Eating well at Jimmy Johns
I previously mentioned that a Jimmy John's has opened downtown -- just a few blocks from the Greensboro office of the N&R and even closer than the one that's already on Tate St.
Since I am highly vulnerable to delicious sandwiches, this worried me a bit.
But then I went to the Jimmy John's website and checked out their terrific nutrition tracker.
Not only does it let you check out all of the nutrition information for every one of their sandwiches and ingredients, but it lets you delete and switch things out -- say, substituting mustard or avocado spread for mayonnaise. This was eye opening.
First of all -- you're aware that the bread at Jimmy John's is effing delicious, right? The French bread, the whole grain wheat bread -- it's all incredible. Well, here's why:
Jimmy John's French Bread (for sub)
Calories: 250
Fat: 0 grams
Carbs: 50
Dietary Fiber: 0 grams
Protein: 10.71 grams
No dietary fiber? It's...you know...bread. What's up with that? Also...was I supposed to know that 1 Jimmy John's sub roll has as many calories as a McDonald's hamburger?
The whole wheat's gotta be better, right? Well, yes and no...
Jimmy John's Whole Grain Bread (two slices)
Calories: 387
Fat: 4.84 grams
Carbs: 67
Fiber: 4.84 grams
Protein: 14 grams
At 387 calories, that's more calories than a McDonalds cheeseburger or McChicken sandwich. And it's two slices of bread. Also..nearly 5 grams of fat? How do they even do that? That's half as much as a McDonald's Hot Fudge Sundae.
The good news: you'll get more protein from these two slices of bread than from the portion of smoked turkey they put between them. Also, there's some actual fiber in this choice.
Playing around with the calculator led me to consider one of these lettuce-wrapped Unwiches I've heard people talk about. No bread - just a sort of lettuce burrito wrapping up your sandwich. Heck, without the mayonnaise and provolone cheese, the Hunter's Club Unwich was fewer than 200 calories and about 3.6 grams of fat. Why not?
Yeah...as it turns out, not such a good idea.
On the website, they look like this:
When you unwrap the actual paper in the restaurant, though, they look like a sloppy lettuce boat full of meat. Messy, hard to eat, and I felt vaguely discomfited by the fact that I was basically eating a meaty salad with my bare hands. Also, I ended up siding with Tom Chiarella...a sandwich isn't a sandwich without the bread. It's too essential a part of the magic.
But good news -- I played with the calculator a bit more and came up with these not-so-bad options from Jimmy John's that let you keep the bread and your dignity -- which, believe me, is hard to maintain when you're shoving a dripping, meat-stuffed lettuce envelope into your mouth.
So -- here's what I'll be ordering next from JJ's:
#2 The Big John
Roast beef, lettuce, tomato and a French bread sub roll - tell them to hold the mayo and give you the avocado spread. Trust me, it's good stuff.
Calories: 354
Total fat: 2.88 grams
Sat. fat: 1.02 grams
Cholesterol: 28.75 mg
Total Carbs: 56 grams
Sodium: 1234.12 mg
Dietary fiber: 1.77grams
Protein: 23.8 grams
#4 The Turkey Tom
Smoked Turkey breast, lettuce, tomato and a French bread roll. Again, sub the avocado spread for the mayo.
Calories: 342
Total Fat: 1.85 grams
Sat. fat: 0.2 grams
Cholesterol: 36.96 grams
Sodium: 1242.36 mg
Total Carbs: 55.68 grams
Dietary Fiber: 1.77 grams
Protein: 23.8 grams
Comments (4)
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Think eating a sloppy lettuce boat full of meat is undignified? Try downing a sloppy lettuce boat full of hot greasy meat. Some things are just too tasty to worry about a small thing such as dignity.
Posted on March 7, 2008 7:35 AM
Jimmy John's veggie sub is pretty tasty. But I'm not sure how it stacks up calorie- and nutrition-wise.
Posted on March 7, 2008 8:34 AM
Man, you are making me upset that I brought my own sandwich for lunch!
Posted on March 7, 2008 11:37 AM
Had the Big John today -- and man, was it good. That Avocado spread -- I've gotta figure out how to make that at home.
Posted on March 7, 2008 2:54 PM