OT: Your Favorite National Sub Chain
I'm sure our beloved Coach Beilein would approve of this topic.
What is your favorite national sub shop chain...and why?
I'm referring to Subway, Jimmy John's, Firehouse, Jersey Mike's, Potbelly, etc.
I'm pretty well-positioned to make this evaluation...as I order the same thing (turkey, lettuce, onion, pepper/seasoning, a little oil and vinegar) regardless of which shop at which I'm eating.
My top choice? Jersey Mike's! Turkey is good. Toppings are fresh. I like the oregano seasoning!
What say you?
(this topic was top-of-mind, as I had Jersey Mike's for lunch today)
I just tried Firehouse Subs and I was impressed. But I'm a Jimmy John's guy.
IDK, but I'm not a OceanGate sub fan, I can tell you that
Yea, I agree. Their subs are a bit flat. Not worth the price.
Plus the menu doesn't go deep enough
Yet still, somehow deeper than it should.
Way back in the day, Firehouse was the best. It is no longer the same today, sadly.
Jimmy John's is decent and I appreciate the quick service.
Back in the 90's, Blimpie had a spot downtown Ann Arbor near my office. Nothing special about Blimpie, but the dude working there only shaved 1/2 of his mustache that morning and obviously forgot to use a mirror. He looked ridiculous. This is my greatest Blimpie memory.
Are you thinking of Blimpie or Tubby's?
Oh man! That was my boy! He started with a Blimpies at Wayne and then tried to open one in Ann Arbor. I can’t remember his name. Nice guy.
The couple times I've had a Firehouse Sub they were soggy. Wet bread caca.
My favorite is Jersey Mike's, but I'm not usually near one. Jimmy John's vito is my go to sub. The worst is definitely Subway. Smells terrible.
As a child the first sub I ever had was from Subway. It was years later I learned subs can actually taste good.
I haven't gone to a Subway in a long, long time. After John Oliver did a segment on them within the last year or two, its hard for me to want to go back.
Plus they have horrible marketing campaigns
Subway spends an absolute obscene amount of money on marketing, but when you go down to the store/franchisee level, their margins are razor thin, and there’s essentially nothing stopping corporate from opening one shop right down the road from an already existing shop and making them compete against one another.
Now maybe that’s a fairly common practice. When I think about Starbucks and seeing one on seemingly every corner the. maybe it is, but still, Subway can put its franchisees over a barrel and fuck them over.
My favorite example of this was in one of the Prudential towers in Chicago. They had a Starbucks at street level, and they opened another Starbucks in the food court on the 40th floor. They literally built a Starbucks on top of another Starbucks.
I've had food borne illness twice from Subway. Maybe just bad luck but I haven't eaten at one in years.
Several of my coworkers got sick repeatedly from the hospital Subway and they still went back. I would never advise anyone to go there
Penn Station
Jersey Mike's
Jimmy Johns
in that order
Penn Station.
There isn't one for about 1,000 miles from me though.
My kid loves Jersey Mike's.
That was my favorite when I lived in the Worst State Ever, but now that I'm in South Carolina there is only one in the entire state and its a 2 hour drive.
I vouch for Penn Station
Honorable Mention to Jimmy John's, Which Which and Quizno's.
Potbelly
Italian sub with peppers is the bomb
Potbelly definitely ftw.
Do not sleep on the peppers. They're lit fire on that ish.
Potbelly is the best of the toasted subs for sure.
If you're in the south, don't sleep on Pub Subs (for yall uninitiated Yankees that's a sub from Publix's deli). They're shockingly good.
Pub subs are the bomb!
I can vouch for that! Pub Subs are the absolute best! I have a Publix about 3 miles from my house, I will often stop in the morning to get one for lunch that day. If we have people over to our house a sub platter from Publix is the way to go.
I used to go wreck every.damn.time. then I tried a (now discontinued) turkey and bacon sub. So good. Now it's just regular turkey half the time, still very good.
The cookies and dream bars are ridiculously good, too! Even the soups are good.
Whenever I'm in Michigan I'm grabbing a grinder from Mancino's.
But among the national chains, I like Jimmy John's because of the fast delivery.
Classic Mancino's Club. They have the best sandwich bread, IMO.
National chain…definitely Firehouse Subs. Consistently delicious.
User name does NOT check out!
Gen Dynamics Electric Boat, those people can build a sub!
I’d like the nuclear attack class, with a side of ballistic missiles. Yeah, that’s to go.
Or a missle from Togo's
Ummm, maybe you mean "could build a sub" at some point, after a 7-year delay, resulting in the Navy being left "without an equivalent undersea missile capacity" for retiring boats...
I may or may not have made a propeller for one of their designs, and while the PO was tasty, I'd love to try their subs!
National chain. agree. Jersey Mike's. It is legit close to a sub - not as good, but as a Jersey/NYC guy.. its a lot closer than the rest. I just find a local italian deli where possible. far better. But Jersey Mikes turkey and italian aren't too bad... i like the sloppiness and oil and vinegar etc..
Subway - even their vegetables somehow feel unhealthy. How do they do it?!
Potbelly - Kids like it. Their bread is dry as F. Everything tastes dry and chewy. Cookies are da bomb.
Firehouse - Meh. edible.
Jimmy Johns - I don't put them in the same conversation - kind of the mcdonalds of sandwiches. They arent bad... just.. i duno. Something a little weird about them. But probably rank them 2nd behind JMikes.
Pretty much how I describe McDonald's - not good, not bad, just kind of there.
Subway, lol https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/01/irish-court-rules-subway-bread-is-not-bread
Looks like bread, but its actually "confectionary" (e.g., cake)
It's not exempt from Ireland's VAT, but it's still bread. Shitty bread with too much sugar, though.
Way back in the eighties, they advertised that they made their own bread--and I remember thinking are you kidding me? The bread was the worst part.
I have eaten in Subway occasionally over the years, as they tend to be nearly everywhere and you can get a quick meal reasonably quickly. Just not if there was anything better. There was one down from the street from me for a decade and I ate there exactly once.
If you think their bread is funny, try the tuna.
that Oatmeal Chocolate Chip at Potbelly is no joke
Yep. Jersey Mikes is the closest to the real deal. Good meat, fresh veggies, and dressed with oil and vinegar like a real sub should be.
i grew up in Ann Arbor and moved to NJ right after graduating from college. That’s when I realized that most of the food I thought was really delicious was just crappy imitations of things available in the NY/NJ area. This includes subs.
A sub from a legit Italian Deli absolutely crushes every other sandwich in the world and it isn’t close. Whenever I get back to NY, I always order a dub with boars head ham, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt pepper and oregano. Doesn’t get any better than that.
Potbelly. Pizza sub with hot peppers is my favorite sandwich I've had from a chain.
Dibella's. Unfortunately, the Ann Arbor location has been closed for 17 months due to the strip mall fire. Damn you, swim school, and your sloppy sign-installers for causing that fire.
For those Ann Arborites who are wondering: the Dibella's location won't reopen before football season, and may be delayed til 2024.
Co-signed on Dibella's. Was amazed they didnt show up until this far down in the post.
for a truly national chain -- jersey mikes. The ingredients do taste much fresher than all other options.
for a regional chain (5 states), dibellas all the way.
National chain? Jersey Mike's definitely has the freshest ingredients and best tasting meat. Jimmy Johns' bread though is top notch. Overall edge to JM's.
Favorite sub chain that isn't national? Has to be Tubby's. Tubby's is my #1 sandwich shop by a comfortable margin.
All the nationals have been covered, so let me put a plug in for fantano's or Frankie's deli for those in the western Chicago burbs!
Love me some Tubby's.