Subway Restaurant Review

 Is Subway’s “eat fresh” claim to fame just hype or the real deal?
I like a big sandwich as much as the next guy, especially when it is toasted on some sort of specialty bread…yum. Their $5 foot long specials are a good price for what you get once you add on all the free vegies.
Is it fresh though? Do you ever see a person chopping vegetables in the back? Perhaps they prep and fill up those little metal dishes before the store opens? A while back the “fresh” vegetables grossed me out. When I got to the part of the assembly line where I was able to pick my toppings, one of the things that I wanted was tomatoes. The lady pulled out a few slices and started laying them on my sandwich. I noticed that a couple of those “fresh” slices were moldy. I pointed it out to the lady making my sandwich because she either did not see it or did not care. She did not look shocked, but agreed I was right. She removed the tomatoes from my sandwich and grabbed a few more sliced from the veggie bin. I stopped her because I wanted a brand new sandwich, not one that was graced with rotten produce. She seemed annoyed, but a new sandwich was made for me without losing my place in line because I wasn’t moving. New sandwich, same problem. We got to the tomatoes and she goes to reach in to the same bin. I stopped her, and she “informed” me that the tomatoes were fine and those were a fluke. I pointed to some other hairy tomatoes in the tray. She pulls the tray out and pulls all the moldy items out. Then she replaces the tray in its spot. I told her that I wanted fresh tomatoes from a new tray. She seemed pissed off, until the guy behind me in line (standing next to me and knew what was going on) started yelling at her. The manager on duty came out from the back to inquire on the yelling. Both of us explained what was going on and that there was no way that these tomatoes were fresh that day. The manager had the sandwich lady toss out the tomatoes, and get a “fresh” tray from the stack of new vegetable trays. I asked the lady to change her gloves and make me a new sandwich again, so did the angry guy behind me, and everyone else who was having a sandwich made or had already started eating. The manager complied and the customers watched everything as their new sandwiches came out.
The moral of the story is don’t believe everything you see or hear because it is not always true. I think that “eat fresh” doesn’t mean fresh vegetables, meats, etc. prepared that day, but a “freshly” made sandwich made in front of you rather than a pre-made deli sandwich sitting on the shelf somewhere. False advertising? No! They just don’t explain what they mean and leave it to interpretation.
Is Subway a bad restaurant? No, and that extreme example only happened once. Every other time we have gone has been A-OK. If you are looking for something that is not a burger, a taco, greasy, or fried then Subway is a great alternative; just watch to make sure it is “fresh”.