Jersey Mike's Serves A Good Sub, Wherever It's From

ORLANDO (Friday, September 23, 2005) - The Hound came across a sandwich shop called Jersey Mike's Subs, which, according to its menu, has been "famous since '56." Its notoriety had eluded me until now.

According to the sandwich maker's Web site, jerseymikes .com, the company started with a single shop on the Jersey shore. But as one former New Jerseyan (Old Jerseyan?) pointed out, the Jersey shore is pretty big, so that doesn't narrow it down much. And, also according to the Web site, there are a lot more Jersey Mike's Subs outside of New Jersey than there are in state. In fact, there are more in Florida than in New Jersey. But the one on Conroy Road is the only one in Central Florida.

It's a pretty straightforward concept, just basic sandwiches, hot or cold, and no frills to get in the way. I ordered a Jersey Mike's original, which has cheese, ham, capicolla ham, salami, pepperoni and something called proscuittini, a substance not found in any Italian food dictionary that I own. Not to be confused with prosciutto, proscuittini is a spiced ham that is seldom seen away from the Jersey shore, or from eateries with Jersey roots.

Anyway, it's basically an Italian sub, served on a fresh roll and loaded up with toppings of your choice. If all the options confuse you, just say you want it Mike's way, which is code for onions, lettuce, tomatoes, a shaking of some mixed spices, and oil and vinegar. That's really all you need. Except for the cheese, which was supposed to be provolone but had an inferior taste and texture, it was a good sandwich.

I liked the hot meatball sub I had even better. The meatballs were dense and had a balanced seasoning that was complemented by a thick tomato sauce. Some gooey cheese on the bottom of the roll made it even more enjoyable. A messy sandwich, but tasty.

Jersey Mike's is Spartan in its decorations. There are a couple of posters that resemble blueprints for building a submarine sandwich, but other than that not too much. That's OK; it's not the sort of place you go to for ambience.

Jersey Mike's Subs is at 6700 Conroy Road, Orlando, in the Winder Oaks strip mall. The hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. Most regular-sized sandwiches are less than $6 and can be purchased with a credit card. The phone number is 407-445-6453.

By the way, this Sunday in the Table Matters column we'll look at a neighbor of Mike's -- in Winder Oaks, not the Jersey shore -- G & G Thai.

Other stuff

Looks as if Eva's Tiramisu Cafe on Orange Avenue across from Lake Ivanhoe has folded. Sign out front says American and Greek cuisine coming soon. Should be good news for the folks who have been missing Athenian Garden since it was razed just up the road.

At long last, the Captain and the Cowboy, which, if I'm not mistaken, is also a Rodgers and Hammerstein song from Oklahoma!, is set to open in the former Townsend's Plantation in Apopka. Been a long time coming, seeing as how they had originally planned for last November.

Luma has opened on Park Avenue in a new space in the refurbished Bank of America building. The restaurant is from a concern out of Atlanta, which has, among others, a restaurant called Two. Urban Licks. Luma is a wonderful name.

Beachside imbibing

There's a wine festival in Daytona Beach Saturday. The 2005 Daytona Beach Summer Wine Festival will be at Shores Resort & Spa, 2637 S. Atlantic Ave., Daytona Beach Shores, beginning at 11 a.m. with a bubble-off between California sparkling wines and French champagnes ($30/person) followed at noon with a food and wine pairing luncheon with a meritage wine blending ($70). Show your wine knowledge by correctly pronouncing meritage, which rhymes with heritage. (Meritage wines are blends with less than the required 75 percent of one grape to be classified by the name of the grape.) At 3 p.m., there is a seminar on Riedel Crystal Glassware, which had better include some wine samples, seeing as how they're charging $30 for that one, too. From 6 to 8 p.m., there's a grand tasting and silent auction with emcee Mark McEwan, who we assume will be doing mime. That one's $75, but you can get a package that includes the two seminars, the grand tasting and a room at the resort for $369 a couple. Get a room. For another $120 per couple, they'll throw in the lunch. Call 386-322-7242.

Stand-up dinner

In San Francisco last week, I decided to go to the popular Zuni Cafe for dinner. Not having reservations and being by myself, I figured I would just eat at the bar. I verified that they did indeed serve the full menu at the bar, but what I didn't discover until I arrived was that they do not have barstools. It's standing room only. So I stood there and had a Tunisian-style soup of pimento, lima beans, black olives and a spicy harissa sauce, thickened with bread and with an egg plopped in the middle. I also had the braised duck leg with sugar plums, rillettes and a watercress salad with Moscatel vinaigrette. All very good but strange to stand and eat it.

Then it occurred to me that a restaurant could install a series of kitchen sinks in its bar for people to stand and eat over and make singles feel right at home.

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