I think Subway has two types of variety. They have “national optional” items, which franchisees can opt to carry or not, but some regions make it mandatory. They also have “regional specialty” items which usually are not even advertised via national Subway at all, but sometimes seem to be deployed in individual regions. Some of the cheese and veggie options definitely fall into this category. For example banana peppers are a national option at all Subways, and lots of people call them “pepperoncini” because they are a similar pepper, and a lot of people who grew up with pepperoncini don’t understand banana pepper is actually a different pepper. But then there’s Subways I’ve been into that actually offer an optional veggie labeled as “pepperoncini.” There’s a few cheese varieties that fall into that category as well.
And yet giardiniera isn’t listed as a “Might Have”.
I smell a conspiracy. 
Google-fu suggests one of Subway’s many temporary specialty sandwiches was an “Braised beef melt with Giardiniera” which they say was “inspired by the Chicago tradition”, it looks like this was a specialty sub only available in select locations, so wasn’t even rolled out nationally. It wouldn’t shock me if some of the franchises that received it, maybe kept ordering the giardiniera after the promotion ended, I think a lot of times the franchisees have a bit of flexibility around things like that.
Oh gods, the honchos brought in a bunch of Jimmy John’s sammiches as a “reward” at work and the mayo was literally dripping out of the thing–I couldn’t scrape it off enough to eat the thing. Nastiest thing imaginable–not everyone aspires to a bukkake experience when they’re expecting a nice sarnie.
Subway, though–Spicy Italian on the herb bread with provolone, light lettuce, heavy onions, spinach, bell pepper, cucumbers, loads of pepperoncini and oil and vinegar and a shake of parmesan cheese. That’s a sammich!
Honestly, the weirdest thing about Jimmy John’s to me is that they insist on using Hellmann’s mayo nationwide, and even display huge jars of it in their stores, including on the west coast where that brand is sold under the Best Foods name instead. (According to the labels, they have the exact same ingredients and nutritional content except that Best Foods is slightly saltier.)
Note that the second picture is Italian giardiniera and not Chicago style giardiniera, which is made with chili peppers of some sort and packed in oil after being picked. The Italian version is more just a pickled salad type thing to eat along with your meal.
The mayo is going to depend on who is making the sandwich. You can always specify light mayo. From working there twenty five years ago, most people either seem to like a lot of mayo or no mayo (I’m the latter most of the time, though I like mayo. I’ll have it sometimes in the turkey Tom, but I actually prefer oil and vinegar or mustard on all my sandwiches.)
While this is true in how they are marketed and known in the US, to be complete about it, it should be noted that peperoncini is just the generic Italian word for “hot peppers.” The pepper used in pepperoncini here is usually the friggitello pepper. So one can say the banana pepper is a type of peperoncini, although that is not the type called such here.
And if you want more info about Chicago-style giardiniera, there’s a nice podcast from a few weeks ago here:
Nevermind, answered above.
I did not see anything on their menu I would consider a classic “sub” i.e. a Italian cold cut combo. Which is what I want in a sub or hero or whatever you call it.
We have a small local place or tow. One is attached to a gas station, and they make very meaty sandwiches. Then there is a italian deli which makes the best bread.
My favorite chain is ToGos, followed by Jersey Mikes.
Softened? Man that is like a 100% change. “Not tuna at all” was apparently a 100% bogus baldfaced lie.
Yeah, they accidentally put mayo on my italian combo sandwich at my local place. Yecch.
I only put mayo on BLTs.
Only the Vito comes without mayo. The other two Italians you have to specify.
My only problem with Subway is that when I order a sandwich with “everything” they always ask if I want jalapenos.
eve·ry·thing
/ˈevrēˌTHiNG/
pronoun: everything
all things; all the things of a group or class.
I think this has been discussed in one of the many other Subway topics (seriously, why does this chain get talked about so much), but I imagine the workers are tired of getting complaints from people who said “everything” but didn’t want peppers.
Yeah, I think for a lot of people, “everything” means “all of the normal toppings I associate with this kind of sandwich” and/or they are used to chains with standardized toppings so they really mean “all the standard toppings that your chain normally puts on this sandwich.” The fact that Subway has so many different toppings and doesn’t have standardized toppings for their different sandwiches really seems to throw a lot of people for a loop. (Including a few Dopers - we’ve had at least one thread fairly recently complaining about this).
I have been frequenting various Subway restaurants for many years, I like their sandwiches a lot! My current favorite is the steak wrap on tomato basil bread. I don’t like cheese; I always get the wrap with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. Yummy!
Sandwich shops have similar problems with “nothing” or “plain” or “just ____.” It’s always followed with “so, mayo, right?” “no. nothing.” “mustard?” “no. plain.” And then I have to watch like a hawk while the person on the other side of the counter mindlessly picks up a spoon to start putting things that I do not want on the sandwich. You’d think that not doing things would be easy - but no…
I just don’t eat mayo at all–I even use sour cream as binder for my potato salad or tuna salad. That stuff is Satan’s jizz. Now, I realize that nobody making these party size Jimmy John’s sammiches had any notion there was a mayo hater on the other end, but I’d assume when they make a party sammich they do it in some standard manner and that standard manner appears to be “loaded with so much mayo it drips out of the sammich, soaks the paper underneath and turns the bread to sludge.” That is not a place I’ll be visiting on purpose like, ever. Gross.
And just for additional mayo outrage, I once ordered a corned beef and swiss on rye at what advertises itself as a Jewish deli and it came slathered in mayo with lettuce and tomato on it. I about plotzed. Take that shit back, remake it properly and bring me some coarse ground mustard to apply to my own taste, ya heathens!
I almost always order “everything except olives and jalapenos” and I’d say I get olives about 10% of the time but never jalapenos.
I love their Somkehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket, but you’re right, it’s not really what I’d call a “sub.” The sandwiches they have that are close to classic subs aren’t anything particularly special.
That’s not just Subway. It’s pretty standard at any sandwich shop/hot dog stand, etc. that you always ask the customer if hot peppers are wanted on an “everything” order. Similarly, as a customer, I always order “everything, hot peppers (or what specific type of hot pepper topping I want.)”