In August 2026 we asked one question on Facebook: how does Jersey Mike's actually go for your celiac family? Twenty families answered with 36 specific locations across 18 states. We coded every report.
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The unit here is a location report, not a person — one family who named three stores contributed three records. Each was coded for how the visit went and for what the store was reported to do: gloves, knife, prep area, slicer, condiments, grill.
Blank fields mean the family didn't say, not that the answer was no. So each precaution below is scored only against the families who mentioned it, and that number is shown every time.
The best ratio of any chain families have described to us.
Four families, independently, told us the same thing: it isn't "gluten free" that triggers the allergy procedure. It's "allergy." One said their store asks outright — preference, or allergy? — and it's the allergy answer that brings the clean knife, fresh gloves and clean board.
The families reporting the most consistent results across the most locations were, every time, the ones who said allergy or celiac rather than gluten free.
Scored only against the families who mentioned each one.
Three families said their store had no separate prep area at all, and three said the slicer was shared. Those are the stores the ratio above is hiding.
The step that survives a store doing everything else correctly.
Four families described the same sequence — gloves changed, a separate counter, and then the sandwich built from the same bins as every other order. One watched lettuce go back into the shared tub. One was served from the same veggies used on every sandwich and was sick twice. One was told the toppings weren't coming from a fresh container and the same spatula was used throughout.
And one asked for new tomatoes and lettuce and was told: "we never had anyone complain." She hasn't been back. That's the sentence worth being ready for, because it means the store has never thought about this part.
We publish these alongside the good ones or the good ones aren't worth anything.
Five out of 36 is a good ratio. It is not a safe ratio if you are the one.
One family said their store marks allergies for the kitchen and on the receipt. Another said theirs labels the bag "GF." Neither is universal and neither is a guarantee — but a store that leaves you visible proof has thought about this further than one that only tells you yes. It's also the same check a Chick-fil-A employee gave us independently, which suggests it generalises beyond one chain.
18 states. Connecticut and New York account for a third of the reports, so this is not an even national sample.
29 of the 36 reports came from ordering in person. Almost nobody described a mobile or app order, so we can't say much about that route.
We'd rather say this plainly than have you find it out later:
We turned it into a free guide: the word to use, the question that sorts a store in one sentence, the mayo, the grill, and the honest limits of all of it.
Read the Jersey Mike's guide See what families found near youFree, no signup, no ads. Table for James is run by one family.
Writers, dietitians, and researchers are welcome to cite any of this — please link back to this page so people see the limitations along with the numbers. Questions about method: hello@tableforjames.com.
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