The Customer Habit That Jersey Mike's Employees Can't Stand

Jersey Mike's might not equal Subway in the number of locations in the U.S., but customers have found a lot to love about the number three sandwich chain in America, from its fresh-sliced cold cuts to the incomparable two-ingredient spice blend that makes its subs taste so good. Much like Subway, as well as fast-casual chain Chipotle, the employees prepare the food right before your eyes, but it's led to a bad customer habit that the Jersey Mike's workers wish would just stop: Reaching over the glass partition to point at — or in some cases, handle — ingredients.

Over on an r/JerseyMikes thread, one disgruntled worker deadpanned, "Yes. I know what lettuce is. Get your d**n hands out of the food." Further replies recounted some extraordinary stories of customers disregarding the glass, with one customer trying to snag a piece of meat off the slicer, and another reaching over what is effectively a sneeze guard to grab a piece of bread off the counter (which wasn't even for that customer's sandwich).

Not only is it just rude to do to the employees, but the glass partition is there to prevent cross-contamination between customers and all the ingredients on the assembly line. When someone takes part of their body — their arm, their hand — and goes over the glass, they risk bringing their germs to the other side as well.

Jersey Mike's, which Reddit has ranked as the absolute best sub sandwich chain, has its own way of doing things, and if you're unfamiliar with the assembly line, you could end up committing an annoying faux pas while ordering. One of the more frustrating behaviors for employees is when customers reject the offer to have their sandwich made "Mike's Way" (workers have to ask), but then go through the toppings options and add pretty much everything that comes on a Mike's Way sub, sans a few items. A Redditor on r/JerseyMikes begged customers to learn Mike's Way — onions, lettuce, tomatoes, red wine vinegar, olive oil blend, oregano, and salt — and then, when they place their order, use it as the baseline. An example they gave was to ask for a sub, "Mike's Way, no tomato, add pickles and mayo" (though mayo might earn you a side-eye on a real Italian sub). It just really helps out the employees since they are asked to push the Mike's Way option.

If remembering Mike's Way gives you even more anxiety about going through the assembly line, there is another option to skip the in-store ordering entirely: Use the Jersey Mike's app to order online and pick up your sandwiches. It's true: You can't escape the Mike's Way baseline even in the app since the topping options are pre-selected for all the cold subs, but it's simply a matter of unselecting the items you don't want and selecting the toppings you do.