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Twelve pieces of salmon-pink, slimy, sliced smoked turkey deli meat were piled on top of each other with a plop of tasteless coleslaw, a teaspoon of cranberry sauce, and a whole lot of "adobo sauce" which looked and tasted like Sriracha. Meet the mediocre "Maya F," one of the 100+ sandwiches on the menu at the second outpost of Jerry's. The Division Street location officially opened on Monday, though people have been packing the place since the beginning of July. And we couldn't blame them; at $8.25 for a sandwich and two sides, it presents an upscale yet inexpensive take on a food that almost everyone can appreciate.
We started off on a promising note, with a shared appetizer of fries. The fries come served in a cone, European-style, with a choice of two sauces. We opted for the adventurous southwestern mayo, while playing it safe with the ketchup. The fries seemed to be of the twice-fried variety, meaning they were tender on the inside and delightfully crispy on the outside. We wish we had called it a night after eating the fries and trying their pineapple mint mojito; both were well-executed versions of standard items. But alas, we ordered sandwiches, which is where the evening started to turn.
To be fair, with so many sandwiches on the menu, it is possible we simply did not order correctly. It isn't realistic that one kitchen could actually make 100 perfectly delectable sandwiches, is it? Regardless, the Maya F was a Disappointment. We were expecting something along the lines of the best part of thanksgiving, combined with the coleslaw normally found on a BBQ burger, all kicked up a notch with the adobo sauce. Instead we found ourselves wondering why all we could taste was deli meat smoked turkey and spicy sauce. The nuance and flavor we were expecting was nowhere to be found.
We also tried the Neal C, from the salmon section of the menu. It came with roast salmon, portabellas, cilantro, cheddar, mayo, and that damn adobo sauce. Wow, was this a fishy sandwich. Salmon can range from mild to very flavorful, but when it tastes mostly like tuna, we know something isn't quite right. This fishy flavor of the salmon was only one of several strong flavors. In contrast to the turkey sandwich, this one had too much stuff going on; the mayo and sauce were oozing out, while the cilantro and cheddar seemed to get lost in the shuffle.
The Bob M sandwich with roast beef, grilled onions, portabellas, Swiss, and southwest mayo was the most cohesive of the three sandwiches Chicagoist tried. The flavors meshed well, with the whole thing having a half-southwestern, half-cheesesteak kind of thing going on. It was good, but not anything we'd order again.
Chicagoist isn't sure where we went wrong at Jerry's. They have been packed every night, and the people around us seemed to enjoy their orders. Perhaps we should have picked more pedestrian toppings. But with over 100 sandwiches to choose from, how could we order a simple turkey, avocado and mustard sandwich?
Jerry's is located at 1938 W. Division St., 773-235-1006, Sun-Thur, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri-Sat, 10:30 a.m. - midnight.
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That first pic is the roast beef right? I thought it was the turkey at first and I was afraid.
The sandwiches named after people at Jerry's are almost uniformly uninspiring. You're better off picking your own ingredients and rolling with it.
Of course, my feelings with jerry's tend to be: the stuff they make themselves is generally excellent, and everything else is mediocre or worse.
Avoid the bacon and meats they don't prepare themselves. Even the bread isn't particularly inspiring.
The phrase "jack of all trades..." comes to mind. Why not just stick with 20-25 sandwiches and make them the best they can possibly be? I've had variations of the "Maya F." at other places and it can be a kickass sandwich if done correctly.
I heard they have awesome drinks.
thelou137 - top photo is indeed of the roast beef. Somehow I didn't manage to get a single usable shot of the turkey.
hahaha at how hard it is to get a decent food shot. jeesh.
they have domaine du page from two brothers on tap for 450. that alone is worth the price of admission to me.
Been a couple times and tried six sandwiches (grazing off others' plates). The salmon was as bad as reported in the review, but the other sandwiches--including some weird ones--were good to excellent. I didn't care for some of the sides (potato salad, cole slaw), and I agree their bread is just okay. I'm very happy it opened, though.
Ate there last week. I thought the food was fine, but the service was seriously some of the worst I've ever experienced. I had to ask three times to get the correct soda (the obscure "Coca-Cola") and had to ask two different waiters to get silverware and a napkin, which turned out to be in a drawer literally five feet from my table. Hopefully these issues were just because the location is so new.