Bowie Restaurant Project: (84) Jimmy John's

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

Jimmy John's,
15411 Excelsior Dr.
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/22/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 1
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

It's a Jimmy John's. To me, that means that it falls into the category of "slightly nicer than Subway" sandwich joints. I like Subway well enough (even if Bowie has more than it needs), and I like "upscale" sandwich restaurants (Jimmy John's, Firehouse, Potbelly, etc.) slightly better. It's not too exciting, but a sub's a good meal.

The Jimmy John's in Bowie Town Center opened about a week ago, and they seem to be doing a fine job. The on-line ordering works well. I think telling someone your sandwich order is tiresome, so on-line is the way to go. I appreciated that I was able to do it from the web without downloading an app I would never use again. I was somewhat irritated that they wanted 30 minutes to have my order ready, but in fact it was ready in less than 15.

Apparently I used their on-line ordering in 2011 at the Jimmy John's in College Park, and I was irritated when they only gave me one bag of chips. This time, they showed me where to get the chips myself, so it wasn't a problem.

Jimmy John's "replaces" the Quizno's around the corner that just closed, along with the Subway in the food court. All in all, an upgrade in your Bowie Town Center sandwich choices, but one I have a hard time getting excited about.

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Bowie Restaurant News

Well, last time, I had two reviews left to go, and I reviewed one, which leaves me...three?

Yep. In the past week, Jimmy John's and First Watch have opened around the corner from each other in Bowie Town Center. I can still see the finish line, though!

Grace's Fortune, long my go-to place for taking interview candidates at work, is closing in February. Golden Pavilion has been my go-to Chinese place, mainly because I couldn't justify Grace's higher dinner prices, but I'm looking for a new Chinese place to recommend. I think interview candidates may end up at some place outside Bowie; Thai at Waugh Chapel and Namaste are probably good choices.

Stay-At-Home Bowl 2015 Winners: KC Chiefs

View image | gettyimages.com

One of this blog's (few remaining) running features is noting the winners of what I have dubbed the "Stay at Home Bowl" -- the teams to defeat both Super Bowl participants. Last year's winner, the Indianapolis Colts made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game, demonstrating the obvious: if you can beat both Super Bowl participants, you're probably good. Of the 17 teams to have won this honor, 7 have made it to the conference championship game, and 10 have made the playoffs.

This year's winner is the Chiefs, who beat the Seahawks 24-20 and the Patriots 41-14.

Bowie Restaurant Project: (83) Anthony's NY Pizza & Pasta House

For an explanation of the Bowie Restaurant Project, look here.


For a list of all the Bowie Restaurant Project reviews, look here.

Anthony's NY Pizza & Pasta House,
15480 Annapolis Rd, Suite 217,
Most Recent Foursquare Check-in: 1/8/2015
Total Foursquare Check-ins: 9
Pre-Foursquare Visits: No
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Anthony's has been open for a few months now. I like it pretty well, as evidenced by the nine check-ins I've logged there. That's helped by the fact that it partway between work and home for me. The thing keeping it from four stars is that, well, when a convenient location is one of your major selling points, I can't justify that fourth star.

I have had pretty good pasta here, I have had pretty good pizza here (it's about equal with Cetrone's, but Cetrone's gets a leg up for delivering), and I particularly enjoy the meatball parmesan sub. The interior is nothing special, but the service has been friendly, if a bit less-than-careful. (One time they couldn't remember what toppings I ordered on my takeout pizza, so they waited until I showed up to cook it.)

I'm happy for it to be there, and I hope it stays. I will patronize it, but now that I'm done evaluating it, I will probably move much of my pizza business back to Cetrone's.

Bowie Restaurant Update

Two restaurants to go!

Of course, Bowie keeps adding and subtracting restaurants, so I'll never be finally done.

In addition to the four that I mentioned in November (and the Chipotle and Firehouse that might show up at The Marketplace in 2016), we have more coming soon.

 The Quizno's in Bowie Town Center is being replaced by a Wingstop, and the Irie Cafe is now gone, soon to be "Simply Southern American Grille."

I can't say that either departure surprises me, but I hope their replacements have more luck.

There is also a proposal to put Bowie's second Taco Bell into the "Bowie Gateway Center" (near the Lowe's).