Sunday "Italian" Sandwiches: Jersey Mike's Subs, Grab & Go, and Philly Grill

Boy, was it nice out there today...... I'm figuring that you really don't feel like reading about a hot steaming pot of Suan Cai Yang Rou (preserved vegetable w/lamb hot pot), so I thought I'd dig up a few photos, and put together a sandwich post. This time, it's a couple of local "Italian Subs", which, depending where you live can be called a "Grinder, Torpedo, Hoagie, or Bomber" among other names, depending on where you live. Here's an interesting threesome, 1 from a National Chain, one from a Local Chain, and one from a local independently owned shop. So without further ado:

Jersey Mike's Subs - Rosecrans:

As far as I know, there are three locations of this New Jersey based chain in San Diego proper. The actual history of Jersey Mike's is interesting. Yet, it's still a franchised chain.

 
The interior is full on national sandwich shop generic.....

 
I will say one thing about this shop; the two times I've been here, the young ladies are always cleaning like crazy....... whomever runs this shop must put an emphasis on this.

I usually will go for one of the combinations featuring Italian cold cuts.

On both my visits, the sandwich was lettuce heavy, and you really couldn't taste the meats. The dressing is a good amount of red wine vinegar, olive oil, and a good amount of an oregano spice mix, which is the key to flavor for this sandwich. It's still not the basic "salad on a roll" that is a sandwich from Subway, and they do slice your meat to order.

The one thing I enjoy at Jersey Mike's is the bread, which is slightly crusty and airy, and has a almost cracker-like flavor.

Jersey Mike's Subs
3670 Rosecrans Street
San Diego, CA 92110

Grab & Go Subs - Mission Gorge Rd:

A local "chain" with seven locations, I've posted on Grab & Go before. A couple of months ago, I dropped by the Mission Gorge shop since I happened to be in the area.

As I mentioned before, my sandwich of choice at Grab & Go is the Spicy Cappocolla, which is toasted, spice added by pickled jalapenos. Toasting the sandwich releases the oil and flavors from the cappocolla, melts the cheese, and makes the roll crusty.... all good things for me.

A couple of weeks later, I found myself at Grab & Go again, and ordered my other favorite, the Italian Village Special, a cappocolla, salami, and pepperoni sub.

On previous occasions, this sandwich had been toasted when I've ordered it. This time it wasn't, and it was truly lacking. Too doughy, lacking in a good contrast of textures. And ice cold........

 Goes to show me that I need to make sure my sandwiches are toasted in the future.

Grab & Go Subs
6435 Mission Gorge Rd.
San Diego, CA 92120 

A quick word on shredded lettuce on Italian Subs...... this is the usual way they are made in San Diego......

The Philly Grill:

**** The Philly Grill has closed

Nestled next to El Sol, Philly Grill is a nice little shop that specializes in Cheesesteaks, which I'll go into in a later post.

Personally, I don't think the best item on the menu are the cheesesteaks, which are on the skimpy side, and the bread, a very important item when dealing with cheesesteaks just doesn't cut it. For me, the best thing I've had here is also one of the most inexpensive, the Italian Hoagie.

The owner, Suzanne also adds color, with her unbridled enthusiasm, straight forward approach, and sincere concern for what I ate. I'm sure that you, like myself are often asked "how is everything and what do you think" during your meal. I will guarantee you, that 99% of the time, it is just part of going thru the motions. The person asking really doesn't want you to answer this. In the beginning, I thought that folks really wanted to know "how everything was", and replied with my opinion. After instances of rapid blinking, "why did you answer", "did you just slap me in the face" looks, I've just stopped. Stupid me, in the beginning I thought that they really wanted to know what I thought. Somehow, when Suzanne asked me "whaddya think", I just felt she meant it...... so I think she now knows me as the "bread guy"...... And we did have a nice conversation about her bread, her customers, and such. And Suzanne really did really want to know what I thought.

Back to the sandwich. Suzanne asked me how I wanted my sandwich, and I told her, make it the way you like it, but lose the shredded lettuce. What I ended up with was freshly sliced sliced salami and cappacolla heated on the griddle, prosciutto, and provolone, topped with onions, and great pickled peppers.

The balsamic dressing and oregano spice mix added to the sandwich. At this point, it could have been on shoe leather and this would have been great! I do think that thinner slices, with more surface area would add to the sandwich, but I enjoyed this. I was also pretty stuffed.....

This really illustrates the superiority of independently owned and run businesses (and I'm talking about those folks who are hands on). I'm sure if I walked into Philly Grill tomorrow, Suzanne will remember what my preferences were. And in some way, that  beats out a five dollar foot long anytime.

Dennis has a post on Philly Grill which you can find here.  

Philly Grill
2041 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92104

Quick note: the hours are sometimes a bit flaky.

Today was a wonderful San Diego day. Yes, the Northwest winds still had a bit of chill to them, but it was a nice sunny day. The Missus wanted to sleep in, so I took Da' Boyz to Tecolote Natural Park and Nature Center.

The Tecolote Canyon Natural Park is a series of trails, a twelve mile round trip, which stretches throughout the Clairemont area.

Of course we just kinda meandered around for maybe a half mile or so, just far enough so Sammy could smell every bush....

We turned just a bit after passing the back of USD.

 
The wild flowers are quite pretty after the recent rains.....

Da' Boyz and I hope you had a great weekend!
 

Comments

[Jaelyn]

today WAS a great day in San Diego!

i saw this post on "italian" sandwiches and i remembered the great sandwiches, one of which i just had this morning, at Con Pane. not quite "italian" but delicious sandwiches nonetheless.

i enjoy the blog! thanks for all the great restaurant reviews!

[Dennis]

Thanks for the mention Kirk! Maybe it's because I never had the real deal but it's hard for me to criticize grilled meat with melted cheese I guess, haha.. But I did think the steak sandwich at PG could've had more meat for the price. It sure was a great day today! :)

[kat]

would love an Italian sub sandwich now...

[Rosa]

Funny that...there's a Jersey Mike's Subs on Rosecrans up here by us! Husband and I want to give it a try.

[Stephen]

Kirk,
Glad to see a sandwich post. Philly Grill is close by.
I've been there a couple times, but I guess I've been lucky. The sandwiches haven't been that skimpy.Suzanne is really personable, and she works HARD. One of the things about the hours is she basically runs the place herself, and she has had some physical challenges. One of the better chain restaurants i've been to for sandwiches, Submarina, seems to have left town. Much better than Subway.

[dave]

Having grown up near Philly, i love a good sub! I love cheese steaks even more. I am looking forward to your cheese steak round-up. If you get a chance, check out Giorgino's in Golden Hill. I've only been once, but the cheese steak was pretty good.

[Kirk]

Hi Jaelyn - Thanks for dropping by and commenting. I have been to Con Pane, hopefully I'll find the time to do a post.

Hi Dennis - It was a beautiful day indeed.

Hi Kat - I'd love to buy you one! ;o)

Hi Rosa - It is very "chain-ish", but I do like the bread.

Hi Stephen - There are a couple of Submarinas left. I know for sure that there's one on the corner of Balboa and Convoy.

Hi Dave - I hope to get around to that before my arteries seize up! ;o)

[janfrederick]

We took Mr. Doggie to Carmel Mountain Preserve this weekend. I highly recommend it if you want to see what an original San Diego mesa looked like before being developed. It's probably the only untouched one left. Lots of parking at the new rec center at the end of E. Ocean Air Dr. and just a stones throw from a Stir Fresh (ha ha! not many food decent choices in the area)

[Lynnea]

Happy dogs! =)

[Kirk]

Hi Jan - Sounds like a nice hike!

Hi Lynnea - Sammy was in heaven.