Jimmy John’s (Downtown Battle Creek)
25 Capital Avenue SWWednesday was another one of those days I really wasn’t planning on spending money on lunch. I say that a lot, don’t I?
My co-worker and I were in Downtown Battle Creek working on a couple of jobs. We were wrapping up around 2:00 with the intention of heading back to Kalamazoo after that.
I was sitting in the car waiting for my colleague and decided to check my personal e-mail. When I opened it up, I found I had a rewards for Jimmy John’s that was expiring that day.
Again, I wasn’t planning on buying lunch but I couldn’t let a cheap sandwich go to waste.
The closest Jimmy John’s to us at that time was the one in downtown Battle Creek on the corner of Capital Avenue and Beacon Street across from the Double Tree Hotel. The building was a Bank of America/Old National Bank location and it definitely looks like a bank. Jimmy John’s is in the front part of the building facing the street. They, unfortunately, don’t use the pneumatic tubes to deliver subs to the old drive through portion of the building.
I’ve told my Jimmy John’s story many times over the years. I used to really hate the place. I’ve come around in recent years with the advent of online ordering. I can leave that nasty mayo off of the sandwiches much easier now- which makes the sandwiches sooooo much better.
I had a rewards for a $6.99 Toasted Sicilian Pizza Sandwich. I ordered that and a bottle of Coke. The cost was right around $10 for the sandwich and drink.
I got to the store about ten minutes after ordering it. I walked in to see the kitchen and order counter right in front of me. The space feels a little weird because there’s not a lot of windows which makes it feel kind of closed off. This was a bank building and banks don’t really want big windows so that makes sense but this almost has the feeling of being in a basement somewhere.
There are a coupe of tables inside the restaurant but not many. Again, there’s not much on the walls and there’s not a lot of natural light coming in. If you’re working downtown and need a place to sit and eat, they’ve got that.
I looked for the to-go rack but didn’t see it. One of the employees asked if I had a pick up order. I told him I did and gave him my name. He grabbed a bag from behind the counter and handed it to me. He told me to grab a bottle of Coke out of the cooler on my way out.
The Toasted Sicilian Pizza Sandwich has layers of salami, capocolla, and ham. What makes this different that a typical Sicilian, other than the toasting, is that this sandwich is made with Mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce. I love the toasted sandwiches. The Spicy East Coast Italian has actually become my go-to order. It’s so good. This one is good but not as good as the Italian. It’s kind of a cross between a French bread pizza and a deli sandwich. There is a lot of cheese pull in the mozzarella which I liked. J actually tried the Three Cheese Toasted Pizza Sandwich after I tried this one and she didn’t like that part of it. By default, there are no veggies on this sandwich but you can add them in if you need more than just tasty meat.
I’ve been wanting to try these pizza sandwiches for a while and getting a rewards for a $6 sandwich through the Jimmy John’s app gave me that opportunity. I liked it but don’t like as much as the Toasted Spicy East Coast Italian so I’m not sure if I’ll go back to this one or not.
All of the Jimmy John’s locations are practically the same so there’s really nothing special to me about this one in Battle Creek. It had a bit of an odd feel to me as it was shoehorned in to an old bank but building but other than that, it was just the closest to me at the time.
SW Michigan Dining 