Why I hate Subway sandwiches.
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Subway has a advertised deal of $5 footlong sandwiches so I decided to try one out the other day. It’s a mistake I won’t be making anytime soon. I remember back in the day when you could get a real sandwich at subway. Well, the times are a-changin’.
I ordered a ham, salami, and cheese on a footlong. The lady behind the counter put 6 small slices of ham even spaced accross the footlong piece of bread. She then asked me what kind of cheese and I reminded her I wanted salami too. Here’s where the cheap cost cutting nature of Subway shows its hand. She takes BACK two of the slices of ham and adds salami slices. This sandwich was so lacking that Subway should’ve just sold it for what it really is, a lettuce sandwich.
The worst part is that I was hungry when I should’ve just turn around and left so I actually bought the thing and ate it… and then I was still hungry after I ate it.
I thought about it for awhile and then I’ve come to realize the genius of Subway marketing and what a big con it is. The $5 footlong will basically get you the same amount of meat as a 6 inch, except you get to spread it out over a foot long piece of bread so don’t think it’s any kind of deal. Also this whole “healthy” thing is pure genius. Basically Subway gets to cut back on more expensive food ingredients (meats) and substitute with cheaper ingredients (vegetables) and charge customers the same for a “healthier” product.
I’ve sworn off ever going back to Subway ever again. Then again I’ve seen the lines there and maybe some people like lettuce sandwiches. 
24 Responses to “Why I hate Subway sandwiches.”
I used to absolutely *love* a little hidden gem of the Subway menu — it wasn’t actually listed on any menus at any stores I ever had occasion to look at, but almost every day for awhile back in the late 90’s I’d head in to the same shop, near my office at the time, and it got to the point that the folks behind the counter recognized me and started putting my “usual” together before I even got to the counter.
It wasn’t as expensive then, either — they were still doing that “stamps” thing (before it changed to a colossal ripoff) — it was basically a free footlong after I’d bought four.
That hidden gem? The “pizza sub” — an artery-hardening concoction of pure deliciousness. It’s just the bread, plus mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, then a healthy dose of the thick sauce they use on the meatball subs (in fact they rang it up as a meatball sub but used some kind of trickery to drop the price a little).
It was a wonderful sandwich, despite its obvious high-calorie content (it had no hint of “healthy” to it at all :)). In the past few years, though, they’ve gone downhill fast. The biggest change that makes these things suck now is just as you described — they’re using a *lot* less meat now. They used to dish out the pepperoni (and all the meats, actually) in pre-measured little bundles, separated by wax paper. They just measured these out at the start of the day, but it made the actual sandwich making much faster, and there was more meat.
The last time I ordered a pizza sub from a Subway store, about a year ago, they did what you described — just eight pieces of pepperoni spread across a foot long piece of break. Bleh. Total suckage. The end result is depressingly thin and wimpy, and certainly not filling.
They’re also cutting the bread differently now, which makes this kind of sandwich messier — they used to slice the top more carefully, and create a sort of “pocket” where ingredients could hide; now they just cut it in half.
I just realized I’ve written a half dozen paragraphs about a sandwich I used to enjoy eating. Heh.
Anyway, I’m with you — no more Subway for me. I can make a better sandwich myself for a lot less.
By Willfe on Mar 29, 2008
How about the fact that although their cheese is triangular they cannot manage to tessellate it and just cause awkward overlaps instead?
By Marisela on Apr 2, 2008
Interesting.
I work at a Subway right now in Utah.
For that foot long pizza sub your talking about. I put on 20 pieces of pepperoni.
I ring it up as a Spicy Italian Which normally has 10 pepperoni and 10 salami.
For the Salami and Ham foot long also mentioned. I would put 12 salami and 4 ham and call it a BMT.
Anywho….. What I really wanted to say was that the 5 Dollar deal sucks for the workers. Twice the business and only part of the money.
We are also supposedly losing money off this deal too.
bah fred deluca!
By Mike on Apr 3, 2008
I bet you whiners are all fat asses.
By fy on Apr 3, 2008
I’m actually 5′ 7″ and weigh roughly 140 pounds so I’m pretty normal.
Maybe you like getting ripped off for a lettuce sandwich but don’t resort to idiotic comments. Then again, intelligent comments generally don’t come out of idiots.
By hejustlaughs on Apr 3, 2008
** NO MORE SUWAY ** for me or my family and hopefully any of my friends. That place is a POS. $5 for ** ANY ** footlong?? That’s a joke. They cleverly add the word “regular” but intentionally omit any asterisk after it that informs the consumer that any double-taxed or “premium” (that’s another joke) sub is not included. At the store, I didn’t even see this disclaimer on the big sign that reads “$5 for ANY footlong – limited time offer”. Yeah – I’ll go back to subway . . . when hell freezes over and I’m telling all of my friends to boycott that junk of a place.
By AngryAtSubway on Apr 7, 2008
Or here’s my favorite…
I’m a vegetarian. I get charged the same $5 for a footlong veggie sub as the same sub with meat on it. Does that make sense?
I used to eat at Subway every week. When the cost of a foot-long veggie sub with the meal deal (drink & chips) went to over $7, I stopped going. Back at that time, I was pissed also because I couldn’t get the special price for a veggie sub. Every day, one of the meat subs was the special. My veggie sub actually cost more than the same sub with meat on it, and they wouldn’t let me get the “special, hold the meat”!
Can you believe it???
Their loss. I live in an area where there are plentiful offerings, so Subway gets $0 from me now — greedy bastards!!!
By Griff on Apr 9, 2008
I actually prefer subway to many places here in San Diego, California. But the only way to actually get your $5 worth is to get the chicken breast, they can’t skimp meat that is already in a patty of some sort. Then onces you get to the veggies, ask them for heavy on the ones you love. Most places don’t mind loading your sub up with the good stuff. You just can’t be afraid to ask.
Just my opinion, but you know what they say opinions are like assholes, everyones got one. =]
By Krystal on Apr 29, 2008
i worked there when the $5 deal was in effect and we never skimped on the meat. guess mabey its the whole living in iowa thing. were too nice and honest.
By kick boy on Jul 31, 2008
I work at Subway and it’s not our fault that we have to load the subs that way, we follow a formula, sad to say we do have to charge extra for veggies, if you want extra olives we’re suppose to charge 25 cents for 3 olives but I always put handfuls since that’s not even worth it, but the customers still are never satisfied even tho we’re doing them a favor. Can’t please everyone. If the customers really nice tho I hook them up good, mean ones get what they deserve a rip off. Be nice, smile, and it could get you a sandwich worth eating. Try it.
By Sabrina on Aug 13, 2008
i hate it.
its like one slice of ham shouldnt even matter.
thats why i dont follow the sheet that we get and were supposed to freaking put the exact recipe.
its garbage.
if you came to my subway id give you as many slices of ham or salami that you could fit into your mouth.
By iworkatsubway on Aug 26, 2008
I’m a Subway Owner and a big problem is they are all individually owned so you can easily receive completely different experiences and portions at Subways that are 1/2 mile apart.
I can honestly tell you the formulas for the meat portions are fair and the profits on subs especially $5 subs is very minimal. Incase you haven’t noticed the price of all food across the board has gone up this year and minimum wage went from $5.25 to $7.15. And most Subway owners absorbed all of that and continued to run $5 footlongs. And if you go to a Pizza shop or many competitors of Subway you will be charged extra for vegetable toppings, Subway does not charge for them. but as I read above one guys says they charge for them, that is that one owner not following Subways guidelines. That is not a Subway policy.
If you find a good Subway, clean, good service consistent portions etc. stick with it, it must have an owner who cares.
peace out
By chef on Sep 15, 2008
Subway is still cheap I could go to a pizza store, grab a veggie pizza or any pizza for that matter, fries, a pack of chips and or onion rings and a pop for $5. At Subway it costs $7.50 for a tuna sub, bread plus veggies, I could make the same thing at home for $2.00, subs are rip offs.
By Kennedo on Dec 16, 2008
I love Subway. Today (day after xmas) I had to do a 3 hr. drive from Sacramento to San Jose, and I was SO happy to see a Subway midway home.
I ordered a hot prime rib footlong for $5. I got two portions of prime rib, not one like you get with a six inch. Just enough cheese to make it good, with just the right mix of veggies on top. I had half for lunch and half for dinner. The people who worked there were incredibly nice, so I tipped $2.
Thank you Subway, for saving me from McWendyBurger!
By kait on Dec 26, 2008
i still freaking hate subway, with the unfair portions and sub-par ingredients, its a wonder to me that they are still in buisiness
By jeff on Jan 6, 2009
got a subway any one footlong and they put HALF the meat! They already lack on the meat, which is fine, compared to independent shops. I was just shocked that they actually are making the same or more profit as it is just more bread and slightly more veggies….i used to work there 3 years ago so i know the portions. i was appalled and the lady said they changed the portions, but i wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not or if independent store owners decide to do that to save money thinking no one will notice….extremely dissapointed!
By alli on Feb 11, 2009
Subway is liking eating total cardboard. The vegetables have been sitting in garbage sack bags for days and taste like pure garbage. I swear I cannot tell the difference between any of their breads as all their subs basically taste the same - bla!
Try Jimmy John’s, granted a little bit more expensive, but 10x more enjoyable and tasteful then that crap Subway serves.
By Ryan on Mar 8, 2009
you all better harden up
By Anonymous on Mar 19, 2009
When i order a Chicken Bacon ranch sandwich they ask me if i want this and that. I tell them to make it just the way it comes and they have no idea. That really annoys me cuz they advertise a specific sandwich but when you order it they have no idea how to make it. So i tell them to make it how it is on there website or commercials and they have no idea. That’s at every subway I’ve been to. That why i hate subway. Just make me a sandwich.
By joe on Apr 18, 2009
I am in Toronto and there is this subway where a family of Indians work. Either that or they just ethnically hire each other. None the less, they used to charge $0.75 a re-fill until one day me and my buddies saw a food inspector and the next day that was gone - I am assuming they were just ripping us off.
Besides that, the younger daughter is just extremely annoying. It takes her like 5 seconds to put the damn sub together - even when you’re getting everything on it, she just tosses everything on it as fast as she can. We get 2 pieces of ham for the 6-inch sandwiches, and around 6 for the 12-inch.
It’s really terrible service in my opinion, but every once in a while you hit a rookie and s/he makes an amazing sub.
Is there like a written guideline for the amount of meat/veggies subway employees must place on a sub so that I can get my money’s worth?
By Canadian on Apr 26, 2009
There *ARE* specific guidelines/formulas set up by subway for each sandwich. These were specifically formatted based on numerous taste tests by folks that Subway hired to tell them what tasted better. But remember, subway employees should make a sandwich the way YOU want it. The tricker is, if you are not ordering a regular menu offered sandwich (say you want turkey and salami) that’s up to the owners/store managers to figure out what price they will charge you. Want more veggies? No problem! All you have to do is say, “May I have more olives than that please?” SURE! There is no reason an employee should deny your request for extra veggies and Subway strongly recommends NOT CHARGING for extra veggies.
As for “not knowing” how to make a sub…that’s because it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A CUSTOMER to tell the employee what you want on it. They don’t just “come a certain way”. And not everyone who works there sits on their fat ass all day watching $5 footlong ads on tv to memorize what the subs look like in the commercial, so they can make it that way for people who can’t make decisions for themselves. You should know what you want when it’s your turn to order. And if you’re not sure, perhaps ask “what would you recommend putting on this?” And when the incompetent employee cannot answer your question intelligently, remind yourself, “That’s why they only get paid MINIMUM WAGE.”
And for the rest of complaints, perhaps you should consider applying at your local subway restaurant and pester them for a job until they hire you, so that you (who are far more intelligent than Freddy D himself) can show them how a proper subway restaurant should be run.
Honestly though, I am appalled at the numerous complaints of the employees NOT doing their jobs the correct way…you would think the economy being what it is, people would be better workers? I guess not in some places.
I used to work at a cell phone company, and I would get customers that complained a lot when there was something unsatisfactory to them and they threatened to cancel service, they would throw a fit when they were reminded of the cancellation fee, saying they were never told about it before, even though we had a contract signed by them stating that they read and understood all the terms and conditions (where the cancellation policy is clearly explained). It is OUR JOB TO BE BETTER CONSUMERS and actually READ fine print BEFORE you go do something, and then you won’t have to bitch about it later to some poor kid on the phone who doesn’t really care that you weren’t smart enough to add text messaging to your teen’s phone plan (who uses 5,000+ messages in a month). BE A SMART CONSUMER.
By Lisa on May 12, 2009
OMG! Your saying that Subway employees need the customer to tell them how to make the advertised sandwich? That’s absolutely insane. Aren’t these people trained properly. I’ve never gone to a restaurant where I had to tell the people how to make the order. Yeah, I can request if the cheese is different or add something or take something away, but there should be a DEFAULT set-up for every item on the menu.
By Mike on May 30, 2009
I work at a Subway and absolutely hate it. They are slave drivers and make you work 12 hour shifts and you are never allowed to take any type of a break. I never thought this summer job could ever be this horrible.
By Anonymous on Jun 22, 2009