Sadly it seems that the best sandwich shops have short lives. My favorite sandwich shop in Seattle used to be the Brooklyn Grinder until it went kaput. God it was amazing.
This isn't precisely a defense of Subway, but if you're on a long highway road trip, and your only options for food stops are fast food franchises at the rest stops (because it's slow and iffy to leave the highway in search of a decent local place), Subway beats the obvious alternatives (McDonalds, Burger King, etcetera).
Doesn't mean you should ever eat in a Subway in your home town. But it's more reliable (or less reliably disgusting) than most other franchise operations, when you're traveling and don't have time to look for something better.
At first glance I misread the last sentence to say: “DeLuca also disclosed that Subway has started testing HUMANS as a sandwich topping as it seeks to maintain its appeal among health-conscious consumers.”
I noticed that Subway started running an ad this week that trumpets that its bread no longer contains that chemical found in yoga mats. That's a curious selling point. The Korean guy who runs the sandwich shop in my neighborhood still makes an infinitely better sub.
Subway is pretty decent, and downright good as far as fast food goes. Doesn't hold a candle to Potbelly's, though, and it's not even in the same league as my hometown favorite AGUAS TORTAS.
Speaking of Mexico, shouldn't there be more focus on TPP than Subway's expansion plans. The sandwich suck, but I agree with the comments above asking for the reason to give a fuck about those plans.
@7: Oh god, not this again. And Powerade will no longer have the fire retardant chemical. Too bad that they are still using beta-D-Fructofuranosyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside, a chemical that can cause irritation in the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory system and is such a hazard that it's MSDS notes that you need to wear safety glasses, a lab coat, and a respirator if you handle it. Oh, and the CDC has also found out that it causes mutations in bacteria or yeast.
My view is that perhaps Subway is doing some damage control based on bullshit claims made up by people who are scared by anything that is called a 'chemical'. The person who started the campaign against subway is the Food Babe, a complete idiot who thinks microwaves destroy the nutrition in your food:
Well it's not bread. That might have something to do with it.
I've baked bread from scratch. White bread, flat bread, whole wheat bread. That crap isn't bread. Just a general rule: If the "bread" has no give to it, if it's basically a wheat-based marshmallow, it's not actually good for you in any way.
@2 - I had the same opinion for a long time, until something in my head snapped and now I just... maybe it's the smell of the gas-n-shop Subway combination stores that are always mopping their floors?
Though more expensive, Starbucks took over as my "at least I won't feel like shit" interstate food supplier. Plus that one in Lebec before the Grapevine has a nice bathroom.
Either way, a better choice than ground beef, fries, and soda.
In 4 separate trips to Beijing, eating at fancy restaurants, squalid street vendors, roadside gas-stations-turned-fish-joints, the ONLY place I ever got sick was the Subway in the ground floor of my office's building. Turned out they don't cook the bacon, so when you get a BLT and halfway through think, "I didn't order the prosciutto..." get ready for around 8 hours of compound expulsion from both ends and a sobbing wish for death.
Paul Constant: do you ever get out of the urban core? I know you don't think poetry about nature is art. Do you think the area outside the big city exists?
@14: For all the millions fast-food joints of all kinds spend on menu development and fancy custom machines to deliver the WHATEVER at the pull of a lever, why do they ignore the sensory assault of constant mopping?! Nothing other than actual puke brings on nausea faster than the smell of Mint-Quat or some bubblegum-scented disinfectant and the sight of dirty mop-water on top of a gutful of fast food.
Oh, and make sure the bathrooms have slight negative air pressure relative to the rest of the place, please, burger-merchants.
Paul, you're an arrogant fuck.
I live in Central Washington where there isn't a plethora of sandwich shops, unlike your Capital Hill environs. I guess there are many choices where you live.
Why doesn't Paul Constant come out to Cle Elum and open "Paul Constant's Great Sandwich Shop that's Much Better and Cheaper than Subway?"
Oh, you're too busy griping and bitching, instead of actually providing a service to the world.
Go to hell.
@23, are you illiterate? Because he didn't say better sandwiches are cheaper. He also specifically said, in bold text, "If you live in a city, you can do better than Subway." Is Cle Elum a city? I don't think so.
Maybe you're just cranky from the indigestion from eating too many "footlongs".
“If we do a good job building consumer demand, that number might change and be higher.”
Translated:
"We can surely convince these idiot consumers that they need to purchase even more low-quality food"
And he's probably correct.
Subway is one of the cheapest fast food franchises to buy into. Paul can look forward to many more (sandwich) artists existing and earning $15/hr for their labor.
As others have pointed out, Paul is under the mistaken belief that within a city there are always better sandwich places near a Subway.
As an example, there's a Subway at 125th and Aurora. This is within the city of Seattle (but obviously isn't downtown or in capitol hill). Paul, where is the "better sandwich" shop within one block of this location?
@31, there's also a new subway 30 blocks away at 95th and aurora. I hate to prove Paul's point, but I hear good things about the El Camion food truck outside the Home Depot and they have tortas.
Ha! And I thought Bob Evans' Restaurants had the exclusive franchise on white and brown paste (food like "stuff"). My spouse and I bonded over our mutual pretentious foodie gourmet tastes, but she loves Subway for some reason I can't fathom. It's just a LOT OF BREAD, lousy bread at that, with a smidge of toppings to make it look like a sandwich.
When I'm traveling and resorting to corporate fast food (and the greasy fried chicken diner is always preferable to that) I go for Burger King. If you're gonna go, go big. If I have to resort to gas-station food, I'll take a couple of packs of nuts and some jerky over Subway, any time.
For you poor reverse snobbery chuckleheads with the giant chips on your shoulder: sorry, it's crap, and so is your taste...this is not a case of 'relativism' - its a case of one thing being subjectively superior to another. Mom's kuntry kitchin diner is better, every time, and they have those out in BFE too.
You can do better, sure, but you'll pay twice as much. Like $16.90 for the Italiano at Other Coast. Or $11.50 for the roast beef and swiss at HomeGrown. Or $9 for the Club Tasty (which is indeed very tasty) at Honey Hole.
For a lot of people that adds up to a lot of money over the course of a work week. I'm surprised the underpaid scribblers at the Stranger can afford such extravagance.
I've been using your Subway quote for a few months as an email signature "There's no reason, when you live in a city, to eat a damned Subway sandwich. No excuses. There's always a better sandwich within five minutes' walk." -Paul Constant
Why all the hatin' on Subway? It's not gourmet food, but it's not meant to be. As fast food goes, it's better than most. And I worked at a Subway, btw. It's a less crappy job than other fast food jobs, and if you're one who reads ingredients on packages (like me), their stuff is WAY better than other fast food.
5 bucks for 2 people to eat spinach jalapenos bell peppers olives onions tomatoes peppercinis, olive oil, vinegar, green peppers, mushrooms and sriracha
most sandwich places seem to charge 7 bucks, at least, for a small 1-person sandwich with like 4 ingredients. lame
Doesn't mean you should ever eat in a Subway in your home town. But it's more reliable (or less reliably disgusting) than most other franchise operations, when you're traveling and don't have time to look for something better.
At first glance I misread the last sentence to say: “DeLuca also disclosed that Subway has started testing HUMANS as a sandwich topping as it seeks to maintain its appeal among health-conscious consumers.”
I thought that was a rather bold revelation…
My view is that perhaps Subway is doing some damage control based on bullshit claims made up by people who are scared by anything that is called a 'chemical'. The person who started the campaign against subway is the Food Babe, a complete idiot who thinks microwaves destroy the nutrition in your food:
http://foodbabe.com/2012/07/30/why-its-t…
Well it's not bread. That might have something to do with it.
I've baked bread from scratch. White bread, flat bread, whole wheat bread. That crap isn't bread. Just a general rule: If the "bread" has no give to it, if it's basically a wheat-based marshmallow, it's not actually good for you in any way.
Though more expensive, Starbucks took over as my "at least I won't feel like shit" interstate food supplier. Plus that one in Lebec before the Grapevine has a nice bathroom.
Either way, a better choice than ground beef, fries, and soda.
Many chemicals are in sufficient quantity. OH MY GOD, CHEMICALS IN MY FOOD.
Do they have Jersey Mike's in Seattle?
Oh heck, what do I care.
I finally mastered the art of baking really good bread in my own oven.
My secret? Skip the Rapid Rise and go with the classic Fleischmann's Active Dry!
Today I tried adding sesame seeds. That I need to work on...
Oh, and make sure the bathrooms have slight negative air pressure relative to the rest of the place, please, burger-merchants.
I live in Central Washington where there isn't a plethora of sandwich shops, unlike your Capital Hill environs. I guess there are many choices where you live.
Why doesn't Paul Constant come out to Cle Elum and open "Paul Constant's Great Sandwich Shop that's Much Better and Cheaper than Subway?"
Oh, you're too busy griping and bitching, instead of actually providing a service to the world.
Go to hell.
Maybe you're just cranky from the indigestion from eating too many "footlongs".
Seriously.
Translated:
"We can surely convince these idiot consumers that they need to purchase even more low-quality food"
And he's probably correct.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/smal…
As an example, there's a Subway at 125th and Aurora. This is within the city of Seattle (but obviously isn't downtown or in capitol hill). Paul, where is the "better sandwich" shop within one block of this location?
When I'm traveling and resorting to corporate fast food (and the greasy fried chicken diner is always preferable to that) I go for Burger King. If you're gonna go, go big. If I have to resort to gas-station food, I'll take a couple of packs of nuts and some jerky over Subway, any time.
For you poor reverse snobbery chuckleheads with the giant chips on your shoulder: sorry, it's crap, and so is your taste...this is not a case of 'relativism' - its a case of one thing being subjectively superior to another. Mom's kuntry kitchin diner is better, every time, and they have those out in BFE too.
For a lot of people that adds up to a lot of money over the course of a work week. I'm surprised the underpaid scribblers at the Stranger can afford such extravagance.
most sandwich places seem to charge 7 bucks, at least, for a small 1-person sandwich with like 4 ingredients. lame