Jimmy John’s, Louisville, KY, USA

Ordered at the Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches, a restaurant located in Louisville, Kentucky and open until late.

What a long day – I couldn’t have been happier and more content walking around with the guys after a fantastic day and night out in Kentucky. Everything on the trip had gone better than planned and we were all glowing with satisfaction. Well, that was until we realized it was 4am and our stomachs were growling.

We walked past The Connection where a lively and vibrant scene was collecting outside and made our way to the only other building with lights on. What’s this – a busy restaurant at 4am? Perfect, just what we needed. The glowing lights attracting us light flies to a bug zapper, we found ourselves in front of Jimmy John’s.

At the moment, I had no idea what type of restaurant this was, but as I ventured in and checked out the menu, I nearly fainted with excitement looking at the wall in front of me: a list of “Jimmy’s Giant Club Sandwiches.” This was a first for me – and I quickly composed myself and asked the girl at the cash register for her favorite creation.

“Definitely Club Lulu – we’ll get you that one” she said with a smile as I stepped aside and awaited my club.

Hoards of drunkards lined up in the show, patiently awaiting their turn to order and talking loudly amongst themselves. Some hateful remarks were thrown back and forth between patrons coming and going, but it was definitely a case of bark is bigger than bite, and most people seemed used to this late night banter.

Rolled up like a sub, I brought my Club Lulu out to the table and enjoyed it with the boys. Despite the name, this was a classic club sandwich: fresh, sliced turkey breast, lettuce that comes on your typical sub sandwich, ripe tomato slices scattered throughout, with nice strips of bacon and lightly mayo’d.  I liked this club and it hit the spot, it was just weird eating what felt more like a Subway Sandwich in my hands than a club sandwich, or really any sandwich that’s not a sub.

Jimmy knows what he’s doing with the club sandwich – there’s no doubt about that. I’m just not sure why he chose to recreate these classics using a submarine style sandwich. I’ll be honest, it did allow for easier eating at 4am, however I’m sure Jimmy’s target market mainly dines a bit earlier than us…

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