Chicka-Phila-Roni Is The Jersey Mike's Secret Menu Item You Need To Try

If you're a regular customer at any restaurant chain, you know there's a certain thrill in discovering a new secret menu item to try. In many places, their ordering hacks are made up by customers to make their food taste better. At Jersey Mike's, however, there actually is a secret menu. As a self-identified Jersey Mike's employee revealed on Reddit, there are several subs that the staff is trained to make and most customers don't even know they can order them because they're only listed on the website. 

Sure enough, if you check it out, you'll see items that are left out of the printed menu. "The only reason they're left out of in-store menus is due to space constraints," the employee shared in the thread. "They're not (usually) as popular as some of our other items."

In a separate Reddit thread, another Jersey Mike's employee said there's also a discontinued menu item you can order called the Chicka-Phila-Roni. Despite its name sounding like another fast food chain, Chicka-Phila is just short for Chicken Philly, a type of sandwich similar to a Philly cheesesteak but made with chicken instead of steak.

Jersey Mike's does have a Chicken Philly on the menu and the Chicka-Phila-Roni has many of the same ingredients — including chicken, grilled onion, peppers, and American cheese. The main difference is it's also topped with pepperoni. If you want to order a Chicka-Phila-Roni, asking for it by name may not be effective since it's not an official secret menu item, but rather a discontinued sandwich that can still be made with the available ingredients. 

As a Jersey Mike's employee mentioned in a TikTok, you can order the Chicka-Phila-Roni by name if there's a longtime employee who would recognize it from the old menu, otherwise, you'll just have to order the Chicken Philly with pepperoni. Unlike the sandwiches on Jersey Mike's secret menu, the Chicka-Phila-Roni also isn't listed online, but you can get it the same way you would in person. If you decide to order it, the employee from Reddit recommends topping it with chipotle mayo, marinara, or ranch.

The Chicka-Phila-Roni was introduced to the Jersey Mike's Subs menu back in 2011, but it was only available for about two months, even though most customers seemed to like it and it received positive reviews. So why wasn't it around for very long? The truth is the Chick-Phila-Roni wasn't exactly discontinued, its limited-time run just ended. The company originally introduced it as both a promotion for the 2011 football playoffs, as well as a way to commemorate Jersey Mike's 55th anniversary of being in business.

The sandwich chain planned to add the Chick-Phila-Roni to the menu permanently only if it became popular enough, otherwise it would only be available through February of that year. "Pepperoni and cheese are consumer favorites and this sub delivers full flavor," Jersey Mike's President Hoyt Jones told QSR in 2011. Even though the sandwich had promise, it turns out it just didn't produce enough sales for the brand to consider adding it to the menu after two months.