Jersey Mike’s Subs just took a big step toward Wall Street. The sandwich chain confidentially filed a draft S-1 with the SEC on April 20, 2026. Details on shares and pricing? Still up in the air. But whispers point to a $12 billion valuation—up from the $8 billion Blackstone paid in 2024. Blackstone snapped up a majority stake less than 18 months ago. Now they’re cashing in. The private-equity giant has a history of flipping restaurant bets fast. Jersey Mike’s fits the pattern. Strong sales. Rapid expansion. Perfect timing for an IPO market that’s warming up. Peter Cancro started it all. At 17, he bought a single sub shop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, with a $125,000 loan from his high school football coach. Fifty years later, he hands off a chain with 3,300 U.S. locations and 15 abroad. In 2025, systemwide sales hit $4.2 billion. That’s the highest average-unit volume in the sub game—beating Subway at its own turf. Cancro steps back as CEO but stays chairman. Enter Charlie Morrison. Hired in 2025.…