Jersey Mikes Super Sub

  Jersey Mike Subs is a national chain that specializes in hoagies,grinders,subs, po-boys, or whatever the hell your region of the country calls them.
 Jersey Mikes was started in 1956, in the New Jersey sea side town of Point Pleasent. The original name was Mikes Subs but was changed to Jersey Mikes when they started to franchise out in 1987. There are now over 450+ Jersey Mikes across the USA.

 So what separates Jersey Mikes from other sandwich shops such as Subway or Quiznos? Well the most impressive thing to me is that  they slice all the meats for your sandwich to order. Next to where they assemble the sandwiches, there is a full deli case. As they make your sandwich they pull out each hunk of meat or cheese, slice it to order, and place it on the sliced hoagie roll to make your sandwich.

Here is a video that shows the process.

 The bread is also baked in the shop, and you have your choice of White or Wheat.

Blahhhhh!!!

Once your sandwich has the meat and cheese piled upon the bread. Its off to the topping station to get dressed with the condiments. The most popular way to get your sandwich dressed is Mikes Way which tops your sandwich in the traditional Italian style with Lettuce, Onions, Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar, Oregano, Salt and Pepper.  It warmed my heart to see that Jersey Mikes actually used oil and vinegar. Nothing that turns me off more then when a good Italian hoagie is ruined by putting a cheap Italian salad dressing on it. That is a disgrace, and I spit in the general direction of any sandwich/pizza shop owner and his ancestors that does this.

 When I went to Jersey Mikes I ordered a whole Super Sub. The Super comes with Provolone, Ham, prosciuttini, and cappacuolo.Analyzing these ingredients raised some questions . Well first off what the hell is prosciuttini? It appears to be just a black pepper encrusted cooked ham. It in no way resembles or tastes like the traditional Italian dry cured ham prosciutto.

Prosciuttini?

Hot Capicola

 Cappacualo is just a fancy way  of saying capicola, and for those that don't know capicola is an Iitalian style hot ham. It is basically a cured ham that has been infused with red pepper, which adds some zing to the traditional ham taste. 

 The sandwich is of a pretty good size portion and there is enough for two people. A whole Super cost $8.50 and represented a fair value for the size and amount of meat on the sandwich.

  While I usually like my Italian hoagies hot, I found the freshness of the meats and produce made this sandwich work for me cold.

The sub is sliced into 4 sections

 The sandwich had a good amount of meat on it and was very flavorful. Eating it can get a little sloppy as the sandwich is really loaded with toppings. The Super compared favorably, and of even better quality to some of the local Italian hoagies from pizza shops that I have sampled  throughout the years.

Good Eats!!

 Jersey Mikes also has a line of hot subs, such as Philly cheesesteak, meatball, and a grilled pastrami reuben. Will review some of these other subs in future Pittsburgh Eats reviews.

 In conclusion I found the Jersey Mikes Super Sub to be an excellent sandwich, especially for a national chain. While only 25% more price wise then a comparative Subway sub. It was almost twice as large, twice as much meat, and much fresher tasting. I'm looking forward to going back to Jersey Mikes and trying some of the other varieties of subs that they have to offer.

 RATING

 Jersey Mikes    8/10

 Super Sub

Jersey Mikes Subs

10566 Perry Highway

Wexford PA 15090

(724) 933-0101

(Moving soon to a new location in the same shopping center, next to Miyako Japanese Steakhouse)

http://www.jerseymikes.com/