A Submarine around the world
When selecting an establishment to nourish oneself, you might feel inclined to bite into a tasty pile of meat upon a freshly baked roll. Be warned though not all are made the same, some shops cut corners while other go above and beyond even offering those that walk through their doors an opportunity to be enlightened to what a sandwich can be.
The orders:
Jimmy Johns: Vito- A tasty Italian sandwich, made with hand-sliced salami, capocollo, & provolone cheese. The Vito® comes topped with fresh-sliced lettuce, tomato, onion, oil & vinegar and oregano-basil. Customize with any of your favorite Freebies or Add-ons. Added on Jimmy Peppers to the sandwich, a must for me.
Jersey Giant: The JERSEY GIANT -Ham, Capacola, Salami & Cheese. Had it with everything everything (Onion, Lettuce, Tomato, Banana Peppers, Pickles, Sweet Peppers, Hot Pepper Relish, Jalapeno, Jersey Juice (Oil/Vinegar Blend), Salt/Oregano)
Subway: Spicy Italian- Go ahead, spice up your life. Served on freshly baked bread and toasted to perfection, the Spicy Italian sandwich features spicy pepperoni, salami, and cheese. Add peppers, oil, vinegar or anything else your taste buds desire. I added lettuce, onion, tomato, banana peppers, oil, vinegar, and spices.
Penn Station: Cold Deli Classics Classic Italian- Smoked ham, hard salami, pepperoni, provolone, lettuce, Roma tomatoes, red onions, banana peppers, olive oil & red wine vinegar, salt & pepper, oregano, mayo.
When judging a place, you try the Italian first. If a place cant get an Italian somewhat right, run out that door you just walked through. Without further ado:
Penn Station:
Bread is doughy in a good way, the way they stacked the meats you get way too much meat in one bit and then nothing in the next bite. They had good crisp on the veggies but overall i will probably be sticking to the cheesesteak when I frequent this establishment in the future.
Jimmy Johns:
The bread has a difference in texture which not every place does, the outside has a crisp to it and a soft pillowy inside. Veggies are crisp, fresh, and flavorful yet don't overpower anything going on. The spread on the ingredients are great, meaning you have good dispersion which results in bites with every component more often than not. The spice from the peppers mixes with the vinegar very well and enhanced the Vito sandwich. Overall this Italian sub had a good balance.
Jersey Giant:
Bread was soft, every ingredient played its role but did not overpower anything else. No ingredient over shined another one except the pepper relish, which was amazing flavor. The amount of toppings offered was also amazing. Eating this was an experience that closely resembled a non chain sandwich shop.
Subway:
I don't want to hear about the Italian BMT, I ordered the first Italian sub on the menu and that was the Spicy Italian, this place gets no favors from me and I am glad I did that. Walking in nostalgia hit the nose and I was taken back to when I was a dumb kid, unaware of the wet sandwich meat that was about to be plopped on my bread (some countries we wouldn't be able to call it this). This was the one shop where i could taste flavor in the bread as I went with the cheesy bread but in the end it overpowered some other flavors with the heavy salt content. Not sure the ham could have saved this sandwich had I gotten the BMT. Jimmy Johns used to not be as big and so as stated before this place has a nostalgia factor from getting it growing up, unfortunately this disappears fast. No ingredient really stuck out in the sandwich flavor wise and the sum of the parts was not exceptional, only tasted salt and cheese on their own. Overall I did not enjoy eating this sandwich.
The Final Ranking are as follows:
Jersey Giant (8.8/10)
Jimmy Johns (8.3/10)
Penn Station (7.2/10)
Subway (2.7/10)
Topping Options at Jersey Giant
Subs in the bags/wrappings
Subs lined up and ready to be consumed
Subway Spicy Italian
Jersey Giant Subs
Jimmy Johns Vito Sub
Penn Station Sub