Sometime in May I got this weird idea to do a comparison of submarine sandwiches from restaurants and delis around my office. I knew I liked some sandwiches more than others, but I wanted to do a more formal comparison and write it up. For this comparison, I focused on Italian-style subs. In other words, they typically have salami, capicola, maybe mortadella, other Italian lunch meats, and some sort of dressing or vinaigrette. During May and June, I hit six delis and restaurants in the Geneva, Illinois area. They include MichaelAngelo’s Deli, Josef’s Elegante Meats and Deli, RJ’s Deli, Subway (Downtown Geneva), Jimmy John’s (Geneva Commons), and Quizno’s (St. Charles west side). So there is a good representation among local delis and national chains. I took photos of each sandwich and have mental notes regarding taste, cost, and service. In the end, there weren’t any bad sandwiches, but some were definitely better than others. Now for the comparison. The deli’s name is linked to their Yelp review page if it exists.
MichaelAngelo’s Deli, Geneva IL.
I have been going to MichaelAngelo’s for over a year now and visit pretty much weekly. My office uses them for some catering every once in a while, and that’s how I got turned on to them. What I always order at MichaelAngelo’s is their 6-inch Italian sub with a small container of their rotini pasta salad on the side. And I do mean I always order this. It’s to the point now that when I walk in, I’m just asked “The usual?” This combo costs me about $7. The price varies, depending on how much my pasta salad weighs that day.

This is a right-sized portion for my late lunch/mid-afternoon snack. Not so much food that I won’t be able to eat dinner. The meat and cheese is sliced on the spot when you order. The sandwich is made on French bread. There have been a couple of occasions when they have run out of French bread and instead substitute a roll or sliced white bread. The sandwich is definitely better on the French bread, but here’s the thing I like about MichaelAngelo’s – the flavor of the meat, cheese, dressing/vinaigrette, and veggies is good enough that the sandwich doesn’t suffer much due to the change in bread. The deli meat used at MichaelAngelo’s has a strong tasty flavor and the cheese provides more flavor than you’d expect. The flavorful dressing is just right – the right amount so it doesn’t waterfall from the sandwich, and it isn’t super vinegary. I also think the sandwich has just the right ratio of meat to veggies.
Even though I am concentrating on sandwiches, I will pause to give props to the pasta salad. A nice mix of the pasta, some different cheeses, carrots, olives, and what looks like cauliflower. I wouldn’t eat it before a date, though. Tastes great, but your breath will be strong afterward. There are specks of onion in there, and probably some garlic but I dunno. This pasta salad stands above other pasta salads I have had because it has flavor, but not too much flavor. I’ve had some pasta salad that really only tasted like pasta. But I’ve also had pasta salad made with too much vinegar that made me pucker. MichaelAngelo’s pasta salad strikes a good balance.
I have had other sandwiches from MichaelAngelo’s on a catering platter, and they were quite good as well.
Josef’s Elegante Meats and Deli, Geneva IL
I got introduced to the sandwiches at Josef’s by a couple of co-workers. These sandwiches are quite large, 10-12 inches long, and loaded with meat. They cost about $7.25. Yes, that is a steeper price than normal for a sub, but the quantity and quality make it worthwhile. The sandwiches are big enough that you could eat half for lunch and half for dinner, or split one with a friend. I should also note that you can phone in your sandwich order to Josef’s and they will have it ready for you ahead of time. I usually phone in my order when I leave my office, take my half-hour lunchtime walk, then pick up my sandwich.

Plenty of meat, seen here. There are signs in the deli saying they use Boar’s Head meat. Like MichaelAngelo’s there is a good ratio of meat and vegetable. The meat flavor is not overwhelmed by the vegetables. I actually had two Italian subs from Josef’s during the course of my review period. I typically order their American sub, and after this review, I still favor it over the Italian. The first Italian sub I had had too much dressing on it. It was dripping and it overwhelmed the meat and cheese on the sub. I concluded that I should stick with the American. However, I decided I should give the Italian another try. My second Italian was much better, with a better portioning of the dressing. It was a sandwich I would want to have again. I should note that while the Josef’s Italian sub has more cheese, it is not as flavorful as the cheese on the MichaelAngelo’s sub.
I will digress and discuss Josef’s American sub for a moment (pic here). It has American-style meats like turkey and ham and stuff. They also put on tomatoes, lettuce, mayo, and American cheese. This ends up being a moist, cheesy, meaty sandwich. To top it off, they sprinkle some herbs on top that give the sandwich a nice touch. I have taken to doing that to sandwiches I make at home.
Jimmy John’s, Geneva IL
A couple of years ago I tried Jimmy John’s in Batavia. While the service was fast, I was unimpressed with the quality of service and the sandwich. The sandwich tasted like something I could make at home. Hence, I stayed away from Jimmy John’s for quite a while. After having better Jimmy John’s sandwiches from Geneva for a couple of business lunches, I thought I’d give that location a try in-person. Now I see how someone could like Jimmy John’s. I had the Vito. The service was fast and welcoming, and the sandwich tasted unique (in other words, not like lunch meats thrown on bread).

I initially started eating regular Vitos. However, a co-worker turned me on to getting the Vito with hot peppers. I thought it would be too strong of a flavor or too hot, but I was proven wrong. The peppers do give the sandwich more flavor and a bit of a kick. Just hope that they don’t accidentally put too many peppers into one part of the sandwich. After having the peppers, I can’t go back to a regular Vito. One time I accidentally forgot to ask for peppers, and as soon as I bit into the sandwich, I felt like it was missing something. I am a tightwad and don’t like paying extra for stuff, but the peppers are worth the extra money to me. The bread on the Vitos I have eaten have a nice level of softness, though on occasion the bread has been too crusty and actually ended up crunching when I bit into it. I could use a little more meat on my Vito, which I guess is available on request. However, I’d say the sandwich makes a good respectable showing. Pricing is fair, about $7.05 for a 10″ sub and a bag of their kettle chips.
Quizno’s, St. Charles IL
I used to be a regular once-a-week patron of the Quizno’s in Geneva. However, I quit going there when I found I could get good subs from MichaelAngelo’s and Josef’s within walking distance of my office. No more driving into Randall Rd traffic. My favorite subs from Quizno’s were the Classic Italian, Chicken Carbonara, and some kind of turkey sub I can’t remember the name of that got discontinued. The advertisements for the $4 Torpedo piqued my interest. A cheap Quizno’s sub. Sounds good to me, especially since I always thought Quizno’s was a bit expensive unless you used a coupon. My enthusiasm went away when I started reading reviews of the Torpedo. One of the most common comments was that the sandwich was basically made on a breadstick. I got the sandwich anyway. Yes, it was over a foot long, but it was very narrow. I initially thought I got ripped off because the sandwich was cut in half and served side-by-side. I was expecting that long wrapper they show in the ads. Here’s my pic of the Italian Torpedo I was served.

When I unwrapped the sandwich, I thought “Holy crap, it really is like a breadstick!” The sandwich is quite dainty. All the veggies are cut up finer than they are for the Classic Italian. Of course, there is less meat. So how did this sandwich stack up? As soon as I bit into it, I got that Classic Italian flavor. Yep, it tasted exactly like the Classic Italian, which is good. The ciabatta bread was tasty. I devoured the first half of the sandwich in only a few bites and started to think the $4.32 sub wasn’t much of a value if it was half-gone so quickly. I felt fuller by the time I got to the second half of the sandwich, but by the time I was done eating, it was just barely satisfying. I didn’t feel hungry anymore, but I didn’t feel like the sandwich would keep hunger away for more than a couple hours at most. In summary, I’d say that the Italian Torpedo makes a good snack and has an OK price for the quantity and quality. I don’t think I’ll be wooed back to Quizno’s though. First, I have to bear Randall Rd traffic to get to the St. Charles location. I have closer sub options. And second, Quizno’s subs always made me really thirsty afterwards. I read online that they have high sodium (2850mg according to Quizno’s), which would explain my thirst.
Subway, Geneva IL
When I was a pre-teen, I was wild for the Italian BMT. I think it was just called a BMT back then. I remember it as having plenty of meat and cheese; a really great flavor. Jump ahead a decade. I had pretty much stopped going to Subway. The few times I went there, I’d usually end up with a sub that had way more vegetables than meat. They were well into their healthy meal kick by then. Sure, a sub loaded with more veggies than meat will be healthier. I hit Subway maybe twice a year, and I always end up wishing there was more meat on the sub. For this comparo, I made a rare visit to Subway. I was disappointed to see the BMT wasn’t on the list of $5 footlongs. Here is my Italian BMT.

Subway is consistent across locations, gotta give them that. My opinion of this BMT was the same as the other recent BMTs I have had. I took a couple of pics of the sandwich. From above, it looks like it has plenty of meat. But from the side and slightly open, you see that there is way more veg than meat. Granted, a Subway sandwich is what you tell the “Sandwich Artist” to make, so you could say this is my own fault. However, I wanted the playing field to be level, so I ordered toppings that matched all the other subs I had and was likely to have during the comparison. I also acknowledge that I could ask for extra meat, but I wanted all my sandwiches to be ordered straight off the menu, and not have any special requests. The highlight of this sandwich was the bread. Subway’s bread has always been good. The low was the complete domination of the sandwich by the veggies. I should also note that I could hardly taste the vinaigrette that was put on the sandwich. Too much oil or vinegar is definitely bad, but a sufficient amount of vinaigrette could have helped this sandwich. In summary, the Subway Italian BMT is plain and not really worth the $6.45 price tag. There are Subways everywhere, so you can get a just-OK sub wherever the urge strikes. The BMT isn’t bad, but it doesn’t excite me either.
RJ’s Deli, Geneva IL
After giving Jimmy John’s a second chance, I thought my Italian sub comparo was done. I was reading reviews on Yelp and noticed a few people said they liked the sandwiches from RJ’s. I’ve had decent Mexican food from there in the past, so I figured I should give them a chance since it would add another local competitor to the comparison. I ended up getting their Italian sub and a tamal, which I wrote about in my comparison of three tamales. So here’s the sandwich.

It looked alright, but looked like it might be heavy on veg. I saw some herbs or spices on there, so that was good. In the end, the sandwich was a disappointment. The vegetables were fine, it just looked like a lot. The problem was that there wasn’t a lot of flavor to the sandwich. I could taste the meats, but they weren’t as tasty as the meats from Josef’s or MichaelAngelo’s. Also, the sandwich had too much dressing or oil, and by the time I got to the second half of the sandwich, the bread had become soaked. I was expecting a better sandwich based on the Yelp reviews, but I still think my expectations were realistic. On the plus side, the service was friendly and the price was good. I was able to walk out with a decent-sized sandwich and a tamal for $7.22.
Other notes
I am sure I left out some other candidates. One that comes to mind is Potbelly at Geneva Commons. I have been to their Downtown Naperville store a couple of times and was satisfied. Not sure why I didn’t put them into this roundup. I see they do have an Italian sandwich. The In the Neighborhood Deli in Elgin sounds pretty interesting.
Summary
The best Italian sub in this comparison would be MichaelAngelo’s, followed by Josef’s Italian. However, I would put Josef’s American right up there with the Italian from MichaelAngelo’s. The third-place Italian would be the Vito from Jimmy John’s. A very close fourth place goes to Quizno’s Classic Italian (their Torpedo has good flavor but is too small). Subway’s Italian BMT gets fifth. Bringing up the rear will be the RJ’s Italian.