I'd say just use common sense as a tiebreaker, but I know nobody on this board has any except for me.
*UPDATED: BRACKETS HAVE BEEN SET* OOTB Chain Restaurants Tourney
- Thread starter TarHeelNation11
- Start date
That's why I'm only going to do it for the bubble teams, so we're talking 5-6 teams that will be impacted.
I'll use common sense as well though.
There were only 2 Jersey Mike's in MA, both over an hour drive from where I live, so I never went there. However yesterday a new location opened about 10 minutes away - I'll have to check it out this weekend.
Congrats sir. You're now set for life.
However, do not copy these jabronis and get a cheesesteak. Get the club sub or club supreme and make sure you get it Mike's Way (I go Mike's Way but with no onions). Mike's Way is what makes their subs fantastic. It's their special blend of oils and spices and vinegar. Retardedly good.
Does Mike's Way have mayo? I'm a hard "no" on mayo - but would get it Mike's Way if not. I too would prefer no onions - but I wouldn't be upset if they tossed them on there anyways.
Mike's Way does not have mayo, but their club subs do (#8 and #9), so you'd have to tell them to leave the mayo off of those. I know I've been in a cheesesteak mood lately, but their cold subs Mike's Way are some of the best you can get at a sandwich shop. Just, for the love of God, do NOT leave off the onions. I add cherry pepper relish and jalapenos on mine as well (I HIGHLY recommend the relish).
Not sure how they do things up in Charlotte, but every time I've ordered a club supreme or club sub, they've specifically asked if I wanted mayo or mustard, rather than just automatically putting it on there.
And let me clarify my advice above. I'm sure their phillies are good, but ordering a cheesesteak your first visit there wouldn't be an effective way to indoctrinate yourself into what makes J-Mikes stand out. It would be akin to going to Arby's for the first time and getting their fish sandwich instead of one of their signature roast beef sandwiches.
But yeah, I'd do Mike's Way. That means lettuce, tomato, onions, their special blend of oils and vinegar and spices. Then they have other stuff you can add if you desire like the cherry pepper relish, pickles, jalapenos, etc etc. Definitely do the Mikes Way though. You'll be hooked.
Plus, they shave all the meat right in front of you as you order, which is kinda cool.
I'm in. Might not even make it to the weekend. The Club or Club Supreme is the way to go though (at least for the first time)? I'd normally go with the Italian, but am willing to change course if that's the recommendation.
The cherry pepper relish will definitely be happening.
The cherry pepper relish will definitely be happening.
Yes IMO it's the way to go because either of those two will give you a full feel for what J-Mike's offers. While tasty as hell, the Italian is a generic sandwich that lots of places do well. The Club Sub or Club Supreme, while not necessarily unique, are true and blue J-Mike's subs. I would think that getting Mike's Way on an Italian might be too much mixing of flavors.
Just a word of warning, Jersey Mike's puts a ton of lettuce on their sandwiches. It's good lettuce and the texture adds to the overall taste of the sub IMO, but I'm just warning you ahead of time, eat with a napkin nearby due to the "greasy" effect of the oils and the spillage of the lettuce.
Their Italian is amazing so I definitely recommend it, but really, I recommend any of their cold subs (except tuna...who goes to Jersey Mike's for a tuna sandwich anyway). But, I do agree with @TarHeelNation11. While I thoroughly enjoy their phillies, for your first visit, you definitely should go cold with Mike's Way to really get a feel for how they do things. I'd try the philly a bit later on after you've tried everything else you wanna try...with cherry pepper relish, of course. Glad you're going that route, I could just order a bowl of that stuff and spoon it.
Totally random aside, but does anyone else read their actual name when they read someone tagging their handle like @coolwaterunc did above?
I swear, my brain has fused TarHeelNation11 as synonymous with my name. So when I read someone tagging me, in my head I read my name instead of TarHeelNation11. Crazy.
I swear, my brain has fused TarHeelNation11 as synonymous with my name. So when I read someone tagging me, in my head I read my name instead of TarHeelNation11. Crazy.
Went to Jersey Mike's last night since we keep talking about. Club Supreme. Mmmmmm mm.
Oh and @coolwaterunc I ordered it Mike's way, no onions, and the guy after me did the same. So it's definitely a thing. Onions are like putting too much brown mustard on something... washes out all the other flavors completely.
Meanwhile, I'll start seeding the teams today. It's been a long week and I refuse to do much actual work today.
Oh and @coolwaterunc I ordered it Mike's way, no onions, and the guy after me did the same. So it's definitely a thing. Onions are like putting too much brown mustard on something... washes out all the other flavors completely.
Meanwhile, I'll start seeding the teams today. It's been a long week and I refuse to do much actual work today.
Well I've already done some work unfortunately. And it's Friday morning and I'm not even hungover. So needless to say, it's a weird day so far.
Congratulations, you found someone else who is as wrong as you are.
1. GFY
2. I just purchased "The THN11 Special" Publix Sub, aka chicken tender sub on white, mayo/mustard, chipotle gouda, lettuce, pickles, oil/vinegar/salt/pepper.
Jeal?
THE BRACKETS HAVE BEEN SET
The four regions are named as follows:
- The Phil Ford Region, Presented by Hennessy
- The John Bunting Region, Presented by Stihl
- The Chase Rice Region, Presented by Fireball Cinnamon Whisky
- The Matt Harvey Region, Presented by Durex
If you were to make a physical bracket, please imagine it to look as follow:
Top Left: Phil Ford
Bottom Left: Chase Rice
Top Right: John Bunting
Bottom Right: Matt Harvey
i.e. Phil Ford's champion will meet Chase Rice's champion in the Final Four semis, and John Bunting's champion will meet Matt Harvey's champion in the Final Four semis.
I will make four poasts after this one, listing the brackets. For those who want to see my methodology for how I arrived at the seeds, please read the spoiler below.
The four regions are named as follows:
- The Phil Ford Region, Presented by Hennessy
- The John Bunting Region, Presented by Stihl
- The Chase Rice Region, Presented by Fireball Cinnamon Whisky
- The Matt Harvey Region, Presented by Durex
If you were to make a physical bracket, please imagine it to look as follow:
Top Left: Phil Ford
Bottom Left: Chase Rice
Top Right: John Bunting
Bottom Right: Matt Harvey
i.e. Phil Ford's champion will meet Chase Rice's champion in the Final Four semis, and John Bunting's champion will meet Matt Harvey's champion in the Final Four semis.
I will make four poasts after this one, listing the brackets. For those who want to see my methodology for how I arrived at the seeds, please read the spoiler below.
First, I created the four region names. I then used Google's random number generator (set at 1-4) to assign a number to each of the four regions. These numbers decided who fell where on the bracket layout. 1 = Top Left, 2 = Top Right, 3 = Bottom Left, and 4 = Bottom Right.
Then, I took the grouping of "3" vote teams, i.e. the second lowest vote getters, which numbered 56-70 on our final list of 81 (all 2-vote getters were disqualified). I used www.random.org 's randomizer to randomize the list. Per the results, I simply took the first 8 on the list to trim the overall list to 64, and eliminated the rest.
Then, I started at the top. Wendy's, Bojangle's, Chick-fil-A, and Firehouse all collected enough votes to provide a clean and easy 1-seed line. I used the randomizer to assign each to its own bracket.
Then I simply moved down the list and randomized by vote amount.So, as an example, I then moved down to the 9-vote team. There were 6 of them. I randomized that list on www.random.org 's randomizer. I took the first 4 of the randomized list and used the Google random number generator to assign each to a bracket to fill out the 2-seed lines. That left two remaining 9-vote teams. I randomly assigned those remaining two to the 3-seed line. I then randomly organized all the 8-vote teams and assigned those. And so on and so forth, filling out the whole bracket.
Then, I took the grouping of "3" vote teams, i.e. the second lowest vote getters, which numbered 56-70 on our final list of 81 (all 2-vote getters were disqualified). I used www.random.org 's randomizer to randomize the list. Per the results, I simply took the first 8 on the list to trim the overall list to 64, and eliminated the rest.
Then, I started at the top. Wendy's, Bojangle's, Chick-fil-A, and Firehouse all collected enough votes to provide a clean and easy 1-seed line. I used the randomizer to assign each to its own bracket.
Then I simply moved down the list and randomized by vote amount.So, as an example, I then moved down to the 9-vote team. There were 6 of them. I randomized that list on www.random.org 's randomizer. I took the first 4 of the randomized list and used the Google random number generator to assign each to a bracket to fill out the 2-seed lines. That left two remaining 9-vote teams. I randomly assigned those remaining two to the 3-seed line. I then randomly organized all the 8-vote teams and assigned those. And so on and so forth, filling out the whole bracket.
The Phil Ford Region, Presented by Hennessy
#1 Wendy's (wiki)
#2 Five Guys Burgers and Fries (wiki)
#3 Cook Out (wiki)
#4 Chili's Grill & Bar (wiki)
#5 Pizza Hut (wiki)
#6 Zaxby's (wiki)
#7 Domino's Pizza (wiki)
#8 Texas Roadhouse (wiki)
#9 P.F. Chang's China Bistro (wiki)
#10 Dunkin' Donuts (wiki)
#11 Waffle House (wiki)
#12 Captain D's (wiki)
#13 Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews (wiki)
#14 Qdoba Mexican Eats (wiki)
#15 On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (wiki)
#16 MOD Pizza (wiki)
#1 Wendy's (wiki)
#2 Five Guys Burgers and Fries (wiki)
#3 Cook Out (wiki)
#4 Chili's Grill & Bar (wiki)
#5 Pizza Hut (wiki)
#6 Zaxby's (wiki)
#7 Domino's Pizza (wiki)
#8 Texas Roadhouse (wiki)
#9 P.F. Chang's China Bistro (wiki)
#10 Dunkin' Donuts (wiki)
#11 Waffle House (wiki)
#12 Captain D's (wiki)
#13 Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews (wiki)
#14 Qdoba Mexican Eats (wiki)
#15 On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (wiki)
#16 MOD Pizza (wiki)
The Chase Rice Region, Presented by Fireball Cinnamon Whisky
#1 Firehouse Subs (wiki)
#2 Arby's (wiki)
#3 Jersey Mike's Subs (wiki)
#4 Kentucky Fried Chicken (wiki)
#5 Ruby Tuesday's (wiki)
#6 McDonald's (wiki)
#7 Romano's Macaroni Grill (wiki)
#8 Hooter's (wiki)
#9 Krispy Kreme (wiki)
#10 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar (wiki)
#11 Panera Bread (wiki)
#12 Ham's (wiki)
#13 McAlister's Deli (wiki)
#14 Little Caesars (wiki)
#15 Boston Market (wiki)
#16 Cold Stone Creamery (wiki)
#1 Firehouse Subs (wiki)
#2 Arby's (wiki)
#3 Jersey Mike's Subs (wiki)
#4 Kentucky Fried Chicken (wiki)
#5 Ruby Tuesday's (wiki)
#6 McDonald's (wiki)
#7 Romano's Macaroni Grill (wiki)
#8 Hooter's (wiki)
#9 Krispy Kreme (wiki)
#10 Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar (wiki)
#11 Panera Bread (wiki)
#12 Ham's (wiki)
#13 McAlister's Deli (wiki)
#14 Little Caesars (wiki)
#15 Boston Market (wiki)
#16 Cold Stone Creamery (wiki)
The John Bunting Region, Presented by Stihl
#1 Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits (wiki)
#2 Cracker Barrel (wiki)
#3 Taco Bell (wiki)
#4 Hardee's (wiki)
#5 Subway (wiki)
#6 Outback Steakhouse (wiki)
#7 The Cheesecake Factory (wiki)
#8 Mellow Mushroom (wiki)
#9 HWY 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries (wiki)
#10 Bonefish Grill (wiki)
#11 Chipotle Mexican Grill (wiki)
#12 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (wiki)
#13 Steak 'n Shake (wiki)
#14 Fuddrucker's (wiki)
#15 Logan's Roadhouse (wiki)
#16 Golden Corral (wiki)
#1 Bojangles' Famous Chicken 'n Biscuits (wiki)
#2 Cracker Barrel (wiki)
#3 Taco Bell (wiki)
#4 Hardee's (wiki)
#5 Subway (wiki)
#6 Outback Steakhouse (wiki)
#7 The Cheesecake Factory (wiki)
#8 Mellow Mushroom (wiki)
#9 HWY 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries (wiki)
#10 Bonefish Grill (wiki)
#11 Chipotle Mexican Grill (wiki)
#12 Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen (wiki)
#13 Steak 'n Shake (wiki)
#14 Fuddrucker's (wiki)
#15 Logan's Roadhouse (wiki)
#16 Golden Corral (wiki)
The Matt Harvey Region, Presented by Durex
#1 Chick-fil-A (wiki)
#2 Jimmy John's (wiki)
#3 Olive Garden (wiki)
#4 Burger King (wiki)
#5 Buffalo Wild Wings (wiki)
#6 LongHorn Steakhouse (wiki)
#7 Papa John's Pizza (wiki)
#8 Dairy Queen (wiki)
#9 T.G.I Friday's (wiki)
#10 IHOP (wiki)
#11 Moe's (wiki)
#12 Sonic Drive-In (wiki)
#13 O'Charley's (wiki)
#14 Baskin-Robbins (wiki)
#15 Dickey's Barbecue Pit (wiki)
#16 Maggiano's Little Italy (wiki)
#1 Chick-fil-A (wiki)
#2 Jimmy John's (wiki)
#3 Olive Garden (wiki)
#4 Burger King (wiki)
#5 Buffalo Wild Wings (wiki)
#6 LongHorn Steakhouse (wiki)
#7 Papa John's Pizza (wiki)
#8 Dairy Queen (wiki)
#9 T.G.I Friday's (wiki)
#10 IHOP (wiki)
#11 Moe's (wiki)
#12 Sonic Drive-In (wiki)
#13 O'Charley's (wiki)
#14 Baskin-Robbins (wiki)
#15 Dickey's Barbecue Pit (wiki)
#16 Maggiano's Little Italy (wiki)
Let those regions and seeds marinate (food pun) for a little bit, and I'll be back tomorrow to set up the region vote threads. First up will be the Round of 64 matchups for The Phil Ford Region, Presented by Hennessy
By The Numbers
We did a great job of selecting Southeast regional chains. Or, said possibly more accurately, Southerners specialize in fattening but soul-comforting rapid cuisine.
We did a great job of selecting Southeast regional chains. Or, said possibly more accurately, Southerners specialize in fattening but soul-comforting rapid cuisine.
- Of the 64 teams to make the field, exactly half were founded in Southern states*
- 7 of the 64 teams were founded in the Tar Heel State
- 7 of the 64 teams currently have their headquarters in the Dallas Metroplex
- 75% of the 1-seeds were founded in the South
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