Riding the Subway Food Rails

[Originally posted on January 7, 2005]

I will continue today with more about food. My last word is on the Subway fast food chain. You know the place, hundreds of sub sandwich fast food joints all over the nation and endorsed by permanent formerly fat spokesperson Jared. I always took subs for granted since I grew up in NYC where sandwiches on Italian bread was no big thing. I never liked the sloppy meatball subs but I really liked the humoungous deli subs. First of all, the meats and cheeses used were the real thing and not the K-Mart versions of meats and cheeses that most sub outlets use today. Submarine sandwiches were originally made by Italian food markets where the word 'cheddar' let alone the cheese was unknown. The cheeses used in subs were flavorful and aromatic with strange sounding names that were vaguely Italian. Most cheeses that were used were also imported from the old country and made with a specialness that American mass cheese producers can only dream of duplicating. . The meats were also unique. No fake bologna nor mystery meat or ham so badly processed that you could only tell it was ham by the name on the label that usually said something like 'a ham product'. And the only 'turkey' you would ever see in these shops were the daily lunch visits from the neighborhood blue collar workers often named 'Sal' or 'Vince' or 'Tony'. And the bread ... Oh let me tell you about the bread. This was the real thing. Not the air bread that passes for bread that is sold in most groceries but the kind of bread you could smell as you walked into the store. The kind of bread that you knew did not come from an aroma machine piped into the store with fan aided air ducts. The bread was tasty, crunchy and fresh. The damn things had real crusts like bread was supposed to have. Crust that would break off and fall in your lap. Crust that was the reason that you were told stories about bread crumbs as a kid because in those days, bread really HAD crumbs. These breads were not the mass produced soft rolls that subs are made of today. 'Big Mikes' is the only local sub chain that comes close to being a real sub because of it's decent crusty-like bread but it is still a far cry from a real freshly baked Italian or French bread sub.

Does anyone even remember why they were called subs? It's the bread, stupid; elongated oversized 12"+ rolls shaped like a submarine (or as it was sometimes called, a 'torpedo' sandwich). A sandwich so big you could never eat even half of it and if you could you would be some kind of 'hero' which is why some variations of the sandwich were called just that, 'Heroes'.

I often stood by watching with fascination as my uncle would edit his lunch sub that he bought daily from the local Italian butcher. Without his alterations he could not consume the monsterous sandwich. He would deconstruct the sub carefully and then scoop out all of the white interior breading. He'd toss this out in the waste-can and say 'If I wanted this soft crap, I'd buy a loaf of Wonder Bread." He would then re-construct the sandwich, often offering me half, and then proceed to consume the sub. Crunch, crunch. The sound of real teeth on real bread.

The Subway franchise sandwich wasn't a real sub. More of a homogenized non-ethnic non-multicultural version of the traditional Italian gut buster. At the very least, a Subway sandwich is better than most other fast food stomach gas producers such as McDonald's, Hardee's, Judy's (remember that one?), A&W, Wendy's, etc. The subway franchise also created the space for other sub franchise and independent businesses to grow which was a blessing for those of us who did not want a fatburger, oily salted fried potatoes, and a sugar enriched soda. And I particularly really liked the name of the restaurant: 'Subway'. Although I now prefer Blimpie's subs, the name Blimpie does nothing for me. It reminds me more of the character in the Popeye cartoons; J Wellington Wimpy. "I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today". Of course Blimpie can't be Wimpy because Wimpy has his own chain of hamburger joints in the UK.

There are over 22500 subway franchises in almost 80 countries. It all started in the mid-60's in Connecticut with a few submarine sandwich shops. I loved the original decor. Subway line wallpaper covered the eatery. It reminded me that as a kid I would draw my own subway maps in school instead of paying attention to the teacher. I loved subway maps. I liked the relationship of a sandwich shop called a 'sub'-way and decorating it with New York City subway maps. Early subs had names such as the BMT. Subway's own history states, 'Going along with the subway transportation theme, it is named for the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit system; later it is referred to as "Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest" in an ad campaign.' I liked the idea of a little bit of NYC scattered throughout the world in Subway franchises. I had always hoped that the franchise would introduce an IRT or IND, or a METRO or BART. No such luck.

The Subway restaurant changed drastically over the past 4 years. The subway map decor were removed; the BMT was retired. Now instead of associating the subway restaurants with NYC, we associate sub sandwiches with Jared; Subway's former fat person shill. I wish I knew what his salary was. I'd keep the weight off too if I made annually what I think he is paid.

I still like Subway's subs though It is a decent alternative to the other fast food restaurants and one that is a lot better for kids than the junk served in hamburger joints. But they are not submarine sandwiches and do not let anyone try to convince you that they are. Pay a visit to a real sub shop in NYC if you are not convinced. I wish that Subway had keep the NYC Subway motif though. Everytime I went to a Subway restaurant, I would remember my childhood in NYC. I miss that. And when I go to Blimpies' and al lI think of is gasoline and the Goodyear blimp. And that's my last word on the subject.