I'd like to lead by explaining that this one-star review has nothing (NOTHING) to do with the staff. The staff here is REALLY nice. They were polite, funny, helpful, kind, and the sort of people you wish you encountered working at any restaurant.
My issue with Jersey Mikes is really just a series of systemic problems. I'm guessing it's company-wide so I hate to pick on this one store, but c'est la vie. What it boils down to is that Jersey Mikes is essentially Subway except the quality is 50% greater, the sizes are 50% smaller, and the prices are almost double. If you're good at math you'll see that the price/size thing balance out, and ought not to result in a doubling of price, or you risk looking like an utter ripoff.
For example - when I went to Jersey Mikes two days ago, I found the prices and sizes to be (roughly) as follows:
$6.50 for a "mini" sub (3" wide, 4" long)
$8.50 for a "regular" sub (3" wide, 6" long)
$14.50 for a "large" sub (3" wide, 12" long)
$3.00+ to add a tiny chip bag and small looking fountain drink
I'm not sure if you can adequately picture in your minds eye the tinyness of these sandwiches. They're humorously small. They're small enough that when you see them, you wonder if the staff is confused about how to cut the bread properly... if you ordered them blind, you'd be angry when it showed up on your plate (if you had a plate, which you don't, because again this place is basically a Subway). The "mini" looks like something you'd give to a small child, and they'd still be hungry after eating it. The "regular' looks like 1/2 of a sub from an independent place. The "large" appears smaller than a Subway footlong.
My first question upon viewing the menu was "Why are the hot subs only available in regular and large (aka $9 and $15, respectively) while the cold subs have mini as an option?" then the staff showed me the bread and I realized it probably wasn't worth the staffs time to try to fit, say, a half a meatball or 1/3 of a chicken tender on such a tiny roll.
We ordered a "mini" cold sub, a "regular" hot sub, a single 22oz fountain drink and a single tiny bag of chips. It was $19.25... for about 10 inches of sandwich, one bag of chips and one small coke. My hot sub was a meatball; it seemed to have a single meatball in it, cut up and spread throughout - sloppy. My better half got an italian; it looked good, at least as far as the presentation and visual qualities of the meat went, but was miniscule in size. The bread, admittedly, seemed to be an improvement on what is usually found at chain sub shops, but it didn't make a big step toward justifying the pricing
I've eaten a lot of subs in New Jersey. I don't know about Mike, but I know if I was trying to sell these tiny bastards down there (especially at these prices) I would get laughed at. This is marginally better Subway food, that's it. It's as good as the crummier of your handful local independent sub shops - this is New England after all. I don't understand your value proposition here. Sorry.
You'll pardon us if we go LITERALLY ANYWHERE ELSE for our next subs... independent shop, chain, whatever. For that same $20 bill we can both eat a meal, rather than a kids meal and a snack, literally anywhere else. I hope that really hits home for you; if two adults go to Jersey Mikes, and each wants 1/2 of a normal sized sub, a tiny bag chips, and smallish coke, it's going to cost you about $30 after tax. That is INSANE. If an adult goes to Jersey Mikes looking for 3/4 of a normal sized sub, a tiny bag of chips, and a smallish coke, that's about $20. INSANE. LUDICROUS.
Don't get me wrong, if this was an actual sit-down restaurant with table service MAYBE the pricing would be a little closer to on point... but even then, I'd think it misses the mark. This is a jazzed up Subway that costs a fortune; you walk in, you pick an overpriced sandwich or design your own at a little counter with lunch meats, and you pay and take it to a table wrapped up in paper and eat it over a plastic bag... oh, and you feel like you've been ripped off the whole way through. It's almost insulting.
Jersey Mikes - If you feel like spending literally double for fast-food that is ever so slightly better than the many other options which are within walking distance... read more