Fist Pumping at Jersey Mikes?

Jersey Mike's Subs

25280 Marguerite Parkway

Mission Viejo, CA 92692

New Jersey is famous for Bruce Springsteen, the train wreck that is Jersey Shore, and the birthplace of the seedless watermelon. So when I heard that a Jersey Mike's was opening up in my area, I had to give it a try to see if I could add it to the list of all-time greatest things coming out of New Jersey.

Jersey Mike's started in 1956 in Mount Pleasant, New Jersey. Today they have over 450 stores nationwide and five opened in Orange county, with more on the way. Let's see if they are expanding because the sandwiches are so good.

Katie started with this Pasta Salad. I am not usually a big fan of pasta salad, but this one was pretty good. It was oil based and had hunks of cheese and tomatoes in it. It was a decent salad, and it made me want to try their other salads as well.

Here is Katie's sandwich. She got the #7, Turkey Breast and Provolone. All of their sandwiches can be served Mike's Way, which includes onions, lettuce, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, olive oil and spices. All of their sandwich meat is sliced right in front of you. The turkey did taste good, but I thought that this sandwich was a little bland, but Katie liked it. They have three sizes of sandwich, mini, (pictured above), regular, and giant.

This is the Giant sized #9, the Club Supreme. This sandwich includes roast beef, turkey, swiss, bacon and mayo. I had this sandwich Mike's Way, minus the tomatoes. This sandwich was pretty good sized. They were a little light on the meat and mayo on it though. The bread, which is good, really over powered this sandwich. The bacon added nicely to make this sandwich more tasty than Katie's. All in all, a very good sandwich.

On a different visit I had the #20, Grilled Pastrami Reuben. I did not like this sandwich at all. The pastrami was not good, the taste was off, and again there was not enough meat on this sandwich. I also thought that this sandwich was over priced at $10.75. I have had a better pastrami sandwich at Togo's, and at almost half the price. I would not get this sandwich again.

This is probably a sandwich I would get again. This is the #56, the Big Kahuna Cheese Steak. This sandwich had grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos and extra cheese, a winning combination. This sandwich was bursting with flavor. There was just enough meat on this one, but it was close to not having enough on it. I did think that the $11.50 that you pay for this sandwich was way too much, but it did taste great.

I do not know if I would add Jersey Mike's to my all time greatest things to come out of New Jersey list. I think that a lot of their sandwiches are too expensive. I do like that they slice the meat right in front of you, and all of their ingredients seem really fresh. This place really just seems like an over-priced Togo's to me. It is better than Togo's, but not by much.

So out of five Snooki's, five being best to zero being worst, Jersey Mike's gets 2 Snooki's.

To find out more information on Jersey Mike's, click here: http://www.jerseymikes.com/