7 Jersey Mike's Secret Menu Items You Need To Try At Least Once

I love a secret menu, especially at some of my favorite haunts. The fusion of customer creativity with a restaurant's set menu delivers something extra special — and it can revitalize an otherwise stagnant order. Trying secret menu options also adds a little mystery to the process — and it gives you flexibility to create unique meals.

All told, however, there's not much that separates a Jersey Mike's secret menu order from your personal sandwich, other than a name. In other words: Slap a cool name on your order, and you have yourself a secret menu item. That Crazy Sub Guy has some outstanding secret menu choices, and many of the sandwiches I sampled came from ones he shared — but there's also a dash of my own creativity in here. I'm familiar enough with Starbucks' menu to create secret menu items there — the same is becoming true for Jersey Mike's.

The Number 8 Club Sub is a turkey, ham, bacon, provolone, and mayonnaise sandwich, and the Number 9 Club Supreme is a mix of roast beef, turkey, bacon, swiss, and mayo. A mix between the two (halfway between these two clubs) takes everything I love about the club sub (a favorite sandwich of mine) and makes it even better with roast beef. To get the most out of the flavors of the sandwich, ordering it on rosemary parmesan bread is the way to go. A cold sandwich made Mike's Way (lettuce, tomato, onion, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, and spices) is super delicious, but to give it a little extra pop, chipotle mayo finishes it in a spicy fashion. The 8.5 also tastes great with pickles and pepper relish.

The 8.5 is simply a flavor bomb. The chipotle mayo adds a nice spiciness and even more vibrancy to the fresh ingredients. It's not overpowering, like smoky flavors can sometimes be, but it is the perfect touch. Since there's already quite a few ingredients paired with the chipotle mayo, it doesn't have the opportunity to become overwhelming. The 8.5 is also a bit spicy with that pepper relish added in. I was a little worried that I was going to taste a whole lot of roast beef, when paired with a mild flavored meat like turkey — but it just combines so well with the other ingredients that it gives you some extra protein and richness rather than a strictly roast beef flavor. This is the ultimate club.

If you find yourself typically enjoying spicy meals, you won't find anything off the rack at Jersey Mike's that tastes extra spicy — but you can certainly make changes to sandwiches to get them there. Of the secret menu sandwiches I tried, the What Kev Eats version of a Number 9 Club Supreme was surprisingly zesty. I found that it may be a little too spicy for my everyday sandwich, but I can definitely imagine those Jersey Mike's devotees who would order this on a regular basis.

To get this spicy sandwich, you'll begin by ordering a Number 9, which comes with roast beef and turkey. For cheese, it has Swiss, so there's a little pop in the cheese, and then there's bacon for some crunch and smokiness. In addition to this base, you're going to ask for quite the sauce mixture because the sandwich gets mayo, buffalo sauce, and chipotle mayo. In addition, it will get sauce from Mike's Way, which means it gets vinegar and oil added too. To really get that spice to a place that you'll love, add the pepper relish and jalapeños. Altogether, there's quite a few changes here, but for a zesty sub, this one has just about every spicy addition you could want.

Jersey Mike's and Starbucks have something in common. Your order is often highly personalized and tuned to exactly what you enjoy. The Olivia Special is named for the person who carefully devised this mixture of ingredients — and even though it's a bit of a strange sandwich, the resulting order is warm with a perfect crunch.

If your Jersey Mike's is anything like mine, the warm sandwiches tend to take some extra time because the grill is so busy, so be sure to plan for a few extra minutes on your lunch run. To order The Olivia Special, begin with a 26 (a bacon ranch chicken cheese steak) but ask for provolone cheese instead of the white American that comes on it. Add to that extra grilled onions and request raw onions to accompany it, as well as mayo and buffalo sauce. Pepper relish is another delicious bite to the sandwich to ensure that it doesn't simply feel like a pile of warm ingredients. The very best way to describe this sandwich is a warm hug in a sub. Still, be sure to grab extra napkins. This was one of the sloppier sandwiches I've ever had, but it still did a great job of holding its form. It didn't fall apart on me at all — it was just a little juicy.

I hesitate to use the word "best" to describe a single sandwich since opinions vary so widely with what actually constitutes as the best, but this order might come close. It uses a meat heavy sandwich as a base and then dresses it up to the nines. Those who already love The Original Italian (which is similar to the grinder sandwich) but are looking for something with new flavor will enjoy this order.

Begin by ordering the 13, but swap out the ham for turkey. This way, you don't lose any protein, but you gain lighter meat. Opt for the rosemary parmesan bread to ensure you have a solid base for everything you're going to add. Be sure to order this Mike's Way, but light on oil. You're going to be adding more condiments, so lightening this load will help. Request chipotle mayo, pepper relish, banana peppers, and pickles for the ultimate in pickled toppings. With turkey, the sandwich allows for more of a zesty taste that somehow tastes even more Italian even though it now has the chipotle mayo.

Meat lovers, don't worry ... I've got you covered with my husband's favorite sandwich. I call this one the Meat Lovers Only sandwich, and it's perfect for those who simply can't stand the taste of veggies on their sandwich. While The Best Jersey Mike's order is a little on the complicated side, Meat Lovers Only is much simpler. In fact, it's one of the few sandwiches I have gathered here that you can easily order right from the app without needing to type anything into the customization field. Instead, you'll just remove the veggies on the Mike's Way customization.

Like The Best Jersey Mike's Order, begin with a 13. All of the meat will remain exactly the same, and trust me when I say, there is a whole lot of it. Then, when it comes to dressing the sandwich, simply request that it be made with juices and spices rather than the full Mike's Way gambit. This will get you your olive oil, vinegar, spices, that typically go with Mike's Way, but without the lettuce, tomato, or onion. That's right: There's absolutely no veggies on this one, and that's exactly why my husband absolutely loves it!

If there's one thing I've learned about trying secret menu orders, it's that small changes can make a world of difference. The Number 99 at Jersey Mike's isn't something you can order right off the menu, but it's an easy enough change to make. The number comes from the sum of number 56 and 43 together, equaling 99. The small change? Ask that Chipotle mayo be added to a Number 56 on rosemary parmesan bread.

With this change, the Big Kahuna cheese steak (with onions, mushrooms, peppers, jalapeños, cheese, and beef) gets a boost of saucy and smoky flavor that's different from a Philly cheesesteak. If you happen to order over the app, you won't be able to select it from the menu, but you can write it into the customization field as a request to have it added on. Just to ensure your restaurant saw the note, it might be best to ask at check out whether the chipotle mayo was added. If they missed it, you could request some in a cup on the side. Trust me when I say that this change is tasty enough that you'll want to double check that it was made with the sauce.

I have long been a fan of the hot sandwiches from Jersey Mike's, but I find they're so much heavier than the cold sandwiches that they don't feel like much of a lunch — definitely feels more like a dinner order. However, the beef bacon and ranch changed my mind.

To order one of my new favorite lunches, order a Number 26 with beef instead of chicken. This will make it a beef bacon ranch instead of a bacon ranch chicken, and although I don't necessarily recommend ordering a secret menu item by its fan name, you may just be able to do that with a beef bacon and ranch. In fact, there might even be a button for it for the cashier. In any case, even if you plan on asking for a beef bacon and ranch by name, be sure you know the simple swap necessary to make the sandwich. That way, if you order and someone is new, they'll still be able to make it for you.

While researching great sandwiches to prepare for a ranking of sandwiches at Jersey Mike's, I stumbled upon That Crazy Sub Guy, a Jersey Mike's area manager with social media accounts sharing secret menu creations. When the opportunity to sample a bunch of secret menu creations came up, I knew exactly who to turn to. So, I scoured his posts and found the best of the best creations. These sandwiches make up most of the ones I sampled over several days to bring you some creations you simply must try.