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I Tried Roast-beef Sandwiches From Jimmy John's, Subway, And Jersey Mike's. None Were Perfect, But One Stood Out.
I compared roast-beef sandwiches from Subway, Jimmy John's, and Jersey Mike's.
Steven John
- I compared roast-beef sandwiches at Jimmy John's, Jersey Mike's, and Subway to find the best one.
- The bread at Jimmy John's never fails to impress me, but I thought the rest of the sub was bland.
- My Subway sub was made with remarkably crisp produce, but Jersey Mike's easily had the best meat.
I could probably eat a sandwich for lunch every day for the rest of my life.
On my quest to compare popular chains, I put roast-beef subs from Jimmy John's, Jersey Mike's, and Subway to the test.
I ordered each sandwich on the shop's standard bread and piled them with provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.
Here's how the roast-beef sandwiches stacked up.
Subway is easily one of the biggest fast-food chains.I'm not always that impressed by Subway.
Steven John
Subway is one of the largest global chains, but its ubiquity hasn't necessarily led to an overly positive public opinion.
I'll admit that I've been let down by the restaurant more than once, but nonetheless, I count myself among its fans. Because Subway has over 30,000 locations globally, it's still nice to know I can probably grab something familiar at one, no matter where in the world I am.
I ordered a 12-inch roast-beef sub for $16.28, which breaks down to about $1.36 an inch.
The produce at Subway tasted surprisingly fresh.The freshness won me over at Subway.
Steven John
Subway employees can sometimes go a little heavy on the sauce, but the few stripes of mayo I got were well-portioned.
The bread and cheese were nothing special, but the roast beef was actually pretty tasty — I just wish there was more of it.
The produce truly stood out here. The tomatoes were thickly cut and actually had good flavor, and the lettuce tasted fresh and crisp.
I'd argue that roast beef should be the star of a roast-beef sandwich, but I'm certainly not mad at the Subway sub.
Jimmy John's Big John sandwich was next on my list.I had to pay extra for cheese at Jimmy John's.
Steven John
Jimmy John's is a Midwest staple that's spread to over 2,000 locations across the US. It's perhaps most famous for its fresh-baked bread.
I ordered a regular (8-inch) Big John but paid $1 extra to add provolone cheese. The total came to $11.41, or about $1.43 an inch.
The bread makes the meal at Jimmy John's.I love Jimmy John's bread.
Steven John
Sadly, I thought my roast-beef sandwich from Jimmy John's tasted rather bland overall.
It needed a bit more meat, the meat needed a bit more salt, the cheese was all but undetectable, and the veggies faded into the background.
You'd think that would mean I didn't enjoy this sandwich, but that wasn't the case because of one thing: the bread.
Jimmy John's French bread is good enough to be enjoyed on its own with just some butter or perhaps a spread of Dijon mustard. It readily elevates what would've been an underwhelming sandwich into a perfectly decent meal.
Jersey Mike's served up freshly sliced meat.I had high hopes for Jersey Mike's.
Steven John
New Jersey-based chain Jersey Mikes has over 2,000 locations throughout the US and Canada.
It's famous for building sandwiches with freshly sliced cold cuts, and it was the only chain where I watched an employee slice my roast beef seconds after I placed my order.
My No. 6 (roast beef and provolone) 7-inch sub cost me $12.36, or about $1.77 an inch.
My Jersey Mike's sandwich reminded me of one from a mom-and-pop deli.The meat was piled high at Jersey Mike's.
Steven John
The roast beef piled onto my Jersey Mike's sandwich was well over an inch thick. I pulled a few pieces of meat out to try on its own and found that it tasted high quality, too
The provolone cheese also had good flavor, but I didn't think there was enough lettuce, and the tomatoes tasted a bit bland.
However, the biggest issue I had with the sandwich was the rather sloppy, messy assembly. It was difficult to hold together as a cohesive unit, and the mayo was slapped on too heavily and unevenly.
I haven't ordered this enough to know if it was a one-off problem or a consistent problem with the chain's sandwich assembly.
There were pros and cons to each sandwich — I wish I could combine them.It was hard to pick the best roast-beef sandwich.
Steven John
The generous portion of roast beef and the quality of the meat at Jersey Mike's easily would've made it my favorite sandwich had it been assembled with more care.
However, as it is, there were things I liked and disliked about each sub. Jimmy John's sandwich tasted pretty bland despite its amazing bread, and Subway's felt underfilled but had lovely tomatoes and lettuce.
It would be divine if I could combine the meat from Jersey Mike's and the produce from Subway on the bread from Jimmy John's.
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