There is a commercial with former NYPD detective (and author/talking head) Bo Dietl stating that all Subway cold cuts are sliced in a factory and shipped there. Any Subway workers out there? Is that true? The only reason why I ask is that back in the late 80s I worked in a Subway in College Park Maryland. We sliced our own meat in the back. I remember having to slice the meat amazingly thin. It was prepared on a piece of wax paper and each one had to have a very specific number of pieces per sandwich. But we did it ourselves. This was back in the day when we still have to cut the bread with a u-shaped slice instead of a normal straight across cut. So when did they change and go to pre-sliced meat?
I’d be flabbergasted if that facility was owned or operated by Subway. This type of thing is basically always contracted.
Link to the ad
It’s $ 5.00 for a wad of bread and meat and veggies the size of a toddlers leg. Of course it’s fresh sliced prime cut meats and all the veggies are grown in hydroponic tanks in the back.
In the next shopping center over Primo Hoagies charges roughly twice as much for the same sized sandwich,
You get what you pay for in both instances.
My daughter worked at a Subway for about a week during her summer break last year. She was required to count how many black olives were placed on a sandwich.
/tangential anecdote
That’s called portion control, and every franchise (and most restaurants) do it. Profit margins are thin and every effort is made to keep costs within a narrow range.
As stated in the OP I worked in a Subway. Back then we sliced the meat in the back.
I don’t know the answer to the question, but lots of people make sandwiches at home from presliced meat, whether it’s the prepackaged stuff or the meat that the guy at the deli counter slices on order. Who cares if Subway uses presliced meat?
Yes, I understand that. But this particular franchisee was extraordinarily anal about it.
I can’t figure out what a u-shaped slice is.
Picture taking a V-shaped chunk of bread out of the top of a roll, laying the ingredients in the trough, and replacing the V-shaped chunk of bread on top. It was a better sandwich, but took more time and skill to make.
It’s more of a V. Subway used to cut a center channel down the bread loaf, put the meat slices in there, then put the tiny little top piece back on.
For what it’s worth, last time I was in a Subway around here (not more than a few years ago) they were still cutting the U slice. I don’t see how the toppings could get piled on and stay in there so well without it?
When I try this cut at home I usually end up with a mess. I blame my knife, not the skills of the chef.
Yes. It made it look like there was more meat in the sandwich. But it made it difficult to keep all the other toppings on it.
They were back then too. There were diagrams showing how many slices per sandwich. The meat had to be paper thin. It was sliced the day before but it did not come in pre-sliced.
YMMV of course but freshly sliced sandwich meat is always better. The taste rapidly declines after slicing.
Old thread about changing how they cut the bread. Why'd Subway change how it cut the bread? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
I remember when Subway used to make sandwiches like that. I think they tasted better back then too.
Let’s move this over to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
But it’s right in the ad?
“Facility shown is one of several slicing facilities used by Subway.”
A friend of mine used to manage a Subway. They had some very scant number per sandwich and were supposed to be “garnish” rather than an ingredient. Having to constantly fight against people who treated the black olive slices like gold just to get enough to taste was one reason why Subway found itself dropped from my usual list of places to eat.
Just another random data point: I don’t know about Subway, but I worked at Jimmy John’s in the late 90s, and we sliced our own meat and cheese in-house, too.
I stopped eating at subway when they dropped the u–gouge. Then an employee told me that they would make my sandwich the old way on request. Been ordering it that way ever since without issue.
I was looking for a factual answer. Not about the food itself. The rest is just a bonus.