Jersey Mike’s has built a reputation for generous portions and fresh ingredients, but not every menu item deserves a spot in your regular rotation. Some sandwiches pack more sodium than most people should eat in an entire day, while others come loaded with enough calories to derail your entire week. What looks like a simple sub sandwich can sometimes hide nutritional surprises that might make you think twice about your next order.
Buffalo chicken cheesesteak packs dangerous sodium levels
The buffalo chicken cheesesteak might taste incredible with its Frank’s Red Hot coating and blue cheese dressing, but it comes with a serious catch. A regular-sized sandwich contains a staggering 3,344 milligrams of sodium – that’s more than most people should consume in an entire day. The recommended daily limit sits at 2,300 milligrams, making this single sandwich exceed safe levels by over 1,000 milligrams.
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce contributes significantly to this problem, packing 190 milligrams of sodium per teaspoon. When combined with processed cheese, bread, and other toppings, the numbers add up fast. This sandwich essentially delivers more than a day’s worth of salt in one sitting, which can leave you feeling bloated and thirsty for hours afterward.
Chipotle cheesesteak loads up on unhealthy fats
Think switching from buffalo to chipotle will solve the sodium problem? Think again. The chipotle cheesesteak brings its own set of issues, particularly when it comes to fat content. A regular-sized sandwich contains more than 62 grams of fat, including 18 grams of saturated fat and nearly a gram of trans fat. That’s almost your entire daily fat allowance in one meal.
The chipotle mayo is the main culprit behind these numbers, turning what could be a reasonable sandwich into a fat bomb. Most people following a 2,000-calorie diet should aim for no more than 22 grams of saturated fat per day. This sandwich delivers almost that entire amount, leaving little room for other meals without going overboard on unhealthy fats.
Tuna fish sub disappoints on multiple levels
Fish sounds like a healthy option, and Jersey Mike’s does make their tuna salad fresh in-store rather than using pre-made mixtures. However, their tuna blend includes albacore, which contains higher mercury levels than light tuna varieties. This makes it less suitable for pregnant women, children, and people who eat tuna frequently. The mercury concern alone might make you reconsider this seemingly healthy choice.
Beyond mercury concerns, the tuna fish sub consistently ranks as one of Jersey Mike’s worst offerings in terms of taste and quality. Reviews describe the texture as paste-like, with too much mayonnaise overwhelming any actual fish taste. The sandwich often leaves a lingering, unpleasant aftertaste that makes the entire experience disappointing, especially considering the premium price point.
Gluten-free options carry cross-contamination risks
Jersey Mike’s offers Udi’s gluten-free rolls and takes some precautions to prevent cross-contamination, including using clean surfaces and fresh tools. However, the busy environment makes complete gluten avoidance nearly impossible. Employees might use gloves that touched regular bread, or toppings could get contaminated from shared containers. The fast-paced nature of sandwich assembly increases these risks significantly.
The level of gluten-free safety varies dramatically between locations, and online ordering removes your ability to monitor the preparation process. People with celiac disease face serious health consequences from even tiny amounts of gluten exposure. These inconsistencies make Jersey Mike’s a risky choice for anyone with severe gluten sensitivity, despite their efforts to accommodate dietary restrictions.
Club supreme sub packs excessive calories
The club supreme takes the regular club sandwich and amplifies everything – swapping ham for roast beef and provolone for Swiss cheese. While this creates a more indulgent experience, it also creates a calorie bomb that weighs in at 1,140 calories. That’s more than half the daily calorie needs for many people, delivered in a single sandwich that might not even feel particularly filling.
The mayonnaise alone contributes about 260 calories to this sandwich – almost as much as the bread itself. Since Jersey Mike’s already includes their olive oil blend on sandwiches, the mayonnaise becomes redundant and unnecessarily caloric. Skipping the mayo could save you significant calories without compromising the sandwich’s taste, especially when other rich ingredients like cheese and multiple meats provide plenty of richness.
Original Italian sub overloads on processed meats
The original Italian reads like a processed meat sampler platter: ham, cappacuolo, pepperoni, salami, and prosciuttini all piled onto one sandwich. This combination delivers over 2,400 milligrams of sodium in a regular-sized sub, well above recommended daily limits. The sheer variety of cured and processed meats makes this sodium overload inevitable, turning what seems like an authentic Italian experience into a salt festival.
Each of these processed meats contributes its own sodium load, and they add up quickly when combined. The World Health Organization classifies processed meats as Group 1 carcinogens due to links with colorectal cancer risk. This sandwich essentially delivers a concentrated dose of multiple processed meats in one sitting, making it a poor choice for regular consumption despite its authentic Italian inspiration.
Grilled Italian sub makes things even worse
The grilled Italian might seem like a reasonable alternative with fewer meat varieties, but it actually contains more sodium than the original Italian – a whopping 2,796 milligrams. While it skips some of the processed meats, it compensates by using larger quantities of high-sodium options like ham. The grilling process doesn’t reduce sodium content, and the concentrated meat portions make this sandwich even more problematic.
This sandwich also packs about 100 more calories than the original Italian, reaching 1,040 calories total. That represents more than half your daily calorie allocation if you’re following a typical 2,000-calorie diet. Better alternatives exist on the menu, like “the number four,” which still provides Italian-inspired ingredients but with significantly lower sodium and calorie counts.
Mike’s Way oil blend isn’t pure olive oil
Ordering your sandwich “Mike’s Way” sounds like a premium upgrade with its blend of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olive oil, red wine vinegar, and spices. However, that “olive oil” isn’t actually pure olive oil at all. Instead, Jersey Mike’s uses a blend that includes vegetable oil fillers like canola or soybean oil. This substitution changes both the nutritional profile and potential allergen concerns of every sandwich.
This oil blend creates problems for people with soy allergies or those trying to avoid highly processed oils. Soybean oil consumption has been linked to various issues, and many people specifically choose olive oil to avoid these concerns. The blend essentially delivers the opposite of what customers expect when they hear “olive oil,” making Mike’s Way less appealing for health-conscious diners who assume they’re getting premium ingredients.
Breakfast sandwiches start your day with too much sodium
Jersey Mike’s breakfast menu isn’t available everywhere, but where it exists, it comes with some serious nutritional concerns. The cheese, ham, bacon, peppers, and mushroom breakfast sandwich contains 1,789 milligrams of sodium – nearly an entire day’s worth before you’ve even had lunch. The combination of processed breakfast meats and bread creates this sodium overload, making it a poor way to start any day.
The pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich fares similarly due to pork roll’s high sodium content – this processed meat is a New Jersey specialty but comes with serious nutritional drawbacks. Starting your day with this much sodium can leave you feeling sluggish and thirsty, setting a poor tone for the rest of your meals. These breakfast options essentially use up your entire daily sodium allowance before most people have even gotten to work.
Nobody expects every fast food item to be perfectly nutritious, but some Jersey Mike’s menu items push boundaries that might surprise even casual diners. The good news is that plenty of better options exist on the same menu – you just need to know what to avoid and what modifications can help. Next time you’re standing in line, maybe skip the sodium bombs and calorie overloads in favor of something that won’t leave you feeling terrible for the rest of the day.
