Jimmy John's

New Owners!!! Whohooo!!! My sandwich was FINALLY right, my delivery was on time (under 20 minutes), and I was even given free chips just for the hell of it!!! How great is that? This Jimmy John's rocks now!

This store is under new management and it has completely turned around! The delivery times are a quarter of what they were and everything in our orders recently has been correct. The bread on my sandwich was the freshest bread I've ever had at a Jimmy Johns! Looks like they hired some more drivers and really want to change the bad  reputation. They even threw in some free cookies to say thanks for the business on our last order! The new owners have definitely stepped things up as far as service and quality. I love Jimmy Johns and will definitely be eating here again.

I'm sorry, Char O., but not every sandwich I eat for lunch can come from Potbelly.  I know I'm supposed to have brand loyalty, but my office is not close enough for that when lunchtime rolls around.  But then again, we're just outside of this Jimmy John's delivery zone, so me and the Lunch Crew hop in one of their cars and come here when it's sandwich time and the thought of Subway makes our stomachs churn (and sometimes it doesn't).

And we wind up here, where parking is a bit of a nightmare (thanks to construction for the past few months), but we can get inside where it's nice and cool and get a sandwich, some chips, and a drink - then veg out and chow down and ignore the seeping dread that at some point we have to get back in the car and go back to work...

I'd love to tell you all about the menu, but I really only order one thing: the Club Lulu with no tomato, add dijon and add onions.  Gimme the chips (BBQ Jimmy Chips) and a drink for the fountain (3 parts Diet Coke, 2 parts Sprite and 1 part Pink Lemonade) and let me sit down and enjoy.

A few things I've noticed:

1) We're weekday office lunching people, so I guess it's not unthinkable that EVERY TIME we come here, the same lady is working the register, the same girl is working the sandwich line, and the same dude is stuck at the end calling out orders as they finish.  The lady is always friendly and polite, but needs me to speak VERY SLOWLY when I say the "no tomato, add dijon, add onions" part so she can push those buttons, or else it comes out wrong.  The girl - has never said a word to me.  She's busy churning out sammiches "ridiculously fast".  The dude - I'm sorry that this is your job, but try not to call out my order in a way/intonation that lets me know how depressed you are and makes me FEEL sorry that this is your job.

2) There is plenty of seating, but at tables designed for two.  We are a Lunch Crew of three, and this requires chair manipulation that may or may not violate fire codes and creates a table elsewhere now designed for a solo luncheoner.

3) There are specific spots directly under air vents.  These are nightmare zones for wimpy skinny people who dislike "draftiness" and are known to comment "I should have brought a sweater."  These are miracle spots for people who are decent-sized men and tend to find themselves always feeling warm.  So yes, I grab those seats up to "rescue" the less-maniy in the Crew from the "nightmare" seats.

4) The music selection here rocks.  There are few things as satisfying as busting out a chorus to a song you really enjoy hearing, even if you have food in your mouth.  There are also few things as embarrassing as having to apologize to the Lunch Crew for spitting sammich bits on them because you "really love that song".

Aside from that, the place is pretty dern clean.  Food moves out at typical Jimmy John's pacing.  The food is Jimmy John's food - there's not much I can say about it.

So yes, I'll keep coming back here with the Lunch Crew.  Unless Potbelly really feels like opening up in Bridgeport so I can truly be a brand-loyal boyfriend to Char O.