Jersey Mike's Toppings: Every Free and Paid Option

Mike's Way is the house finish, and it is the single most important thing to know about Jersey Mike's toppings. Order any sub “Mike's Way” and it comes with onions, lettuce and tomatoes, then a splash of red wine vinegar and an olive oil blend (the staff call it “the juice”), and a shake of oregano and salt.

It costs nothing, it goes on any cold sub, and it is the reason a Jersey Mike's sub tastes different from a chain sandwich built with squeeze-bottle dressing. The vinegar brightens the meats, the oil carries the oregano, and the shredded lettuce and thin-sliced onion give every bite some crunch. Our <a href="/blog/what-is-mikes-way/">guide to Mike's Way</a> goes deeper on the history and how to customize it.

Beyond Mike's Way, most shops will add extra vegetables and peppers at no charge. The common free Jersey Mike's toppings include extra onions, lettuce and tomato, pickles, banana peppers, jalapeños and hot cherry pepper relish. Asking for “extra” of any of the Mike's Way vegetables is also free.

This makes Jersey Mike's one of the few sub shops where the cheapest way to get a bigger, more filling sandwich is to load up the vegetables rather than step up a size. Vegetables add very little to the calories, so piling them on is also the easiest way to make a sub more satisfying without making it heavier.

The toppings that cost more are the ones that add protein or richness: extra meat, extra cheese and bacon. Shops price these as small add-ons per portion, and the exact price varies by location. If you want a more filling sub, extra meat costs more than extra vegetables but usually less than stepping up from a regular to a giant.

Gluten-free bread is the other paid upgrade: Udi's gluten-free bread adds about $1.50 to a regular and $3 to a giant. White, wheat and Rosemary Parm bread all cost the same.

Sauces are the topping that changes calories the most, and the published menu makes that easy to see. The #17 Famous Philly is 730 calories for a regular. The #43 Chipotle Cheese Steak, essentially the same sub with chipotle mayo, is 1,000. That one sauce accounts for about 270 calories.

The same pattern shows on the chicken side. The #16 Chicken Philly is 660 calories; the #26 Chicken Bacon Ranch adds bacon and ranch and lands at 880. Mayonnaise is also why the clubs and the tuna are the heaviest cold subs, at 1,050 to 1,160 for a regular.

Common sauces include mayonnaise, mustard, chipotle mayo, ranch and buffalo sauce. If you love a sauce but want a lighter sub, ask for it on the side and use half; you keep the flavor and lose a good share of the calories.

Cheese steaks are built differently. Instead of cold Mike's Way vegetables, they are topped on the grill: onions and peppers cooked down with the steak or chicken, then melted cheese. The #56 Big Kahuna adds mushrooms and jalapeños to that, and the #64 Portabella Mushroom & Swiss swaps meat for grilled portabella mushrooms.

You can still add cold toppings to a hot sub, and many regulars do: a little lettuce and tomato on a Famous Philly, or banana peppers on a Chicken Philly. Just know that hot subs travel less well, so if yours is going to sit for a while, ask for the cold toppings and any sauce on the side.

Not every topping works on every sub. The cured meats on the Italians, the #2 Jersey Shore's Favorite, #5 Super Sub and #13 Original Italian, are rich and salty, so they pair best with sharp, acidic toppings: the full Mike's Way, plus banana peppers or hot cherry pepper relish to cut through the fat.

The lighter cold subs, Turkey & Provolone and Ham & Provolone, are a blank canvas. Extra pickles, extra onions and a little mustard add flavor for almost no calories. Roast Beef & Provolone is the one cold sub many regulars order with a little mayo or extra peppers, because roast beef can taste dry without something creamy or sharp.

On the tuna and the clubs, which already carry mayo, skip extra sauce and lean on vegetables instead. And on the Veggie, the cheapest sub on the board, load up everything that is free: it turns a plain sub into a genuinely filling one without changing the price.

Toppings are also where takeout orders go wrong. The vinegar and oil soak into the roll within minutes, tomatoes release juice and lettuce wilts against warm bread. For anything that will sit for more than fifteen minutes, ask for the juice on the side and add it just before eating.

For catering trays, shops usually dress subs Mike's Way by default. If your group includes people who avoid onions or peppers, say so when you order, or ask for a portion of the tray undressed. It is far easier to add toppings at the table than to pick them off.

These are the topping combinations regulars come back to:

Say the size and number first, then the toppings: “a regular #13, Mike's Way, with cherry pepper relish.” Staff hear this all day and it keeps the line moving. If your sub is traveling, ask for “the juice on the side”; the vinegar and oil soak into the roll within minutes, and adding it yourself keeps the bread firm.

Use the <a href="/jersey-mikes-nutrition-calculator/">Jersey Mike's nutrition calculator</a> to see how your sub, size and format add up, and our <a href="/jersey-mikes-menu-with-prices/">Jersey Mike's menu with prices</a> to compare subs before you order.