I know I've made this point already, so just by way of re-iteration, if you're looking exclusively for reviews of high-end sandwiches with ingredients like arugula and pork tenderloin, this is probably not the right place for you (but keep reading anyway)! As I've stated from the beginning, the goal of this project is to search high and low for sandwiches in all their variations. While it is true that sometimes this involves going to an amazing deli with absolutely top shelf ingredients, more often than not it involves going down the block to your local sandwich chain shop. Which is where we find ourselves today. It's hard to believe that a little over 40 years ago, Subway didn't exist. Especially since today you can't hardly throw a rock into the air and not have it plummet down onto one of these omnipresent sandwich joints.
The history of Subway is an interesting one. You can read all about it here, but here's the Cliff's Notes version - back in 1965, a 17 year old (!) named Fred De Luca needed to generate some money to pay for college, so he borrowed a thousand bucks from a family friend and opened up a sandwich shop in a mediocre location in Bridgeport, CT. Apparently the place was packed from Day 1 and it's never slowed. Today, with nearly 33,000 Subway locations in 93 different countries, Subway has been rated the #1 Global Franchise and Mr. De Luca is a billionaire. Hmm, I wonder if he ever bothered going to school?
So how did this place go from a barely pubescent lad's glorified lemonade stand to the global behemoth that it is today? Certainly some savvy advertising along the way was useful (Get out of my head, $5 Foot-long jingle!!!), but basically it all comes down to this guy. Just kidding....sort of. Interesting side note: when Subway finally put the brakes on the Jared-as-pitchman train, their sales plummeted 10% and they immediately got him back on board to keep shilling sandwiches. Now how is that even possible??? How does a googly-eyed nerd holding up a pair of fat-pants make people go eat sandwiches?? Who knows. Anyway, I might be wrong, but I'd have to say that Subway's success can be attributed to the simple fact that they offer a good product at a good price. Notice I didn't say "great", I said "good". I think the Subway brain-trust has somehow isolated a magical formula where they make their product just good enough to keep people coming back and charge them just enough to make a fat profit without breaking their customers' bank. This has resulted in unheard of commercial success. Good for them. Seriously. I wish I could do that.
Okay, enough about the somewhat brief but storied history of Subway. Let's get down to reviewing one of their sandwiches. The sandwich on the docket today is the Meatball Marinara. Long before Subway started offering a toasting option for all their sandwiches (to compete with rival Quiznos), the Meatball Marinara was one of the few "warm" sandwiches that could be ordered at Subway. Maybe this is why I started ordering it - especially in the cold winter, sometimes a warm sandwich really hits the spot. Obviously you could dress this sandwich up anyway you wanted to when you ordered it, but at it's core, it consists of the following:
- Type of Bread: Again, you can choose any of Subway's bread options. I went with what I usually do - Monterrey Cheddar.
- Condiments/Dressing(s): Marinara Sauce
- Toppings: Meatballs, Cheese of your choice (Provolone for me), Parmesan Cheese
Again, notice the difference between the appearance of the sandwich in the Subway ad at the start of this post and the actual thing above. It's almost comical. Granted, this sandwich endured a car ride home, but despite it's appearance I did not sit on it for said car ride. Let's get to it:- Quantity/Value: 5/5 - I got this foot-long bad boy for a mere five bucks as part of Subway's $5 Foot-long promotion. That is a lot of food for not a lot of money which is, of course, the goal of sandwiches trying to do well in this category. Obviously if and when the promotion end and this thing's price goes up, the rating would have to change accordingly.
- Originality: 4/5 - Was Subway the first restaurant to come up with a meatball sandwich? I seriously doubt it. But, it was the first place I saw them offered and even now it's not every place where you can get a meatball sandwich, so this rates quite well.
- Appearance: 6/10 - Yeah, this thing looks pretty sad. The advantages of toasting the sandwich have been mentioned above. The one drawback is that heating it up makes everything a little more pliable. Couple that with an immediate tightly compressed wrap in wax paper once it's out of the oven and by the time you get it out to eat, that thing is squashed. Does it make it taste any worse? No, but with the bread compressed to about 1/4 inch thick, as soon as you squeeze down on the sandwich, those meatballs practically fly out every which way which is not going to put you where you need to be.
- Quality/Freshness: 7/10 - Subway's meatball sandwich is going to take another bit of a hit here. There's no way those meatballs are made fresh on site, and once they're warmed up and go into the stainless steel holding bin, the only thing that determines how long they've been sitting there is how many (or how few) people before you ordered the same sandwich. The meatballs I've experienced have at times been on the soft and bland side and I'm sure that's a result of significant time in the sauce bath. Where the sandwich gains some points back, though is with the bread. As with all the Subway breads, it gets made fresh daily and that is key.
- Taste: 16/20 - Despite the less than perfect ratings in the appearance and freshness departments, the fact is that this sandwich tastes pretty good. The bread is wonderful - especially when toasted for some added exterior crunch to contrast the soft meatballs and marinara-soaked interior. Aside from the odd batch that's been sitting for too long, the meatballs in general are seasoned well and they're not stingy with them. The marinara sauce is warm and flavorful, with some nice chunks of tomato -it's not just a tomato soup that the meatballs sit in. And it's all finished with some lovely melted cheese to pull it all together (literally, if you look at the photo above).
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