Have you recently memorized Pizza Shuttle's number? Is Domino's just a speed-dial away? There's a new delivery restaurant in town bragging about its accelerated style in gourmet delivery.
Jimmy John's opened its doors at the corner of Asp Avenue and Boyd Street, where clothing store Gil's used to be, and hopes to cater to the poor college students hungry for something in a hurry.
The franchise was started in 1983 when a college drop-out decided to open a fancy sandwich shop in his converted garage near the campus of Eastern Illinois University. Twenty years later, there are more than 200 shops around the country, including Norman's, the only one in Oklahoma.
The restaurant advertises a gourmet sandwich, but to a typical collegian, what is gourmet? Probably not Fois Gras on a crustini or sun-dried tomato pesto on a wild rice bun, but more along the lines of anything over $8. To a college student, gourmet doesn't taste like dorm food, and it might even mean adding soy sauce to Ramen noodles.
The tongue-in-cheek use of the word gourmet explains most of the sandwiches on Jimmy's menu. I would hardly consider the restaurant's Hellmann's mayonnaise or Dijon mustard gourmet, but to the hungry consumer, what's the difference?
The menu is divided into two sections, gourmet sub sandwiches on the left and giant gourmet clubs on the right. I would skip the left side for the right. This is where the subs get interesting, or maybe it's just their names.
The Italian Night Club #9 is a sub stuffed full of flavor, with its rich, fatty Genoa Salami, Capicola, ham and provolone. This sub is one of the two most ordered sandwiches and a good display of the type of meats available. These meats are cured, which make them a bit salty but brings out the taste of this sub.
On the right side of the menu, the sandwich connoisseur can choose between a hearty seven-grain whole-wheat bread baked on-site or a French bread, which not only brings out the taste of the sub, but also doesn't fall apart in your hands like the wheat bread tends to do.
The #12 Beach Club is another store favorite. They use juicy turkey breast slathered with avocado spread, not guacamole-style. This distinctly Californian-style sandwich is a great combination, with the earthy sprouts and cucumber.
If the Beach Club isn't your style, you can try the Sorry Charlie, which sadly enough backs up its name--just a disappointingly blah combination of tuna salad on French bread.
One Friday I went in for the Billy Club and found myself wondering if they had switched out the good meats for the weekend. The roast beef tasted a day old, but the rest of the sandwich was fine.
On a Sunday night during college rush hour (10 to 11 p.m.), I decided to test Jimmy John's delivery systems.
Pizza Shuttle blasted over in an astounding 17 minutes. Dominos was second with 22 minutes, and Jimmy John's a minute later, making the restaurant's motto "subs so fast you'll freak" come true: I was freaking hungry.
I would skip the soggy lettuce and opt to dine in for Jimmy's gourmet sandwich. In my experience, that's the best representation of what the restaurant is trying to produce.
hello there & you too