Next on our journey up Buford Highway was Baldino’s Giant Jersey Subs. Founded in 1975, this small regional chain has 19 locations, including seven in North Carolina and one in Jacksonville, Florida. After such a consistently awesome onslaught of exceptional ethnic cuisine, Baldino’s seemed like it was going to be a bit boring, truth be told. The fantastically retro but somewhat tired interior decor wasn’t making things look much better, but fortunately Baldino’s subs are anything but boring.

The menu, unsurprisingly, is mostly full of subs in full and half sizes, though there are also other items like spaghetti, soups, salads, etc. After a decent amount of deliberation, we settled on two whole sandwiches: the Baldino’s Special ($7.79), and the Baldino’s Cheesesteak ($9.39), and a pickle to split.

This may have been a tactical error, given that we obviously were not considering the “giant” portion of the name Baldino’s Giant Jersey Subs…

I’m not sure if the photos can properly convey how gigantic these sandwiches are. We could have easily ordered a half-size portion of each sub and swapped quarters and been perfectly full and fine. Oh well!

I enjoyed both sandwiches quite a bit, and the only real complaint either of us can muster about either sub is that the cheesesteak sub was not very well-balanced physically. There was a lot of cheesesteak at one end and a big wad of uncut bread at the other end. Adam thinks the quality of the ham wasn’t quite there. But that’s really it.

Oh, I should also add that there was a surprisingly large and diverse number of hot sauces available – Adam and I chose the chipotle Cholula to sprinkle on our cheesesteak, but this was mostly because we could, not because the cheesesteak needed it.

Baldino’s was a pleasant surprise, and we would definitely go again. It isn’t as fun and quirky as Jimmy John’s, but it’s definitely a better choice than Blimpie or even Subway. Plus, local business! 3.5 stars.

Baldino’s Giant Jersey Subs
5697 Buford Highway NE
Atlanta, GA 30340