Donnie Otero (@thatcrazysubguy) uses his TikTok account, where he’s amassed over 270,000 followers, to share content related to his job at Jersey Mike’s. Otero seems to genuinely enjoy working at Jersey Mike’s and even has dreams of owning his own store one day.
In a video that was viewed over 85,000 times, the Virginia-based TikToker revealed workers are trained to cook the Mike’s Famous Philly, which consists of steak, peppers, onions, and white American cheese, in under 2 minutes.
“I was trained we need to finish a Philly cheesesteak in a minute and 30 seconds. That’s for beef,” Otero said, adding that a Giant Philly cheesesteak sandwich should take 2 minutes. “So I’ve prided myself on my speed. I’m trying to go real fast, you know what I’m saying? I don’t want someone out in my lobby waiting too long, and, you know, they’re hungry.”
@thatcrazysubguy How fast should a cheesesteak take? ⏲️ What do y’all think? 🤔 #philly #cheesesteak #grill #fyp #fy #sizzle #fastfood #beef #grill #meatlovers #jerseymikes #food #CapCut ♬ I Like It – Cardi B & Bad Bunny & J Balvin
Otero then shared a story of a customer named Connie who pushed back on the notion of rushing to get an order out.
“She wanted the opposite,” Otero said of Connie. “She wanted this cheesesteak in 5 minutes. Literally, she would tell me, ‘Burn it. If it comes out too fast, I’m not going to trust it. And that’s with every restaurant. I don’t trust food if it comes out too fast.’”
Otero said he would oblige Connie’s request to cook the Philly cheesesteak for 5 minutes but that he ran into an issue when doing so. “I would put the cheese on this freaking hockey puck meat, and it wouldn’t melt. And that was my only issue. … I had to wait an extra like 4 minutes just for the cheese to kind of melt. And even at that, it wasn’t all the way melted. But hey, Connie, you want what you want. I got you, boo.”
He then asked viewers in the caption how long they think a Philly cheesesteak should take. Most viewers sided with Connie, suggesting the quick turnaround time might be the reason they’re not a fan of this particular sub. “That’s why the meat not cooked all the way,” TikTok user @lmafia0 claimed.
“Welll said, never trust anything that comes out too quick,” another lauded.
Most recipes online, however, back up Jersey Mike’s method. According to celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s recipe, steak slices should be cooked “for 45 to 60 seconds per side.” Simply Recipes also urges cooks to cook steak slices “for a minute or two.” “It might need another minute or two, but it will cook very quickly,” the food blog states.
Update 9:38am CT, May 3: When reached for comment, Otero told the Daily Dot that he thought the short time it was supposed to take to make a regular cheesesteak “was crazy.” “But being that the flattop is 350 degrees or higher (There are hot spots on every flattop) I quickly saw it was possible and that the meat is cooked all the way through. Boneless beef cooks really fast and it cooks even faster when you chop it up and increase the surface area of the meat,” he added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Jersey Mike’s via Instagram direct message.
