I personally think a lot of people are asking the place that sells $5 foot-longs to do some really heavy lifting. It’s fast food service, folks. It’s not even as “fancy” as the Sizzler.
My usage of the word “here,” would, of course, imply regionalism. I will occasionally have ketchup on certain styles of hot dogs, if that’s what their “everything on it” includes. (When in Rome, and all that.)
Gotta have it all.
Tomato, Pickle Spear and celery salt and sport/serrano peppers too. It’s the only way to live.
I’ve only run into one place, it was near Austin and Higgins on the north side called “Duffs Dogs” that screwed it up. Ketchup wasn’t enough of a line to cross either. I asked for everything and found f*cking lettuce on it! Not some stray or errant piece of it that took a journey stuck to a tomato cube either. No surprise that place only lasted about 6 months. I was so depressed when I opened the grease filled bag to see that, couldn’t even eat it. I’m willing to try other things but lettuce was my limit.
Byron’s does the lettuce thing, too, and it’s been around forever. I think they also do green peppers and cucumbers on the dog. I grew up with the more minimalist style, mustard, relish, onions. Often a pickle spear, too. No tomatoes. No celery salt. No poppyseed bun. Definitely no ketchup. Ever. Makes about as much sense as asking for chocolate syrup on a hot dog is how I was raised. Sport peppers optional.
Thanks to this thread, I stopped by a Subway… and got what felt like 3 lbs. of ham and cheese and veggies … and the Sweet Onion sauce and brown mustard.
Mmmm, it was great. The “sandwich artiste” piled two thick layers of tomatoes and banana peppers and handfuls of olives on it. The footlong was too much to eat (but it was on special!), so I’ll finish it for breakfast.
That was sort of my point back in post #14. It’s kind of like all generic sandwiches.
The point is that all the chicken tastes the same, all the meatballs taste the same, all the cold cuts taste the same–despite the new, special flavors that keep coming out.
Like all fast food places, they’re just constantly trying to “invent” something new to persuade you to go there–and promoting it with enticing photography, which really is the root of the OP’s problem–but somehow it all seems to end up tasting pretty much the same. The OP is chasing the rainbows of corporate marketing.
Screw ‘intent.’ I can’t look into the hearts and minds of the folks at Subway corporate HQ and discern their intent.
All I can do is look at the stuff they send me in the mail. Does it say, “come to Subway and build your own sandwich, starting from one of these basic meats?” Or does it show me pix of several already-completed sandwiches, giving names to each one?
I received the latter. One of those sandwiches looked like something I wanted. I went in to order it. No such sandwich existed, except as a come-on to get me into the store. Fuck 'em.
Well, if Subway’s expecting a first-time customer to ‘know how to Subway,’ especially after giving them a misleading idea of what that might mean, that’s Subway’s problem AFAIAC.
Like I said earlier, it’s fine for them to be a build-your-own-sandwich place. But that means they need to clearly convey to potential customers that that’s what they are. The stuff they sent me completely failed at that purpose.
Maybe they thought that it had a different cheese or tuna than the regular tuna. That was my only guess as to why they had both the Philly Cheesesteak and the Steak and Cheese on the menu.
For me, where I draw the line is when I can’t easily specify what I want without having to get clarification once I’ve learned the ordering process. So if I wanted everything including jalapenos, I’d say “everything, including jalapenos” and if that resulted in a smooth ordering process then that’s great. In the case of burger places, ordering a cheeseburger with nothing other than bread, meat, and cheese usually works well but occasionally the worker is either stupid or thinks I’m stupid, because once in awhile I say “cheeseburger, plain” and they say “with cheese?” because maybe once a customer wanted a cheeseburger without cheese. When I say “a cheeseburger with just cheese” occasionally the worker will say “with meat?” I have pre-emptively said “a cheeseburger with just bread, meat, and cheese” when the worker looked particularly tiresome, but that is too much to say every time to make yourself clear.
That’s more likely in the subway, not at Subway.
I would like it if Subway developed a default sandwich topping combo like a Mike’s way. That would be convenient for me. And yes, sometimes I avoid ordering in the Subway line because I find it annoying to feel like I have to stand there paying complete attention and monitoring the items someone is putting on my salad, especially in the Subway near my work where the aisle is incredibly tight so everyone is jostling just to squeeze past after getting to the end of the assembly line to pay. That doesn’t give me a sense of power; it’s more likely to give me the sense that I am a helpless cog in their machine. If I could step up to a register, order a spicy Italian salad “Subway style” with banana peppers, that would suit me better.
I tend not to prefer food experiences that force me to make dozens of decisions or to hover.
luckily for us, just wanting to eat our lunch in peace.
I think it’s important to note it could be either one - a fast worker might well look stupid because of having dealt with so many stupid customers.
but not necessarily!
Wait, what? Its fine to be build-your-own unless you have to build-your-own?
When I go to Potbelly I usually get the Mediterranean. The sandwich maker always asks me two questions:
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Do you want all the normal stuff that comes on it? (hummus, feta cheese, artichokes, cucumbers, red peppers") Sometimes they even list off the ingredients. I confirm.
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They ask me if want anything else, as there are further options like lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado… etc. If I where to answer this question with “Whatever normally comes on it” or “I want it just like the picture/add” I would expect them to look at me like I was an asshole with two heads.
[quote=“wonky, post:150, topic:813089”]
I would like it if Subway developed a default sandwich topping combo like a Mike’s way.
QUOTE] Having something like Mike’s way would keep you from having to make a decision about each ingredient . But " Mike’s way" seems to be a default combination that applies to every sandwich- according to the website , “Mike’s way” is oil, vinegar, lettuce, tomato, onion and spices. And apparently it’s the same no matter which cold sub you get which would not satisfy the OP’s desire for the employees to know which toppings go best on each promotional sub ( or I guess really any sub). I suspect that the “Subway way” would leave the OP the same problem - sure s/he can order it the " Subway way , but the employees are still not going to know exactly what’s in the photo, and they still aren’t going to know how what ingredients or sauces “normally” go on it if s/he is ordering a BMT or a Spicy Italian.
[quote=“doreen, post:153, topic:813089”]
I’m not trying to solve the OP’s problem, just my own! (Though I agree with him that the current lack of default is goofy when in my opinion they clearly advertise specific sandwiches done a specific way.) I would do a Mike’s way on pretty much any sandwich. In fact, when I could generally eat Subway sandwiches, I got the same thing no matter the base, so a default works for me.
Not a gotcha at all. You made a claim that chipotle has 4 ingredients, then posted a picture of a burrito bowl with much more than 4 ingredients, so I was pointing out that you made an incorrect statement.
It’s been almost a year since I’ve been in a chipotle, but I remember they had 2 types of rice, 2 types of bean, vegetables, 4(I think) types of meat, 4 salsas, plus sour cream and cheese, as well as guac and lettuce(though this is not an option at the moment due to the e.coli outbreak). I hear on their advertisements that they have a new “queso” as well. This is a number greater than 4.
I also pointed out that there are people who will get offended if you charge extra for guac without asking.
You have indicated that you are the type who will get offended if they do ask.
It does depend on you. It’s not as if they are carefully crafted flavor profiles with a 3 star Michelin chef carefully determining the precise balance of ingredients. It’s a cold cut sandwich with vegetable toppings.
What veggies go with a cold cut sandwich? The ones you like. That will be true for every single type of meat they could put on there. It you don’t like black olives, you won’t like them on a BMT. If you do like black olives, you will like them on a BMT. Changing the meat won’t change how you feel about black olives.
If you hate tzatziki, and love ketchup, then it may be the only way you like a gyro. If you love everything about a gyro other than tzatziki, but refuse to ask for it to not be on your gyro, then telling your friends that they make terrible gyros would be incorrect.
But no, in general, if you order ingredients that you don’t like, you would not be right in faulting the shop that put the ingredients together the way you asked for them.
The problem with that is there may be people that don’t like it “Subway Style”. You may even have an objection to some of the ingredients or the lack thereof that is not a simple “with banana peppers”. If you have to order it “Subway Style”, with no olives, no green peppers, no lettuce, not tomato, no mayonnaise, add banana peppers, add pickles, add red onions, with red wine vinegar; then you aren’t really saving much in the way of time or confusion.
The reason for this is that different people ask for the same thing, and expect something different. There are those who expect a plain cheeseburger to not have cheese. There are those who will, if they specify “just cheese” actually only want cheese.
You deal with a fast food employee maybe once a day. They deal with hundreds of customers a day. It’s not, “maybe once a customer wanted a cheeseburger without cheese”, it’s that that sort of thing happens much more than once. Maybe not every day, but probably more than once since your last visit.
I worked fast food for a number of years, and at first it was frustrating, but later it just became amusing, that customers would berate me for not knowing that they wanted something done a certain way, when the person right in front of them berated me for doing it that way.
When I order fast food, or really any food, I specify exactly what it is I want. If I want a “plain cheeseburger”, I will order it exactly as you said, “a cheeseburger with just bread, meat, and cheese.” I don’t see it as that much more to say, and it eliminates confusion, where they either have to guess what it is that you wanted, and hope that they get it right, or ask for clarification, which is more work than just being specific in the first place.
Then why would they order it “Subway style”? Is this one of these arguments that the customers of Subway are somehow Subway exceptional and wouldn’t be able to handle an option customers of dozens of other restaurants can handle just fine?
Assuming that there is someone else in line, you would still have to walk down the line as they moved your sandwich along; that’s their model and that’s how all their stores are set up. They’ve been around for over forty years, I doubt they’re going to change now.
They probably also use it as a source of differentiation: Other sandwich restaurants will tell you what you should have on your sub, but we know that one size doesn’t fit all (or something).
I honestly don’t understand the folks who don’t understand the OP’s frustration.
Look, here’s a sample from Subway’s own website, describing the Turkey, Bacon & Guacamole wrap:
“The name says it all. A delicious Tomato Basil wrap filled with a double portion of turkey breast and smoky applewood bacon topped with Provolone cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and Ranch.”
That’s a very specific list of ingredients for a specifically named sandwich. If I went into Subway, and said “I want the Turkey, Bacon and & Guacamole wrap,” I would expect them to make it the way they’ve advertised it. If I want it differently, that’s on me to say … but the wrap as it’s identified by the establishment itself is supposed to be made a certain way. For the employees not to know how to make it is a failing of the establishment.
To make it even more obvious, some of the sandwiches on Subway’s site are listed with a specific set of ingredients, such as the Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt; the sandwich description says “Saddle up & try the fresh toasted SUBWAY® Chicken & Bacon Ranch sandwich. Stuffed with melted Monterey cheddar cheese, tender all-white meat chicken with seasoning and marinade, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions and green peppers.” Other sandwiches, though, are described in a way that makes it obvious customers can tailor them to their liking, such as the Italian BMT: “This all-time Italian classic is filled with Genoa salami, spicy pepperoni, and Black Forest Ham. Get it made the way you say with your favorite veggies on freshly baked bread.” (Emphasis mine.)
Subway is drawing a distinction between some sandwiches by listing specific ingredients for them, and then indicating the customer can customize other sandwiches “the way you say.”
I can understand OP’s frustration if it’s the first time you’ve been to Subway and you don’t realize it’s a made to order kind of place. But to go back over and over again not understanding that?