Founded in 1956 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the franchise business now has 3,300 locations across North America.
Jersey Mike’s specialises in made-to-order hot and cold subs, with meats and cheeses sliced in-store, vegetables prepared daily and bread baked throughout the day.
Its signature ‘juice’ – a combination of red wine vinegar and oil – forms part of its ‘Mike’s Way’ preparation, which sees subs topped with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, oregano and salt.
The expansion is being led by Jersey Mike’s chairman Peter Cancro, whose connection to the brand stretches back to its original Jersey Shore sandwich shop.
Cancro began working there at 14 before buying the business aged just 17 and subsequently building Jersey Mike’s into a national US brand.
According to a press release issued early this year, Jersey Mike’s has signed a franchise agreement that envisages opening 400 restaurants across the UK and Ireland.
It will become the latest US-born sub brand to try to establish itself in a market dominated by Subway, which opened its first UK restaurant in Brighton in 1996 and now has around 2,100 locations nationwide.
Previous challengers have struggled to build significant scale. Quiznos entered the UK in 2001 and grew to around 30 locations at its peak but is now reduced to a single restaurant at The Glades shopping centre in Bromley.
Potbelly opened at Westfield Stratford in 2015 but withdrew from the UK two years later, while Jon Smith Subs operated restaurants in Hammersmith and Bournemouth between 2019 and 2022 before leaving the market.
Which Wich has maintained a small presence since making its UK debut in London in 2018. The Texas-founded brand currently operates two restaurants in the capital and a third in Cardiff, with further expansion planned.
Cancro says: “Jersey Mike’s has always been about making a great sub, taking care of our customers and giving back to the communities we’re part of. I’m excited to bring that same spirit to the UK.
“We’ve spent decades building this brand in America, and now we’re ready to introduce a whole new audience to what we mean when we say ‘a Sub Above’.”