Jimmy John's

The praise I've heard heaped upon this place is unbelievable. With all the excitement I encountered about the opening of Jimmy John's a few months back, you'd have thought Jacksonville was getting its first In-N-Out Burger. So what's all the fuss and buzz about?

Subs and sandwiches.
Just plain old subs and sandwiches?
Well, not quite...
Extraordinary subs and sandwiches?
Again, not quite...

Jimmy John's has some particularly good subs and sandwiches. There's no one thing to point to. It's evident upon first bite that the quality of the ingredients used is higher than your typical sub shop; fresh veggies, good meat in great quantity, and nice, fresh bread. Hey, a lot of the subs and sandwiches have alfalfa sprouts on them which, despite their mild toxicity, take a sandwich to a whole new level of deliciousness.

I guess some of the excitement is warranted. If you've lived with and loved Jimmy John's elsewhere then the loss upon relocation to Jacksonville must have been profound. As for myself, the most exciting discovery I've made is that they deliver and, being just down the street from my office, this makes them the perfect choice for a lunch meeting when nobody can be sacrificed to go pick up the Chipotle order.



Jimmy John's
9823 Tapestry Park Circle,
Jacksonville, FL 32246
(904) 642-8188‎

Sierra Grille

Sierra Grille may be a chain restaurant but it sure doesn't seem like one. The only "official" web site lists locations in Connecticut... and that's it. It's hard to tell how wide spread this place truly is but it's safe to say that's it's not as homogenized as the more recognizable burrito joints out there. I, by no measure, mean to disparage the competing big-chain, fresh-burrito-centric fast-food restaurant and I must admit to liking most of them as well. Moe's, Qdoba, and Chipotle (whose arrival at the Town Center got me so excited that I only got around to visiting within the past couple weeks) are all great but you know about them already.

The Sierra Grille on Belfort was once a regular work-time lunch spot for me. By regular I really mean once a month but I rarely ever eat out during the week so this was usually the one place I'd go. Then one day I arrived at the glass doors, hungry and excited only to find the place shut. They'd moved to a location near the intersection of Southside and Baymeadows, a high traffic area without a doubt, but I don't see why they had to close the Belfort location as it was always packed solid during lunch.

So a few years have gone by and I don't feel that betrayed anymore so we decided to stop by the "new" location for a post-yard work Sunday lunch.

Multiple signs proudly boast that no freezers, microwaves, or canned goods are used in the creation of your food at The Sierra Grille. The meats are lean, the produce is fresh, and the salsa is made on location. And this is one of the best reasons to visit The Sierra Grille, the salsa is some of the best around. There are quite a few varieties offered at the salsa bar, my absolute favorite being the roasted tomato, and they can also be purchased by the pint. Pint? I could drink this stuff by the gallon.

The burritos are fairly large and packed with fresh ingredients. I often opt for the fish burrito which differs depending on what the catch of the day is but I haven't been let down yet. For people used to overseeing the construction of their burritos at the aforementioned chains, there may be a greater risk of disappointment here where they don't offer you that luxury but I've found that, overall, the ingredients tend to be of a much better quality, even if they aren't in the proportions that you'd prefer.

If you live in the area, remember that Tijuana Flats is across the street. I'd recommend alternating between both places often for your fill of freshness and fire.

Sierra Grille
8221 Southside Blvd
Jacksonville, FL 32256
(904) 642-6530

331 Marsh Landing Pkwy
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
(904) 273-2090

Five Guys

The latest installment in our "The economy is so bad I can't afford to eat out" series is Five Guys. With the recent opening of a new location in Five Points, I read a unfavorable review of the place on another Jacksonville-centric blog and felt compelled to chime in with my dissenting opinion.

Five Guys is a burger joint started in Arlington, VA back in 1986. Over the next 15 years they expanded to include five additional restaurants around the DC area. Not wanting to deprive the rest of the country, they started franchising across the nation in 2003 and now have over 300 locations.

Look, you're about to eat a burger and some fries. There's nothing intrinsically healthy about that but, if prepared properly and consumed in moderation, there's nothing necessarily unhealthy about it either. Herein lies the appeal of Five Guys. They're proud of their greasy burgers and fries but boast the following points in their stores and on their website:

• We use only fresh, never frozen, ground beef.


• There are no freezers in Five Guys locations, just coolers. Nothing is ever frozen.


• We use only Peanut oil.


• We use only Idaho potatoes.


• Our menu is trans-fat free.

And believe it or not, you can actually taste the difference. The burgers are thick and tasty and the fries actually taste like fried potatoes should. With fifteen free, fresh toppings (my favorites being tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and jalapenos), you can stack your burger up to immense proportions or try something different each time without incurring any extra cost. There are also boxes of peanuts strewn about the place to hold you over until your order is ready.

Depending on what you typically order at fast food restaurants, the cost can be a little higher but it is justified by the quality. And while its still fast food, the burgers and fries at this place are a few notches above the other comparable establishments.

Oh, and just a friendly tip: the fries come in a container but about the same amount in addition gets dumped into the bottom of your bag (as shown above) so a small is typically enough for any one reasonably sized individual.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

St. Johns Town Center North
4413 Town Center Parkway Unit 401, Jacksonville, FL 32246

Pablo Creek East
3267 Hodges Blvd #6, Jacksonville, FL 32224

Southside of Jacksonville
9039 Southside Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32256

Riverside Square
1620 Margaret St., #105, Jacksonville, FL 32204

Orange Park
1910 Wells Rd., #C02D-5, Orange Park, FL 32073

River City
13249 City Square Dr., Jacksonville, FL 32218

Oakleaf
9630 Apple Cross Rd., Suite 106, Jacksonville, FL 32222

Cobblestone Village
200 CBL Drive, Suite 102, St. Augustine, FL 32086

Colonel Mustard's Phabulous Phat Burgers

Okay, I'll admit it, the Folio's awarding of "Best Burgers in Jacksonville, 2006" to Colonel Mustard's Phabulous Phat Burgers was not the sole reason I quickly jotted it down on my list, at the top, upon stumbling across a reference online. So it was the name, the incredibly ridiculous name that drew me to the place but it's also what led me to believe that there indeed would be a glorious burger waiting for me within the grease caked walls I so vividly imagined. "This can only be the work of a man," I thought to myself, "a man with so little sense that he surely must make up for his lack of mental capacity with the ability to craft the most awesome of man-foods: the burger."

Oh how reality can often exceed your wildest expectations.

The exterior of Colonel Mustard's, with the same neon yellow lettering found at used car dealerships covering the windows, is but a preface to the hideousness contained inside. Outlandishly tacky colors schemes, a revolting "sculpture" of a large burger embedded in the wall, grease, filth, and a chalkboard outlining the many misogynistic rules of the establishment, most reminding the customer to "quit yer whining" in various forms. I was so excited.

In Australia, if you order a burger with "the works" you'll get the typical burger fixin's: lettuce, tomato, onion, and cheese. However, you'll also find yourself the proud new owner of some beet root slices, a fried egg, and some sweet barbecue sauce unlike any you can find in the States. Absent the beet root and sauce, Colonel Mustard's egg burger is the closest thing you'll get to an Australian burger in the US outside of a small smattering of Aussie owned restaurants. With over a half pound of beef, any burger from this joint is a monument to the greasy excesses of mankind, and with most of these mammoths costing less than $5, it's got an edge on the more mundane offerings from the surrounding fast food franchises.

The burger itself was pretty good. I won't go so far as to say it was the best I've ever had nor even the best I've had in Jacksonville (sorry Colonel, my pick is Five Guys) but it's still a great example of what a burger should be: big, meaty, and greasy. Just remember to eat them in moderation. Overall my expectations about the restaurant were exceeded but I was sadly disappointed that the Colonel himself didn't verbally assault me as he is notorious for doing. Maybe next time.

Col. Mustard's Phabulous Phat Burgers
9802 Baymeadows Rd,
Jacksonville, FL 32256
904-996-8887