Jimmy John's Boulder

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1125 13th Street               3310 Arapahoe Ave.

Boulder, CO 80302          Boulder, CO 80303

(303) 447-3200                (303) 447-3332

Perception informs the decisions we make. That is, we often judge books by their covers. That’s not always bad. If you don’t like romance novels, don’t buy a Harlequin; if you don’t like, you know, butterfly people, don’t go to Burning Man. (I don’t know what goes on there.)

It’s a natural human defense. And perhaps it is amplified by our living in the society of consumerism that we do. To distrust what our experience tells us will likely be bad.

Boulder Jimmy John's

I was at Jimmy John’s eating a sub. I sat at a window bar and there was a man with his back to me seated outside eating a sandwich listening to music with over-the-head headphones circa ’99ish? From across the parking lot, a cat steadily approaches. The outside man feeds the cat and the cat sits beside him, lapping up the meat scraps the man occasionally drops.

I saw the whole thing and I think, hey, nice guy that guy is. But then another guy—a collegian, I gather—walks out the door, takes one look at the man feeding a very comfortable cat and upturns his nostrils in what certainly looked a lot like “What the…?”. Because to him, that’s a grown man with a Walkman who took his pet cat to Jimmy John’s for lunch.

So, perception. The perception of Jimmy John’s is that it’s a chain sandwich shop catering mostly to college students and the fast food crowd. The average internet review is 3 out of 5 stars. For reference, only Quizno’s has a lower ranking out of the 27 delis and sandwich shops in Boulder. Subway, mind you, has 3 stars as well.

There’s truth to the perception. It does sell sandwiches, it does cater to college students and it is fast. But it’s a notch above the bottom-feeders of the sandwich game. The meat is fresh, the bread is crispy, and it comes out quick.

The menu has almost two dozen sandwich options—though each option appears to be just some combination of one large hoagie with the works. For those with dietary restrictions, there is a lettuce wrap option as well as a veggie sandwich.

Hunter's Club from the Boulder Jimmy John's menu

The sandwiches lack the meat-girth that a respectable deli could provide (although, the esteemed Salvaggio’s succumbs to this as well). However, the proportion of meat, veggies, dressing and bread is rock solid. It’s a thin sandwich and so each bit gets time on your taste buds.
I had the “Hunter’s Club” sandwich on this occasion. Roast beef, provolone, lettuce, tomato and mayo. Towards the end of the sandwich, it becomes a bit laboring to eat–the product of the combination of chewy bread, few wet dressings on the sandwich and the fact that it’s an 8″ sub.

However, Jimmy John’s is at its best twice a day: lunch and late night. It’s late night appeal certainly adds to its sub-par perception. But what happens, chemically, after a few dozen beers and some liquor is simply magic.

The Jimmy John’s sandwich transforms at about 11pm. When I was 18, I visited my friend at his college. After a night of drinking he told me we had to leave the party we were at to get some Jimmy John’s. On the way, we passed a pretty girl just standing on the sidewalk. As my friend kept walking, I stopped to talk to the girl who was drunk but also calm, which is sort of terrifying if you’ve ever encountered that.

Anyway, at that age I had a sort of Oh-my-Goodness stupidity—equal parts ignorance and condescension—and so when her boyfriend came to pick her up (I thought girls at this school just stood on the sidewalk for your convenience, sort of like water fountains) I told him she was coming with us to Jimmy John’s.

Nonplussed, he got out of the car and I ran with my friend 1.7 miles straight to Jimmy John’s.
Adrenalin, confidence, hunger, booze all combined with the salty, sweet crunch of bread, lettuce and meat at that Jimmy John’s on a warm, buggy Spring night in the South and I was hooked.

If, to you, Jimmy John’s is a neon sign you see from your car as you drive by, if it’s a sandwich shop in a strip mall—that’s fine. Because that’s what it is. But to many others—and there are dozens of places just like this—it’s magic.

And that’s perception.

For more Boulder restaurant reviews, visit www.Boulderdish.com or follow me on twitter @Boulderdish.