CLEVELAND, Ohio — I cringe every time a chain restaurant uses the word “Asian” (or worse, “Oriental”) to describe a dish on its menu. Because no, Panera Bread and Applebee’s, there’s nothing authentic about your Asian Sesame Chicken Salad or Oriental Chicken Salad.
The irony is that, as a first-gen Asian American, I have an innate affinity for the flavors these outdated labels have become shorthand for. Wondering who Charley’s had in mind for their Chicken Teriyaki Cheesesteak? It me!
So when an email from Jimmy John’s (don’t judge) arrived touting its Thai Chicken Wrap, lunch suddenly came into focus.
“We have to go back…“
Jimmy John’s Thai Chicken Wrap isn’t new. The sub shop introduced it in 2022 and brought it back the following year. In fact, the sandwich is one of its “most loved limited-time offerings,” according to Suzanne DeRouchie, Jimmy John’s vice president of integrated marketing communications…