Subway

.../> WHAT IS SUBWAY?
Subway was founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca. The first Subway was built in Connecticut, USA however since then, the population of Subway restaurants has grown and world wide there are now a total of 29,610 restaurants. The Subway chain has since agreed on some "core values" and ways in which they wish the chain to run. Quoted; "We are committed to customer satisfaction through offering high quality food with ...
...Subway have succeeded in which they wish to do and I commend them for this!
Recently a Subway opened in our local shopping centre and since then it has proved extremely successful with the public.


RESTAURANTS
Subway restaurants come in all different sizes and shapes. Some of the restaurants are larger than others sporting lots of tables, chairs and sofa's situated around the food joint. Some of the Subway restaurants ... more

Lets face it, we've all enjoyed a "meal" at a fast food joint once in our lives. I for sure definitly have. Fast food comes in all different forms, however when someone says "fast food" to me, my mind immediatly thinks of big fat burgers and greasy chips from McDonalds and or perhaps Burger King. Fast Food in recent years has rocketed and the number of customers daily is terrible. I used to be one of the customers who would drop in at least twice a week for my daily dose of fat and calories, however over around the past year I have stopped eating fast food after reading up on ingredients and so on. However, around six weeks ago, when I was out with friends, my two friends decided they were hungry and being two 15 year old girls, they decided they wanted some fast food. As it was lunch time I would have to eat too, so when they suggested McDonalds I quickly declined and instead made the suggestion of a nice little cafe or something that sold sandwiches or soup. Their first thought at the word "sandwiches", was the fast food chain SUBWAY. I agreed to go, as I knew it would be the closest I was going to get to a sandwich.

WHAT IS SUBWAY?
Subway was founded in 1965 by Fred DeLuca. The first Subway was built in Connecticut, USA however since then, the population of Subway restaurants has grown and world wide there are now a total of 29,610 restaurants. The Subway chain has since agreed on some "core values" and ways in which they wish the chain to run. Quoted; "We are committed to customer satisfaction through offering high quality food with exceptional service and good value".
In my opinion Subway have succeeded in which they wish to do and I commend them for this!
Recently a Subway opened in our local shopping centre and since then it has proved extremely successful with the public.

RESTAURANTS
Subway restaurants come in all different sizes and shapes. Some of the restaurants are larger than others sporting lots of tables, chairs and sofa's situated around the food joint. Some of the Subway restaurants are smaller, more like a sandwich bar, with a simple counter of the sandwich fillings, and a couple of high stools near the window with a breakfast bar type table. The restaurant I eat at, or take away from is one of the larger types. I can't comment on all Subways but our local one is extremely attractive. A green and white tiled floor, with light green and white wallpaper. Around the edge of the restaurants are tables either suitable for four or six people. The tables are lined with green plastic benches. Although plastic the benches are certainly comfortable. In the centre of the restaurants there are lower down tables for two pepole. Each table has two large green armchairs- these are usually extremely popular. Our Subway actually looks more like a coffee shop than a fast food joint. All Subways have large counters at the tills where the sandwich fillings and breads and extras can be clearly seen. There are also usually large screens or menu's up on the wall listing all the meals and sandwiches you can buy.
As with all fast food places, Subway is instantly recognisable by the sign hanging on each door outside the restaurant. The outside of the shop is a deep green colour, but quite bright, with the word SUBWAY writtin in white and yellow writing. The SUB in white and WAY in yellow. There will also be a small sign sticking out from the building, the same as the sign on the front of the shop, but visible to people walking towards the restaurant.

SERVICE
When you arrive in Subway, as with all fast food restaurants, you have to order your food yourself. Sitting at your table waiting on somebody to come and take your order isn't a good idea, because they simply wont come- as some chinese tourists discovered last week. Around lunch time and tea time the queue can be nearing the door, so its better to go slightly before lunchtime or slightly after. We always make the mistake of going bang on 1 oclock ish when its at its busiest. Although the queue is usually quite long it does go down quite quick and most (most!!) of the staff are quick and efficiant. It's better to decide what you want before you get to the till, as the staff can become quite annoyed (as well as the rest of the customers), if you take too long to decide what you like. The clear see through counter will show you all the sandwich fillings, and some of the breads, and the menu above the tills will also help you to decide. The staff are normally happy to help when you ask what they would recommend and perhaps ask what a particular type of bread tastes like or how filling it is.
Once you have placed your order, the staff usually try and persuade you to buy something else of flog you off with some offer or other, however I simply say, "I'm not that hungry" and they tend to leave me alone. The food doesn't take long to make, depending on what you have. The longest I have had to wait was around 5 minutes, but thats because they burnt my bread and had to start all over again.
Subway in my opinion differs slightly to other fast food chains such as McDonalds in that the staff aren't all 16 years old. They tend to emply people over 20, and the occasional "oldie" will be lingering about cleaning the floors or something unlucky like that. Most of the staff seem to be very friendly but obviously you do get the odd grumpy one who would much rather be out drinking with friends,

MENU + FOOD
Entering the restaurant, you are always presented with a strong smell. Personally I think it smells of pizza, resembling the smell you get when you enter Pizza Express or Domino's! Subway specialises mainly in sandwiches and baguettes, and they have a wide variety for everybody to choose. Its not a simple process ordering a sandwich, you have to go through the whole process of deciding which bread, which filling, which extras, and wheather you'd like it within a meal deal!

BREADS
Subway has a wide choice of breads to choose, and this can be a difficult process. In the past 6 weeks I have been to Subway around once per week and so have sampled some of the breads, however some don't appeal all that much.

• Italian bread- I have tried the italian bread once and I can definitly say it was delicious. I'm not sure wheather it comes in brown bread aswell as white but the white was delicious. The italian bread in my opinion is quite plain with no extras or things to take the lovely flavours away from the fillings in side.
• Honey Oat- I haven't tried the honey oat bread before, but this is my best friends favourite, and she its gorgeous. She does complain afterwards though as it apparantly gets stuck in your teeth for hours afterwards.
• Italian herb and cheese- I think this could be my favourite. The bread is similar flavours to the regular italian bread, however this one has the added flavour of cheese. It tastes similar to the cheese on pizza however it doesnt overpower the bread taste at all. The herbs are pretty subtle and pretty hard to distinguish.
• Wheat- I haven't tried the wheat as it seems quite a boring choice. The wheat bread looks quite pale and resembles a normal baguette.
• Parmasan and Oregano- I have tried this bread only once, and although I enjoyed it, it wasn't a favourite. The cheese gave it a slight bitter taste to it which I didn't like at all.

Once you have chosen your bread, you are asked wheather you'd like a 6" or a 12" sub. On two occasions I have opted for a 12" sub, but I find these incredibly filling and take forever to eat so I often go for the 6". If you ask for a 12" they simply take a baugette from the shelf and proceed with filling it however if you opt for a 6" they'll cut it in half. Often when I have ordered a 6" they have cut it in "half" however the two "halves" are completely different sizes, and i'd feel sorry for the person who got the minute other half.

The sandwich fillings are seperated in to two different sections, these being the under 6g of fat subs (the 6" ones), and the "regular" (12") baguettes. Now, if you go for a 6" under 6g of fat sub but ask for extra cheese or extra toppings, it will go over your 6g so its quite good to bear this in mind.

UNDER 6g FILLINGS

• SUBWAY CLUB- I have ordered the Subway Club twice, and each time it differed in fillings, which confused me quite a bit. The club comes packed with lettuce, cucumber and tomato, and that is layered with some turkey ham, ham and some chicken breast. It was quite delicious, however it doesn't come with butter or mayo or anything to moisten it up and as I was a bit worreid about this I did ask for some extra butter on. Since doing this however I have decided it didn't actually need anything extra as the bread was incredibly moist.
• Ham- The Ham baguette is simple. I haven't personally had this one, but its a favourite of my younger brother (he picks off the salad though). The ham looks delicious, pastey pink, and full of flavour. You do get quite a thick layer on it, usually around 3 large pieces of ham- again packed with lots of lettuce, cucumber and tomatos.
• Beef- I haven't ordered one of the Beef baguettes myself but I did try a bit of my friends at it looked so delicious. Again its packed full with lots of salad and then the salad is layered with some gorgeous beef. It was pretty chewy but incredibly moist, with a really christmassy feel too it!
• Turkey breast- The turkey breast baguette is similar to the ham one as in its very simple. The salad again is layered with some delicious looking turkey breast. Its quite pale in colour and im sure its peppered but I cant be sure. You do as with all other fillings get quite afew layers.
• Chicken Breast- I ordered the chicken breast sub one time, however I did order extra cheese as I was a bit worried it would be too plain. I think I probably would have been right. Although the chicken is delicious it did seem quite dry, so without the cheese and butter I ordered it would have been pretty boring.
• Veggie Delight- Obviously the healthiest out of the lot, however not appealing to me at all. Packed full of salad and vegetables and no traces of meat or poultry its perfect for a vegetarian wishing to dine out in Subway.
• Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki- I tried this one last week and it was probably my favourite out of the 6" sandwiches. The chicken has a slightly sticky texture to it and has a mild flavour of sweet and sour, but mixed in slightly with the taste of mild curry. The onions make a lovely contrast, in that they were soggy but delicious. Again packed with lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes.

The regular subs come in 12", and come with different fillings. You can also order the regular fillings on a 6" however these wont be under your 6g of fat. To be honest, I prefer the over 6g of fat fillings however if your trying to keep healthy I wouldn't recommend them!

• CHEESE STEAK- The cheese steak was the first I tried, and it definitly won't be the last time. It was gorgeous. The meat was similar to the beef on the 6" however it wasn't so chewy more "crumbly". It wwas then layered with cheese, the cheese did look pretty plastic and I had my doubts, however it was gorgeous and accompyned the beef well!
• Meatball Marinara- My brother loves the meat ball sub and often orders it when were out for lunch. The bread is packed full of meat balls, and then layered with the plastic cheese that comes with most of the subs.
• Chicken and Bacon ranch- This is another of the ones I have ordered and again it was delicious. The chicken was in a light mayonnaise, not to heavy on the stomach, and mixed in were bits of bacon. I have to admit there wasn't too much bacon in it but it was certainly detected. Again the sub was packed to the brim with lots of salad.
• Spicey italian- I have to admit i've not actually seen anyone having this let alone having it myself so I can't comment on appearence etc. However I have been told by a close friends its extremely delicious but the spicey part definitley lives up to its name!
• Veggie Patty- Not tried this one before however there was a huge craze about it at our local the other week. Apparantly somebody had found traces of meat in it, however I am assured this was a one off and wont happen again. The veggie patty is suitable for vegetarains, basically a veggie burger, in a rectangular shape.
• Tuna- I had the tuna one the other week and it wasn't anything special. I did ask for cheese with it too as the combination of tuna and cheese thrills me. The tuna was moist but I did find it overly fishy and was glad with the contrast of cheese.

You can mix and match your fillings and they will still sell at around the same price.
When ordering you will be asked if you'd like your bread toasted, however I wouldn't exactly say it was toasted more like "warmed". I prefer the bread warmed, espesically when I had the tuna melt and the cheese melted into a gooey mess, it was scrumptious!!
EXTRAS.
Aswell as choosing the fillings and breads, you will also be asked whether you'd like to add any extras to your sandwich.

• Cheese- add extra cheese to any filling
• Olives
• Onion/red onion
• Lettuce/Cucumber/Tomato
• Pickels
• Red pepper/Jalepino peppers/Green Pepper/Yellow pepper

When you are asked if you'd like extras on your sandwich they don't mention the fact that it will be added onto your price. The only extra I have ever had was cheese, and i'm sure they added around 15p on to the cost. I wasn't too worried by this as the meal did taste fantastic.
MAKE IT A MEAL
As with all fast food restaurants you can make your sandwich into a meal. Now unfortionatly (or fortionatly for some), Subway does not sell french fries, or chips. However the meal deal does include a pack of Walkers crisps or a cookie and a medium sized drink.
The meal deal is probably better value and doesn't add too much on to your end cost!

The crisps are Walkers, and have only ever come in plain when I have ordered. Not too sure if you can get other flavours, but I don't expect you can!
The cookies are delicious. Occasionally you get the odd rock solid one but 4 times out of 5 when I have had one it was crumbly and delicious. I'm not sure if you get other types of cookies, but the few i've had have always been chocolate chip!
I have heard from a friend in England that her Subway sells Muffins and Doughnuts, however sadly ours doesnt!

SALDADS
Aswell as sandwiches, like McDonalds, Subway caters for the more health conscious. However the salads don't seem too healthy. I've never tried one before but I have seen some people trying them around the restaurant. Some look quite appealing, but some look pretty bland and boring.

• Veggie Delight- Similar to the Veggie Delight sandwich, except, the bread is salad this time. I think this one looks pretty boring!
• Tuna- This one looked quite nice but not something i'd ever choose. The salad is layered with some scrumptious looking tuna, which looks to be dunked in lashings of mayonnaise.
• Subway club- again similar to the sandwich, the subway club sandwich is layered with turkey, ham and chicken. Again with the usual lettuce, tomato and cucumber.
• Grilled chicken- This one looks the most appealing to me. There seems to be a large amount of chicken "bits" thrown ontop of the salad. Does look quite boring though!!

KIDS MEAL.
Subway is really family friendly, in that it caters for all ages. I often see young children with there kids meal and it looks to be the perfect size.
A small baguette can be filled with a filling of your choice, and it comes with a small fruit juice and a toy. The baguette is pretty small though, and to be honest I think a McDonalds Happy Meal would appeal more. I also find it weird that the childrens meal doesn't come with a bag of crisps or a cookie as this would probably boost there sales as children would be more eager to try them!!

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION.
Now obviously it would take forever to write out all the nutritional information, and for one i'm not that clever to remember them all. However I will make a generalisation (oooh naughty naughty).

The under 6g of fat subs obviouslly all have under 6g of fat. The lowest being the Veggie delight with 2.6g and the highest being the Sweet Onion Chicken Teryaki. The under 6g fat subs are also lower in calories than the regulars, all being under 400. The lowest, again being the veggie delight at 203 calories and the "highest" being the Turkey breast at 356. I think for a sub of this size its pretty good and you probably wont get much better!

The 6" subs, but over 6g of fat, vary widely in nutritional information. Fat in grammes, begins at around 10g (steak and cheese), all the way up to a whopping 26g (Spicey Italian). Compared to some fast food hwoever this is pretty decent. Calorie wise the 6" regulars are not too different to the other 6g of fat 6". Starting at a 336 calories (Steak and cheese), all the way up to 520 calories (Meatball Marinara). Although the fat contents differ hugely between the under 6g of fat and over 6g of fat subs, the calories don't make too much of a difference.

Sauces and dressings also boost up the amount of calories and fat your adding to your meal. For example if you ask for mayonnaise on your sub (6"), you will be adding 108 calories, and if you opt for sweet onion sauce, 40 calories will be added. If you have the choose anything extra i'd choose light mayonnaise which comes in at only 56 calories and does provide a nice coolness to the meal.

The cookies, as always aren't going to be healthy. The website does state that there are 7 cookies however i've only tried one. Each cookie is between 9 and 12g of fat, and ranges from

PRICES
In my opinion, Subway is quite expensive but good value for money...if that makes sense!
A 6" sub will set you back around £3.20, however whenever I have added on extra cheese I have been charged between £3.30-£3.50.
A 12" comes in at around £4.80 or when I added cheese £4.95. However, although extremely expensive I do think it was worth the money, and I have contined to pay the price.

Drinks are in no means cheap either, retailing roughly between £1.50-£2.00. I have only ever bought the cookie's and crisps in a meal so I can't be sure how much they cost however I expect individually they'll set you back around 60p.

OVERALL
Overall i'd definitly recommend subway to you! It seems alot healthier to other fast food palces and you are left feeling slighetly less guilty. Another positive to Subway is that it keeps you fuller for longer, whereas with McDonalds or Burger King (etc) you seem to end up feeling hungry around an hour after your meal. The service is also a lot better in Subway, and it does seem to be "FAST" food rather than "take forever to be served" food! So yes, in one word i'd definitly recommend!

SweetTooth 93 

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