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Subway 2011–


Fat Guy

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Subway just arrived in my part of Japan and it's running success. There is always a line in front of the shop, the quality is good but the service is so SLOW! I am sure the poor girls behind the counter will pick up speed. I eat there once in while, the shop is really clean if you compare it to a Canadian shop.

Back when I lived in Canada, my local Subway workers were a bunch of crazy Russians who played Russian pop music all the time. I went there to practice my Russian, pretty much a 2 for 1.

Somebody mentioned Harveys, I really miss Harveys hamburger!

My blog about food in Japan

Foodie Topography

www.foodietopography.com

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  • 3 weeks later...

It is discouraging that Subway seems to do so well in the land of the hoagie.

I've thought a lot about this. Why would anyone in Philly buy subway dreck, when even Wawa makes a better product???

Two reasons: first, it's cheaper. $5 for a Subway foot-long sandwich is less than you'd pay at "real" hoagie shop- Sarcone's, Primo's or whatever. Wawa's prices are probably comparable to Subway (and I agree, is miles better), but there are a lot more Subways around than there are Wawas.

Second, let's not kid ourselves: while there are a lot of terrific hoagie shops around, it's not like there's one on every corner. There are no really good hoagieries on South Street- you'd have to walk to the Italian Market. So you either go to the South St. Subway, or to one of the manky corner deli/Greek pizza places. And the neighborhoods are worse, more often than not. I might head out of my way to Chickie's... if I'm a foodie. And I don't have hungry kids wanting to be fed. And I have the time and transportation and disposable income. Etc.

Third, I think that the perception that Subways in NYC or Philly are visited mainly by out-of-towners is wishful thinking.

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I've been back in the States now(back from Canada) for almost 9 months and I'm proud to say I havent eaten at Subway. I ate there a lot in my small town in Ontario because it was either Subway, McDonalds, KFC( no way, no how) or Tim Horton's. Subway seemed the healthiest to me, even if I wasnt fond of their cold cuts. Now that I'm back in Cali, I'f I want a sub, I go to Jersey Mike's. Much, Much better if not slightly more expensive. A 6inch turkey and provolone with a coupon( I always have a coupon) is 6.50.

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  • 7 months later...

Subway is starting to offer coffee...Move over Starbucks? (click)

Introducing the Subway Café

The Subway Cafe opening in Mission Hills on Tuesday is the second prototype for a new breed of Subway restaurants that feature a coffeehouse ambience complete with Wi-Fi, pastries and lattes.

I find this interesting because Starbucks has been tackling this sort of café from the opposite side. They started out with the coffee, tea and pastries and are trying to expand their food side of the business.

Has anyone been to the these new Subway Cafés?

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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That Subway smell exists in Subways all over the world, and it's exactly the same everywhere. I can smell it from half a block away and it is truly awful.

I'll say this, at least whatever they do to make that smell is consistent!

Edited by Hassouni (log)
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Japan's Subways don't have any awful or even vaguely unpleasant smell. Well, you couldn't do that kind of business here if your shops had (special exception for the truly humming Hope ramen).

They've also done coffee for the longest time - and it's good. Currently JPY190 a cup, the same as McD's large size (also fairly good coffee). Better than any of the coffee-specialist chains, and cheaper.

QUIET!  People are trying to pontificate.

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  • 2 years later...

The Subway in my neighborhood is now going to be open 24 hours a day. As an incentive to bring in customers, between Midnight and 6AM from May 1st and July 31st, you can buy any 6" sub and a drink and get a 6" sub of equal or lesser value for free....no coupon needed.

Maybe they're going after the late night Taco Bell/Jack-in-the-Box demographic.

And it's really not a good neighborhood in which to be open 24 hours, either.  :unsure:

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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  • 1 year later...

Subway is offering any of their footlong subs for $6. I saw on a commercial from a local broadcast TV station and confirmed it on their website. It's a limited time, month of February offer only.

 

I haven't eaten there in over ten years, but does anyone have any opinions about which of their offerings might be worth the bargain price they're offering?

 

I ran across this opinion in my searching.

 

I sort of lean toward the Turkey Italiano Melt, but have never had one.

> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

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We have Subway outlets here (who doesn't) and we also have Jimmy John's.

I've never eaten at Jimmy John's (there's not one near me) but my friends who have universally prefer it over Subway.

When I do get take-out from Subway, usually in Summer when I don't want to cook, I get just turkey with cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo....it's not bad really.

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The one 'fast food' establishment that does, on occasion, get a (very little) bit of my business is Subway - but only when I am on one of my long road trips and desperate for anything that may be even a week from fresh (and can't find a grocery store easily). I get the simplest (which is always the cheapest anyway) sub version - plain turkey - on something that is not pure white (even though I know it is no more nutritious or tasty), toasted with a slice of fake provolone, and have them load it up as much as possible with every veggie and pickle 'garnish' in the bins - including the hot peppers so I can't really taste the rest. They are usually at least palatable to me when done that way and I figure at least I got some veggies and maybe a bit of protein mixed in with the bad carbs.

 

Years ago I tried one or two of their more exotic (supposedly hot) options but none of them struck me as tasty, or worth the money or suitable for my particular purpose - getting me through a long night of driving where it is hard to juggle a sloppy meatball sandwich and the wheel safely at the same time. And the plain turkey subs usually sit better in my stomach than anything from MickeyD's. However, not all of these roadside Subway joints seem to have the same level of cleanliness or quality of ingredients. You takes your chances!

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When we're feeling too lazy or rushed to pack our own road meals, we usually stop at Subway.  As a rule we're pleased with their BLT's, with a bit of customization: we both prefer the whole wheat bread, and sometimes we pull out all the stops and get extra bacon and mayo.  I want mine entirely toasted; he doesn't  - which led in one memorable instance to a confused clerk asking if he really wanted the bacon cold.  I have a ton of dill pickle added, he goes for a few chiles.  Once in a while one of us will opt for a their spicy Italian sandwich instead.  The rest of the choices - their custom choices - generally don't appeal to us, but at most of the Subways we've visited our preferred options have come out satisfactorily.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Whether Subway is good depends on your expectations.  If you expect a real Philly hoagie you'll be disappointed. Bread is different, meats are bland but salted heavily. Low meat to bread ratio.  Always amazes me that they succeed in Philly where good sandwiches abound.  A testimony to advertising and location.

 

But it isn't hideous food as these things go. Better than McD, I guess.

 

And I've never seen a line there.

 

 

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I don't mind a veggie sandwich there now and then, it's a good road-trip choice when you need something fast. Unfortunately, not all Subways have all the same offerings but I like trying to combine in flavour profiles like a "Greek" - feta cheese, onion, black olives, tomatoes, green peppers and maybe spinach with a red wine vinaigrette. Or a SW style - avocado, tomato, onion, black olives, jalapenos and maybe a chipotle or sweet onion sauce. "Italian" with mozza cheese, tomato + extra tomato, black olives, onions and maybe an Italian dressing. They aren't perfect but it makes it fun to try and pick something like that. Sometimes I have combos like spinach, carrots, mushrooms with lots of banana peppers. 

 

I'm not crazy about some of their dressings, so usually ask for a small amount or skip them. And for some reason, I hate their pickles. Else I might try a meatless hamburger with cheddar, onion, tomato. lettuce, mayo and pickles. 

 

Edited to add: You can probably tell I don't really like most of their meats, though I don't hate them, either. 

Edited by FauxPas (log)
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It's odd but my local Subway restaurants have had $6 footlongs for quite sometime. Their recent commercial touts the $6 price for February, hoping we'll forget their entire $5 Footlong alliterative jingle and that their sandwiches used to be cheaper. ¬¬

I didn't see it on their web page menu, but if you can get their Pastrami Melt (ask if it's part of the $6 campaign), it's a huge bargain at $6. It's regularly their most expensive sandwich (over $9+ for the footlong). Add the cheese of your choice and get it toasted. I add avocado (I used to add their spicy guacamole but they stopped carrying it), some onions and mustard.

Them's good eats. ;)

They also have started a "deluxe" feature. It's not double meat but a half serving of more meat for 50 cents per 6-inch sandwich. So a regular ("classic") tuna sandwich would be two scoops of tuna salad per 6-inch sandwich. Four scoops per 6-inch sandwich would be double meat and "deluxe" would be 3 scoops per 6-inch sandwich.

 

edited to clarify

Edited by Toliver (log)
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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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No lines at Subway?  I made the mistake last summer of stopping in around 11:30AM on a weekday.

Unfortunately, there was a group of construction (road workers) waiting.  At least ten deep.

I went elsewhere.

BTW, I've found their tuna sub to be inedible.  Gack!

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Reporting back to say I found out that the Pastrami Melt I mentioned in an earlier post is indeed only $6 this month thanks to the February $6 promotion. Such a deal!

The employee who made my Pastrami Melt sandwich last night tried to upsell me to make it a deluxe (1/2 times more meat). They were successful. 9_9 xD 

I ended up bringing half of my sandwich to work today for lunch. 

Thank goodness it's a Leap Year and there's an extra day this month to take advantage of this February $6 promotion. :B

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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  • 1 year later...

Yikes! When is a chicken sandwich not really a chicken sandwich? When you buy it from Subway!

The article: "Canadian fast food test shows Subway poultry contains only around 50 percent or less of chicken DNA, supplemented by soy"

Quote

A Canadian investigation into the contents in fast-food chicken has shown that Subway’s numbers are quite alarming.

The finding: it’s oven-roasted chicken scored just 53.6 percent chicken DNA and its chicken strips contained just 42.8 percent chicken DNA. The majority of the rest: soy.

The results come from a CBC Marketplace investigation which involved a DNA analysis of poultry from six popular grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps, CBC reports.

 

I find this shocking and alarming, to say the least. Perhaps they should start calling their chicken strips "Soy chicken-ish strips". >:(

Other fast food restaurants fared better but how does a grilled chicken breast not contain 100% chicken DNA?

 

The next thing they'll be telling us is that Soylent Green is people! :o xD

 

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“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

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Ive only been to the Sub about twice.  once out of curiosity and the second time out of necessity.

 

the Fresh Bread for me did not have decent " crumb " and the meat seemed watery to me : i.e. injected w a lot of water.

 

their margins are razor thin , so Im not surprised that the may have created a soy-ckicken substitute for a real chicken , no mater how

 

mass produced that chicken was.

 

the issue for me is that the chain won't be called to task by regulators for what they've done.

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Yay, its been posted!

 

Pretty interesting. The article I read didnt say what the rest contained, so Im glad y'all cleared it up.

 

SOY!

 

Rotuts? Ill never go to Subway, I live in SamichVille, no need.

Edited by GlorifiedRice (log)
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Wawa Sizzli FTW!

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I too live in sandwichville (and pizzaville for that matter too). I'm always amazed that Papa John's, Subway, Quizno's, Domino's can do business when there are way better options at hand. It must be the advertising .

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