be disappointed. There isn’t any of the greasy, cured, deliciousness you tend to get from even a basic sandwich at your neighborhood deli. The only hint of that familiar flavor you’ll actually get comes in the form of the oil and vinegar Jersey Mike’s liberally applies to its sandwiches when you order the standard toppings. Like the other ham offerings, this isn’t the worst thing on the menu, but doesn’t have much to offer.
The Number Four
Jersey Mike’s Number Four© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
If you believe what is written on the board, prosciutinni accompanies the cappacuolo on this sandwich. While it doesn’t include the standard ham, you wouldn’t know that just tasting it as the two meats on the inside are indistinguishable from Jersey Mike’s bland take on the humble pig leg. You’d need to be a forensic specialist or perhaps some kind of air crash investigator to figure out which cold cut is which. It’s sandwiches like this that make us think whoever was in charge of Jersey Mike’s cold menu got bored a quarter of the way in and just decided to copy/paste the same sandwich a bunch of times.
For those of you that enjoy Jersey Mike’s ham options, you may as well order this from time to time as it will fool your friends into thinking you enjoy variety and a bit of adventure. In reality, you just like the idea of ham and don’t care much about flavor.
Jersey Shore’s Favorite
Jersey Mike’s Jersey Shore’s Favorite© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
If this sub is really the best that the Jersey Shore can produce, then it might be time to close down the boardwalks and call it a day. Like the other ham-based cold options, you get a thick serving of mediocre pig meat. That’s accompanied by, you guessed it, a hint of provolone cheese that may as well not be there at all. The difference here is the addition of cappacuolo, but it isn’t cappacuolo that we’re used to, from what we can tell. Rather than a slice of meat straight from the muscle, it’s some weird sausage-type thing. So you don’t get any additional texture, and the contributions to the sandwich’s flavor are minimal.
There may have been a mild hint of smoke to this sandwich. We’re not certain, as it was very faint and it could have been the result of our ham-addled brains making up new flavors out of pure boredom.
The Super Sub
Jersey Mike’s Super Sub© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
Just to recap, the subs between this one and the Ham and Provolone could be in any order. They’re all pretty much the same. You wouldn’t think sub tasting at a sandwich chain would be something that would call for a master’s palate — but Gordon Ramsay on his best day couldn’t discern a difference between these sandwiches based on taste alone.
The Super Sub consists of prosciutinni, cappacuolo, and lots and lots of ham. It’s at the top of the ham portion of this list based on the quantity of meat it contains alone. There’s no other way to judge this. The toppings add some much-needed flavor, as they do with the other pig-based configurations. But that’s all you’ll be getting. There’s also a sense everything in the ham zone is beyond help, like there’s little that can be done to really elevate it when the core ingredients are so lacking. This section is in the middle of the pack for a reason.
Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak
Jersey Mike’s Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
We had high hopes for the Buffalo Chicken Cheese Steak — but unfortunately, this was a massive letdown. It only places so high because everything below it is that much worse. Firstly, this is absolutely drenched in Buffalo Sauce. You’d be forgiven for thinking said sauce was applied with a fire hose. This wouldn’t be a problem if the chicken itself could hold up to that ample dousing. Unfortunately, the thinly shaved chicken comes across as insubstantial. It just floats in the sea of sauce, seemingly without purpose. It isn’t meaty and notable, like a buffalo wing or a chicken tender.
The other toppings may as well not be there either. The lettuce and tomato add minimal texture; the American cheese serves to bind the chicken together a little but does nothing else; and if the menu didn’t mention a “blue cheese sauce” was added to the sub we would never have known. Buffalo chicken is a firm favorite of many food aficionados. If you’re amongst that number, give this one a swerve. It’s not the worst option on the menu, but you will be pretty disappointed.
BLT
Jersey Mike’s BLT© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
The quality of a BLT provides somewhat of a litmus test for sandwich shops. The ingredients are simple (bacon, lettuce, tomato, bread, and mayonnaise) and the construction is straightforward, so on the face of it, it’s hard to mess up. However, for a BLT recipe to stand out the components all have to be fresh, flavorful, of high quality, and added in the correct quantities.
With that said, Jersey Mike’s version is passable. This may explain its ranking in the middle section of this list, and the establishment’s ranking in the middle of our overall list of popular sandwich chains. You get a good amount of bacon, and those strips are just crispy enough, on the verge of entering chewy territory at times. The tomato, however, is pretty disappointing; there’s no bright fruity flavor. It’s just there. The sandwich we received was also light on the lettuce, and what made it onto the sandwich was very thinly shaved. There was an acceptable amount of mayo, but the bun it was spread on isn’t toasted as the sandwich is on the “cold” menu. All in all, this a perfectly fine sub, but this is far from our go-to BLT.
Mike’s Chicken Philly
Jersey Mike’s Chicken Philly© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
Mike’s Chicken Philly is the chain’s poultry version of the classic Philly Cheesesteak recipe. Chicken breast is thinly chopped and grilled before cheese is added, binding the shavings together in a gooey, meaty, mass. This is then slapped onto a roll that has been toasted on the grill and topped with grilled peppers and grilled onions.
The meat itself doesn’t have much of a chicken flavor. It’s pretty salty, but that works with the rest of the sub. The other toppings on offer, namely the cheese and peppers, stand out far more on the Chicken Philly than they do on the marinated beef version of this sub. Like many of the grilled options, the ingredients will coat your mouth as you chew it and you’ll be savoring some of the flavors long after it’s hit your stomach. It’s also pretty moreish — you’ll find yourself going for a second, third, and fourth bite very quickly. All in all, this is a solid poultry effort.
Roast Beef And Provolone
Jersey Mike’s Roast Beef Provolone© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
The Roast Beef and Provolone has one thing going for it, but it’s a pretty major plus. It could be greatly improved if your choice of toppings was more adventurous than the standard accompaniments we had to select in order to live within our ranking rules. But the meat on this sandwich is quite possibly the best fast food chain roast beef we’ve encountered. It’s fresh, has a nice beefy flavor, and is on par with something you’d get from a very decent deli. The meat is so good that it propelled this sandwich up the list on its own. Everything else is a bit lackluster.
As we’ve come to expect, the provolone is so anonymous it may as well not be there. It’s just adding calories, as no taste or texture is discernable. Similarly, the toppings Mike’s slaps on as standard make sense for an Italian Sub, but miss the mark with a beef sandwich. A bold choice of cheese, like a sharp cheddar, and either a hot mustard or a horseradish-based condiment like Baltimore Tiger Sauce would result in a superb sub that would likely be in contention for this list’s top spot. Unfortunately, despite getting the hard part right, Jersey Mike’s has failed to back up its excellent beef.
Chipotle Cheesesteak
Jersey Mike’s Chipotle Cheesesteak© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
Your experience with the Chipotle Cheesesteak may differ, as we suspect the experience has a lot to do with who is preparing the sandwich. Ours had a liberal application of the smoky, creamy, sauce that gives the sub its title. Outside of the chipotle mayo, this sub is basically the same as Mike’s Famous Philly, which is the chain’s standard cheesesteak. So you’ll get grilled peppers, grilled onions, and a melty mass of white American cheese. You won’t notice any of these toppings if the sandwich is anything like ours, because the sauce overpowers it all. The other elements basically add texture to the sandwich and little else.
While chipotle peppers are basically jalapeño peppers underneath it all, you won’t get any heat at all from this sauce though it does offer a deep smoky flavor. Any spice is likely stifled by the heavy amount of cream, ranch, or whatever substance it is that makes up the bulk of this sauce and gives it its other flavor element. Despite the lack of fire, the chipotle mayo and beef combo still managed to impress.
Grilled Portabella Mushroom & Swiss
G© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
It’s rare to stumble across an actual, palatable, vegetarian option on a fast food sandwich menu. But Jersey Mike’s has created something special with the Grilled Portabella Mushroom & Swiss sub. As you may expect, the mushroom is the star of the show here. It adds a nice burst of flavor and texture, which tends to be lacking in many meat-free options. The portabella mushroom itself isn’t delivered whole, as you may have encountered it when it subs in for a hamburger. Instead, it’s diced in a similar way to the beef and chicken options. This, again, adds to the texture.
The “Swiss” portion of this sandwich flies well under the radar. Maybe it’s the nutty tones the mushrooms contribute to masking it, or maybe Jersey Mike’s just uses very bland Swiss cheese. Either way, it’s a textural contribution and adds nothing to the flavor. The best part of the Grilled Portabella Mushroom & Swiss sub is the aftertaste. Mushrooms are well known for adding a deep umami flavor to various dishes. This is the kind of satisfying flavor that will be lingering in your mouth when you’ve finished your sub. It isn’t as nice as some of the meaty options but is a solid choice if you’re trying to cut down the amount of animal tissue you consume for whatever reason.
Mike’s Famous Philly
Jersey Mike’s Famous Philly© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
This is Jersey Mike’s take on the classic Philly Cheesesteak. While an actual Philadelphia native would be deeply insulted if you compared this to the beef and cheese whiz medley from the City of Brotherly Love, it really isn’t bad for what it is. The beef itself is finely shaved, a little bit chewy, and has obviously been marinated in something or other. It’s quite similar to the steak option you can order from Subway, both in taste and texture.
Jersey Mike’s uses American cheese on its Philly, and the salty, creamy, flavor it brings pairs beautifully with the deeply flavored beef. The thick, gooey, texture also pairs well with the chewy steak, and ensures few shavings escape the sandwich. It’s basically acting like a dairy-based mortar, keeping all of the beefy building blocks of the sub in place. The standard cheesesteak toppings are grilled onions and grilled peppers. The onions add a welcome touch of sweetness, while the peppers are grilled until quite soft, but still retain a vital bit of crunch. The sub leaves a nice taste in your mouth that will linger for some time, and is heavy enough to satisfy even the hungriest of patrons.
Big Kahuna Cheesesteak
Jersey Mike’s Big Kahuna© Dave McQuilling/Tasting Table
If you want a great, filling, sub from Jersey Mike’s, then the Big Kahuna is the sandwich for you. Chicken is an option, but we opted for the beef version and were not disappointed. The addition of jalapeño peppers, mushrooms, and extra American cheese pair up with the standard pepper and grilled onion toppings to take the Big Kahuna to the next level.
As with the other cheesesteaks on offer at the chain, the beef is slightly chewy but well marinaded and full of flavor. The extra cheese is warm, gooey, and brings everything together delightfully. When all is said and done, you will be left with a pleasant, rich, peppery aftertaste. This is also where the mushrooms come out to play, they aren’t too noticeable when competing with steak and jalapeños, but they do contribute greatly to the umami note you’ll notice in your mouth once all is said and done. This is one of the heavier subs on offer, and a mini option is not available. You could potentially split a regular Big Kahuna between two people, add in a bag of chips each, and be fully satisfied with the meal on offer.
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