The Hack That Will Get You More Bread At Jimmy John's
Subway, Firehouse Subs, and Jersey Mike's — these are only a few of the players in the world of American sandwich chains. While all of these restaurants have earned their spot in the sandwich hall of fame (should such a thing even exist), there is one company that has been gaining major traction in recent years: Jimmy John's. Originally founded in 1983 as a cold-cuts sandwich shop with a small loan of $25,000 and a love of all things sandwich-related (via Success), Jimmy John's has carved its way into the sandwich industry for a variety of reasons both good and bad.
For example, Jimmy John's is no stranger to showing its commitment to sustainable food sources, as well as showing an incredible act of charity toward the family of a dying man (via the St. Joseph News-Press). On the other hand, the company has been the cause of several food poisoning outbreaks in 2014 and 2018 regarding outbreaks of salmonella from raw sprouts (via Food Safety News). In short, whether it's good news or bad news, Jimmy John's is a name that's becoming increasingly more recognizable in the world of fast-food sandwiches.
Should you ever find yourself at a Jimmy John's, there's one trick you need to remember if you want to order more bread on your sandwich.
Jimmy John's hollows out its bread before making the sandwich
Asking for more bread at a sandwich shop may sound like a pointless request. You're already getting bread on your sandwich, so why would you want more of it? At Jimmy John's, however, there's a reason you may want to order more bread.
According to Restaurant Clicks, Jimmy John's follows the practice of "hollowing out," or cutting the baguette lengthwise and tearing out the interior to make a "trench," their bread before adding the meats, cheeses, and vegetables. While this doesn't have any effect on the flavor of the bread whatsoever, you may want to keep your bread as intact as possible. If you want, you could simply order the sandwich to be "LBI," which literally means "leave bread in" and tells employees to skip over the hollowing process. It's simply a regular, ordinary sandwich at that point, save for whatever other fillings you want in it.
Understandably, you may think this is some kind of secret menu hack that only Jimmy John's fanatics know, or that the company looks down on customers for supposedly going against the Jimmy John's way. However, Jimmy John's seems to be pretty cool with you leaving your bread intact. One tweet even encourages customers to order their sandwiches "LBI," considering Jimmy John's bakes its bread fresh each day.
Besides, it's your sandwich after all. Jimmy John's will make it however you want for the right price.
Why even hollow out bread in the first place?
Whether you're at Jimmy John's or Subway, the one thing you're going to need on your sandwich is bread. It keeps your fingers from getting messy, holds everything together, and, depending on what kind of bread it is, can give you lots more flavor. As a result, ripping out the interior of the bread seems almost nonsensical. But is there a greater purpose to hollowing out that roll of bread than you think?
According to one former Jimmy John's employee on Reddit, hollowing out the sandwich achieves two things: It lowers the calorie count of the sandwich (less bread equals fewer calories) and allows for more toppings to be put into the sandwich. Rather than just laying the toppings along the bread, employees can fill the "trench" in each loaf of bread. This allows for more meats and vegetables to be put in, and it also helps to keep the fillings from sliding out and making a mess.
For these reasons, hollowing out the bread is a favorite tactic of Food Hacks, which noted that this method can also be used for round loaves of bread too. It's very similar to the idea of bread bowls, although rather than sandwiches, it helps you get the most out of your soup.