Brave Take: Subway Sandwiches Taste Good

Yesterday was supposed to be a normal day. I had no plans of saying anything controversial, I just wanted to get some lunch. A bunch of my regular food spots had closed over the course of the pandemic so I was searching for something that would fill me up, taste good, and not break the bank. There was the deli on across the street that isn't very good, but so dang close. I could have gotten a very overpriced tuna sandwich from there, which is what I'd usually do, mainly for the convenience. Not today. There was a salad place two blocks away, but I just went the other day with my pal Joey Langone, so didn't want to be repetitive. I walked another block and found myself scratching my head. I was in unfamiliar territory as I don't usually walk more than three blocks for lunch. I didn't want to do something too unhealthy and was staring Brgr and Chipotle right in the face. There was also a place with no sign and just a Red Bull light in the window, but I had no interest in investigating. I saw the Whole Foods sign two more blocks away and thought that would be a good safety net if I didn't find something before then. I was standing at the light and looked to my left - aha! That green, yellow, and white logo! Decision made.

I have always been a fan of Subway sandwiches. I was duped that it was healthy by a now infamous criminal spokesperson. But in college, when eating out was a rarity given my $50/week salary for being a doorman to a campus dorm, my favorite place to go was Subway. You could get a good size sandwich for $5 and change, plus it maybe was even not bad for you? I got hooked with the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki. At 18 years old, you're not super critical of "Sandwich Artists" taking a small fry basket of cold marinated chicken and dumping out on "fresh baked bread". Sure, now it looks kind of gross, but 17 years later, did the chicken really change or did my perception of reality? At the end of the day, I still think it's a tasty sandwich. 

I'm not longer exclusively a S.O.C.T. guy. I've eaten so much Subway over the years I began experimenting with other menu items. I like the Turkey, Black Forest Ham, and Subway Club, but my favorite is probably the Rotisserie Chicken sandwich. Today I was going to keep it light, so I went a Black Forest Ham footlong on 9-grain Honey Oat bread. Sidenote: How can you hate on a place with 9-grain honey oat bread? If you do, your favorite sandwich place only has seven or eight grain honey oat bread. But Subway really packs it in and gives you the most grains for your buck! Anywho, my favorite part about Subway is even though you're getting a deli sandwich, you can get a bunch of veggies to take away a lot of the guilt. So I got it with some American Cheese (definitely not healthy) and got it toasted. From there we got lettuce (they've got the good shredded lettuce there that really adds to the crunch), tomatoes, green peppers, jalapeños, sweet peppers, cucumber slices, black olives, and light mayo. I really pack that thing with toppings and felt like I got a great deal for $7.49 + tax. As much as things change, they stay the same.

Now I understand it's can be seen as a hot take as Subway has a seemingly endless list of haters. There are certainly better sandwich places and I'm not denying that. Jimmy John's, Jersey Mikes, local deli's all jump to mind as good options, if not better ones. But I'm saying that Subway is good too and I'll gladly eat a delicious $5,$6,$MP foot long any day and be happy with that decision. Where do you stand on Subway Sandwiches? Sound off in the comments below.