Jimmy John's Vs Jersey Mike's: Which Is Better?

If you like variety, look no further. Jimmy John's and Jersey Mike's both offer an incredible selection of sandwiches that you can customize to your liking.

Jimmy John's separates its menu of more than two dozen sandwiches into sections: favorites, originals, Little Johns, and Plain Slims. Jimmy John's favorites include club sandwiches, like the Billy Club, which contains roast beef, ham, provolone, dijon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. The Originals menu offers more standard sandwiches like the Turkey Tom: turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Sounds simple enough. Well, the Plain Slims category strips it down even more to just the basics: only meat, only cheese, or meat and cheese — no condiments here. For those with smaller appetites, stick with the Little Johns, which are the kid-size version of Jimmy John's favorites.

On the other hand, Jersey Mike's serves practically every sub sandwich you can imagine. Its menu is split into cold subs and hot subs. Among its 14 different cold subs, you can find a basic turkey and provolone or spice things up with The Original Italian, which has provolone, ham, prosciuttini, cappacuolo, salami, and pepperoni. A dozen options under hot subs include Mike's Famous Philly with steak, grilled onions, peppers and American cheese and its Big Kahuna Chicken Cheese Steak, which has chicken, grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, jalapeños, and American cheese. These sandwiches have all the meat, cheeses, and condiments you desire to keep you full and satisfied.

Whether for preference or because of an allergy, eating a gluten-free diet can make it challenging to order and enjoy food at restaurants, especially ones that serve sandwiches. One of our chains makes it easier to eat the foods you love without sacrificing the bread.

Jimmy John's offers an Unwich option, which essentially wraps ingredients in lettuce. But not all gluten-free eaters want to ditch the bread altogether. Jersey Mike's comes in clutch with gluten-free sub rolls for any regular or giant-size sandwich.

One Reddit user raved about their pleasant experience at their local Jersey Mike's store and noted the gluten-free offerings. "They had a special section with clean knives and what not, and it was really well prepared. The bread was good." Other users commented on the thread to further appreciate the chain's commitment to ensuring no cross-contamination between gluten and non-gluten products.

If you're looking for a delicious sandwich that's also gluten-free, Jersey Mike's has you covered.

If you're ordering a cold sub at Jersey Mike's, you'll likely get it Mike's Way unless you request otherwise. Subs prepared Mike's Way contain lettuce, onions, tomatoes, oil, vinegar, and spices. For most people, you either love it or hate it.

If you read through some online forums or social media comments sections, you'll find differing opinions on sandwiches ordered Mike's Way. While some Reddit patrons welcome the oil, vinegar, and spices, others suggest, "I want it Mike's Way, dry," without the liquid but with added pickles and jalapeños.

Jimmy John's has oil and vinegar on hand for its Italian Night Club sandwich, but for the most part it keeps to more traditional condiment offerings like mayo and mustard. We'd love to see the chain add more variety to the menu, which will add extra flavor to the sandwiches. Until then, we'll stick with Jersey Mike's for our oil, vinegar, and spice needs.

Many things come with turning another year older, like knowledge, experience, and, most importantly, birthday rewards from your favorite stores and restaurants. Both sandwich chains offer bonuses on your birthday, but does one take the cake (pun intended)?

Enroll in Jimmy John's and Jersey Mike's rewards programs online or through their mobile apps before celebrating another year of getting older for birthday reward consideration.

According to one Reddit fan, Jersey Mike's changed its birthday rewards program in 2021, and now instead of offering a free sandwich on your birthday, it will give you rewards points, but more points are needed to cover the price of a free sandwich. We fact-checked this on the website, which still states, "Join our email club and enjoy a free birthday sub on us each year." To ensure you get your free sub, enroll in their email list and join the rewards program.

Jimmy John's Birthday Surprises reward includes a free sandwich on your birthday. We appreciate this type of reward, as your birthday only falls once a year and deserves some recognition.

Giving feels better than receiving, so we feel it's equally, if not more, important to highlight the ways these chains give back to others. Both Jimmy John's and Jersey Mike's give back to charity, making the question of which is better more difficult to answer.

The Jimmy John's Foundation strives to empower the next generation to "dream boldly and thrive." The sandwich chain is able to successfully promote this mission through its partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Jimmy John's supports a Workforce Readiness Initiative, which helps youth develop skills and experiences to prepare them for the real world.

Jersey Mike's suggests its culture of giving is as much "a part of our heritage as oil and vinegar." We love the chain's strong desire to make a difference past just making a good-tasting sub sandwich. For example, during the month of March, Jersey Mike's invites customers to donate to a local charity partner of their choice. Getting everyone involved makes giving more personal and special.

Feeding a large group of people is no easy feat. Thankfully, both Jimmy John's and Jersey Mike's offer sandwich catering services to keep your crew full and satisfied. Both chains offer customizable options based on the event size and type.

Jimmy John's can serve up Party Boxes, Box Lunches, and Mini Jimmys for your next gathering. For any catering order, you get to choose from the 8-inch favorites, originals, or even Unwich sandwiches. Chips, pickles, and cookies are encouraged, but again Jimmy John's lets you be the conductor of this catering train. The variety continues on Jersey Mike's catering menu. If you choose this chain, you can expect a variety of subs, salads, and freshly baked cookies. With the subs, you can order a box, individually bagged sandwiches, or boxed lunches to simplify lunch meetings, outdoor gatherings, or other events.

You can't go wrong with either catering option.

Ordering a delicious sandwich is one thing, but a meal is only complete with sides. Thankfully, both chains offer chips and desserts to complement whatever sandwich catches your eye. But which chain does it better? Few food pairings satisfy a salty craving, like a bag of chips with your favorite sub. Jimmy John's chips come in Regular, BBQ, Jalapeno, Salt & Vinegar, or Thinny Chips (via Jimmy John's). On the other hand, Jersey Mike's only advertises Lays on its website, but we noticed Cheetos, Doritos, Miss Vickie's, and a few other bags near the register at our local store. Regarding variety, Jersey Mike's comes out on top, but we prefer the Jimmy John's brand taste-wise.

Once you've secured something salty, you must also buy something sweet. Jimmy John's offers two flavors of cookies, Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate Chip, both of which we found to be delicious but not overly fresh. Jimmy John's does not make its cookies in-house; each cookie comes individually wrapped to preserve freshness. On the other hand, Jersey Mike's serves freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and brownies. There are also gluten-free cookies available. One Jersey Mike's employee on Reddit describes the gluten-free cookies (which come from Udi's) as "soooo soft and yummy." We would pick a Jersey Mike's cookie over Jimmy John's any day of the week.