# Your Favorite Chain Sub Shop **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 21, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643 "2014-07-21T03:15:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/61 "2014-07-23T04:18:46Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > There’s some dude from Jersey that moved down here in the 70’s and opened up a sub shop called The Great Outdoors. (He has several locations in Dallas now.) > > That is THE BEST sub you’ll get here in the Dallas Fort Worth area. **The Great Outdoors** is what I first thought of when I saw this thread, though I don’t make it down there enough (to the Fort Worth location). I loves me an “Outdoorsman.” I used to go to my local Quizno’s regularly, but a few years ago it seemed like the quality of their ingredients took a nosedive. The last couple of times I went there, the meat was tasteless, the cheese was plastic-like, and the broccoli-cheese soup–which previously had been thick and with nice chunks of broccoli–was now thin and watery, with only tiny specks of broccoli in it. I haven’t been back since. I’ve found that the local, independent Italian eateries (Roma’s, Gino’s, Joe’s, etc.) often have good subs, though limited in variety. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/62 "2014-07-23T21:15:22Z")
Chains around here, in order from best to worst: Penn Station Charley’s (from my Army days, they don’t have any around here) Firehouse Subs Quizno’s Jimmy John’s Blimpie’s (actually, they’re all gone now, but I remember…) Subway And I actually _like_ Subway. I eat there more than the others because they’re cheap and omnipresent. But when listing them out, turns out they’re my least favorite. McAllister’s Deli and Schlotzky’s deserve a special mention for being delicious, even if they’re not subs and even if the closest Schlotzky’s is five hours away. Arby’s used to have decent subs too, if I recall. Not sure if they still do that anymore because Arby’s is the worst offender in fast food disappointment and I no longer go there. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/63 "2014-07-24T03:54:50Z")
> [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](#): > > There is a peculiar smell in Subway, I’ve always suspected that it was the lettuce, but it might be the bread they bake there. > > Sulfide agents on the lettuce, or smelly yeast? > > I’m not sure what it is, but it is the same smell in all of them, nation-wide. > > The actual smell is hard to describe, it is almost a garbage can aroma, but not really. > > Whatever it is, I don’t like it. I know the Subway fragrance of which you guys speak. I find it’s not all that dissimilar to the smell at another sub shop that got replaced by a Subway. That one I definitely thought smelled like a bakery. So I do think it is the bread. I do know I can smell a faint version of it when I take out a sub from the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/64 "2014-07-24T04:18:56Z")
Firehouse if I can find one, Subway as default as they are everywhere. Old memories - an all night bar and food place back in the warehouses in Watervliet, NY -1970s. Pony beers for a quarter. Want a turkey and provolone? Bartender/cook/everything else asks, “white or dark?”. White for me and he grabs a turkey carcase from the fridge and slices off some breast meat onto the hoagie roll. Cheese sliced paper thin, lettuce, tomato, pepper, salt, some mayo. Real meat - not a reconstituted roll of something. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/65 "2014-07-24T04:22:03Z")
**Firehouse Subs** ’s Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket is probably my current favorite sandwich, well worth going a bit out of my way for every once in a while. They wouldn’t be my go-to place for a more traditional (turkey or ham) sub, though. **Quizno** I used to go to quite a bit. I liked some of their specialty subs, which could be a bit expensive but they often had good coupons; or I’d just get a roast beef sub and put horseradish sauce on, which unaccountably doesn’t seem to be available at most sandwich places (unless you count Arby’s). But a few years ago they had a great purge and all but one of the nearby locations closed. I still go there every once in a great while, but it’s lost some of its luster for me. **Jimmy John’s** makes a good basic sub, but has neither the variety nor the value to make me go there often. **Jersey Mike’s** I’ve tried once or twice and thought it was okay but nothing special. **Subway** is all over the damned place, and it’s not bad, but the ingredients seem to be a step down in quality from other places, and I haven’t forgiven them for discontinuing the “Seafood Sensation” (originally “Seafood and Crab”). And, as I suspect is true in many areas, there are at least a couple of local chains that rival the national sub shops. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/66 "2014-07-24T04:45:31Z")
It depends on what kind of sandwich I’m in the mood for… I really like **Jimmy John’s** tuna, especially if they have sprouts; will also get turkey once in a while. I’ll never go for anything else there - I don’t eat grey roast beef. I’ve never had a bad sandwich at **Jersey Mike’s** , but I’ve only had it two or three times. IIRC, their roast beef is quite good. If they were closer I would go more often. I agree about the **Subway** stench…have only ventured into one once in the last 10 years, and it was worse than ever. Sadly, I remember getting a great seafood salad Subway sandwich a few doors down from The Elbo Room on Ft. Lauderdale beach - Spring Break 1985. (prolonged drunken state may have helped). I’ve had decent \*\*Mike’s Firehouse \*\*and **Quizno’s** subs, but they’re usually hit and miss for me - haven’t found a go-to sammich at either. With Quizno’s it seems like you have to shell out for double meat to get the right ratio, but I never have. **Blimpie’s** is better than Subway, but I don’t like their bread. **Jason’s Deli** is good, but pricey. Only tried **Schlotzky’s** once; it struck me as a way-too-goyish jewish deli (like Einstein’s is for bagels)…baaaaad. Here in FL, outside of the quality small local chains ([La Spada’s](http://www.laspadashoagies.com/locations.php)) and specialty markets ([Doris Italian Market](https://dorismarket.com/find-a-store-2/)) that I’ve found, the best bang-for-the-buck go-to sub for most folks, incuding me, is from Publix supermarkets. They’re very consistent, and there’s always a line at lunch time. Plus, although they have standard choices, they’ll put anything from the deli counter on your sub if you ask. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643/67 "2014-07-24T06:55:41Z")
Subway was always the worst compared to pretty much anything else. I liked one called Blimpie but they always popped up in short-lived gas station locations and I haven’t seen one since the mid-90s. I liked Quiznos but they have a hard time staying open. I like Jimmy John’s because they deliver in 3 minutes and provide a box large enough to ship my daughter somewhere, or they have the sandwich done by the time you finish paying and don’t have the weird ordering process like Subway and similar places. That said, the best subs I’ve ever had are usually the non-chain places you find in random gas stations or corner store or convenience stores with delis. or even sometimes in local pizza places or regular family restaurants. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-chain-sub-shop/693643.md?page=3)