Jerry's Sandwiches

I used to love me some Jerry's, but Wicker Park is far.  I was thrilled to hear of the opening of the Andersonville location, but after three visits I am downgrading "love" to "respect but would not save room for on my dance card."

The service is often little slow and sometimes indifferent.  But my main beef is with the food--it's just so ordinary.  That is, the menu is ambitious but the execution does not meet the challenge.  Their sides are the worst offenders; they offer a varied and interesting list, but they're all so disappointing.  Herb buttered corn?  It's not easy to find good corn in March, but there was hardly any butter and absolutely no herbs in sight.  Peanut pasta salad is elbow macaroni in a peanut butter sauce.  Macaroni and cheese is the pasty, bland kind.  Ditto the "barbecue" baked beans.

Appetizers fare no better.  For example, the soft pretzel is too dry and comes with an underwhelming mustard, while the onion ring batter tastes strongly of flour and nothing else.

Thankfully, sandwiches are stronger suit but I haven't had a knockout yet.  The muffaletta is tasty but contains too much meat and not enough tapenade.  Excellent bread though.  The shrimp po boy is a very standard but solidly executed version.  I got a Nice salad for takeout and although the volume seemed meager, the quality was good.  Watch out--those blackened shrimp are spicy!  I also love that they divide most of the ingredients into different compartments to extend freshness.

Jerry's strongest suit is the draft beer list, which is loaded with great choices, after you discount the typical over-representation of IPAs (not everyone is a hop-worshipper these days, you know).  They offer flight sizing so that you can try different ones.

Maybe that's the ticket.  At this point, I will stop considering Jerry's as a solid dinner option, but I could see their bar as a good destination to have a few quality beers with a friend or two and watch some kind of sports on TV.  And if we stay long enough to get hungry, order a sandwich.  JUST a sandwich.

First time here and I was impressed with the decor and with my food.  Had the al pastor special with a side of mac and cheese and coleslaw and lemonade to drink.  Everything was excellent.  I was not as impressed by the looks of what the rest of my table ordered but my pics were great.  Some of the bread looked rather hard and the turkey sandwich was pretty bland.  Otherwise, a great experience.

Went here on a date a few weeks back, must say it wasn't too bad. I was expecting just a regular sandwich spot, it's a nice place to take a date. Dimmed lighting, nice booth seating, wide selection of beer which is a major plus! It is a bit small in the seating area so you're close to whom ever which I prefer major room especially while I eat. Another cool thing is the bar area, but needs bigger or more tvs...service was just ok. I'd visit again.