While new additions such as Dunne Hall, Flaherty Hall and Smashburger were being unveiled on Notre Dame’s campus over the summer, a new Jimmy John’s location also opened on Eddy Street between the Hammes Bookstore and Blaze Pizza.
Tyler Grummel, first assistant at Jimmy John’s, said the restaurant’s new location was chosen largely due to its increased proximity to Notre Dame’s campus — with the restaurant’s location on Michigan Avenue formerly being closest to campus — and takes Domer Dollars to account for added student business.
“We’re closer to campus and we wanted to increase business that way,” Grummel said. “This store, especially, is mainly Notre Dame-based clientele [and] we take Domer Dollars over the phone and at the registers. We’re getting a lot more business because of that, too. We got it every so often at the other store, but now people are coming in almost every day and paying with Domer Dollars.”
Sophomore Alex Daugherty said he is excited to have a Jimmy John’s within walking distance that also delivers to campus.
“I am really excited about having one on Eddy Street that I can just walk to because I definitely wouldn’t have walked downtown or I’d call it to have it delivered,” Daugherty said. “If it’s going to be a nice day then I won’t mind walking over, but … if delivery time is going to be a lot faster than it was from downtown, then I’m definitely going to have it brought to the door [when it’s cold].”
The new location has already seen an increase in business since students have returned to Notre Dame for the start of a new school year, Grummel said, and despite being within walking distance of campus has continued to receive many delivery orders from students.
“Ever since the students got back there’s definitely been an increase, especially on the night side with foot traffic and deliveries to campus,” he said. “I think because we’re closer and we can get there even faster now [delivery has] grown because we can actually live up to the ‘freaky fast’ standard.”
Junior Jennifer Mulvey said she is happy to see another different addition to Eddy Street and is likely to make the walk over to Jimmy John’s instead of placing an order for delivery because of the short distance from campus.
“I’m really excited [about it],” Mulvey said. “I’d probably walk over versus order. We have a Subway on campus, which is kind of similar, but if you’re walking to Eddy Street I think that’s kind of a unique one for Eddy Street.”
Daugherty echoed Mulvey and said he’s happy to see a simple and fast sandwich option added to Eddy Street, something he believes was missing in the past.
“There wasn’t really a basic sandwich option,” he said. “You have Bar Bici, which is really specialized, and Chipotle of course, [and] I don’t count McAlister’s [Deli] because McAlister’s feels more sit-down than carry-out, where Jimmy John’s is kind of a niche that wasn’t filled yet.”
The restaurant, which serves “fresh gourmet sandwiches” according to its website, remains open until 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, Grummel said, due to the high amount of business the new location attracts because of foot traffic to and from bars on Eddy Street.
“Because we’re between the two bars we get a big rush right as we’re closing at night [so] we are open until 3 a.m.” he said.
Grummel also said the restaurant is always looking to hire new workers to keep up with the evening rush if any Notre Dame students are interested in an off-campus job.
“Right now we’re just mainly focusing on [hiring] more night staff,” he said. “We always have a nice flow of people coming and going because we do have a lot of students work for us, so in the summertime they move away and don’t always come back and then it switches off.”
