Is a Subway footlong worth the money?

[davenn]

Unless one is Asian like me. Using instant rice is sufficient cause to get your Asian card revoked and your reputation ruined till the day you die. And even then, at your eulogy, they will whisper "He once used instant rice while he was alive" as they shake their heads.

Zz.

hahahaha indeed ... my Filipina wife agrees with that completely

TOTAL costs for subway (5 meals/wk 20 meals/month): $35-$40/wk = $140-180/month
TOTAL costs for homemade meals to replace subway meals (5 meals/wk 20 meals/month): $124/month
CONVENIENCE FACTOR subway = a lot better than homemade meals

ohhh eekkkk there wouldn't be many that could eat that 5 days a week. I do buy most of my lunches. Maybe only once a week, occasionally twice a week would there be meals from home, usually where enough of the evening meal was made to do a lunch or two for the two of us.

I would have subway for lunch once a week, with variations of various other meals from other takeaway outlets. I mix it up a lot and I still get bored with the same ol stuff month after month
Comparing subway cost with other takeaway meal types. It's pretty good value for money for what you get. A ft long sub is AU$7.95 ( US$6.05 today's exchange rate)
The only thing that beats it would be the Chinese takeaway I get ... one of 3 variations Mongolian lamb, curry chicken or sweet and sour pork, all come with fried rice and are only AU$5.80 for any of those choices. Any of my other lunch meals cost me much more than that varying from ~ AU11 to $20

I MUST point out, in general, I tend to have a larger lunch and a smaller evening meal. Nothing worse than going to bed on a full tummy, not having had any chance to wear off any of the calories Dave

 

[jim hardy]

I highly recommend this documentary film
http://www.pbs.org/show/in-defense-of-food/

"Silence of the Yams"

 

[Evo]

Comparing subway cost with other takeaway meal types. It's pretty good value for money for what you get. A ft long sub is AU$7.95 ( US$6.05 today's exchange rate)

Oh you poor thing, you don't have Jimmy John's there. That's like living in a country that has a McDonald's and you think that's the best hamburger American's can get. There are other great sub shops here, but Jimmy John's will deliver a single sandwich and they are around the corner and can get me a sandwich in 9 minutes.

 

[WWGD]

Kind of late for the question, but, is anyone dancing in September?

Always surprised me to see around 700 people on the stage but only 5 of them singing. Cool song; I heard a recent version with December instead of September.

 

[phamtuanktdt]

Subway buy their supplies in bulk at much cheaper prices than a consumer can get them at the market.

 

[Evo]

Subway buy their supplies in bulk at much cheaper prices than a consumer can get them at the market.

And then they mark them way up to where they can cost twice what you could buy the same ingredients at the market yourself. Subway is very skimpy on their portions, I don't know anyone that eats there, we have much better sub shops here.

 

[WWGD]

Subway buy their supplies in bulk at much cheaper prices than a consumer can get them at the market.

But that is just one factor. They must pay for wages, insurance, rent, etc.

 

[Sophia]

I had different perspective- I guess not clear. I'm from the south and there are farmers markets in each small town around me so I get your point. If I go to it and the store and buy everything I need to eat a sub sandwich that day, yes it will be fresh for the most part. What about the next day or week? Either my food is really old and tastes bad, I have to throw it away and waste it, or I go and buy more which isn't cost effective. The times I've had subway I don't think it was really that old. I liked the taste anyways.

oh, would you really throw away veggies and meat the next day after you buy them?

 

[Sophia]

Yet another option are meals at a restaurant. I don't know the English term for it, but they are called "daily menu" here. It's cheaper then regular restaurant meals because they cook in bulk each day. You usually have 2 or 3 options (that change every day) and many working people eat them for lunch. It includes both soup and second meal, usually you can choose between meat and vegetarian. I order almost every day and it costs 3.5€. I suppose it would be more expensive in the US, probably more expensive then the subway, but you wouldn't have to spend time shopping and cooking.

 

[davenn]

Oh you poor thing, you don't have Jimmy John's there. That's like living in a country that has a McDonald's and you think that's the best hamburger American's can get. There are other great sub shops here, but Jimmy John's will deliver a single sandwich and they are around the corner and can get me a sandwich in 9 minutes.

hahaha
Haven't heard of Jimmy Johns not even on my trips to the USA. I'm not really a huge "sub" fan and to be honest, in the 10+ years I have been going to Subway I have always gotten the same type ... I just don't really like any of the other fillers they have ... that's just my taste buds

That's like living in a country that has a McDonald's and you think that's the best hamburger American's can get

Since you mentioned Maccas, they are an example in the opposite. They are very far from value for money quite expensive.
None of the chain store outlets make overly good burgers but pretty much all of them are better than those from Maccas.
The best burgers come from the single outlet takeaway shops.
I really like a good burger and go out of my way to find a places that makes one that has content the way I like it
The average cost of a "burger with the lot" is around AU$6.50Dave

 

[davenn]

Yet another option are meals at a restaurant. I don't know the English term for it, but they are called "daily menu" here. It's cheaper then regular restaurant meals because they cook in bulk each day. You usually have 2 or 3 options (that change every day) and many working people eat them for lunch. It includes both soup and second meal, usually you can choose between meat and vegetarian. I order almost every day and it costs 3.5€. I suppose it would be more expensive in the US, probably more expensive then the subway, but you wouldn't have to spend time shopping and cooking.

Pub lunches and Chinese restaurants are very good at doing that sort of thing here in Oz and much more than 2 or 3 options.

Dave

 

[Bystander]

I don't know the English term for it, but they are called "daily menu" here. It's cheaper then regular restaurant meals because they cook in bulk each day.

"Blue plate special."

 

[Sophia]

Since you mentioned Maccas, they are an example in the opposite. They are very far from value for money quite expensive.

And they usually make me even more hungry! Don't know if that's only because of high glycemic index or they really add hunger-causing chemicals in them.
MacDonald's is expensive and it's more a fashion thing (wooow, I eat at MacDonald's look how cool and modern I am!) than actual place to eat decently.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Pub lunches and Chinese restaurants are very good at doing that sort of thing here in Oz and much more than 2 or 3 options.

There's a Chinese restaurant I found here that, for $6.00 gives you more food than you should eat in a whole day. It's a buffet, so a person could go there daily for a long time and still have variety of ingredients. It's out of my way, though: takes a half hour to get there by car.

 

[WWGD]

Yet another option are meals at a restaurant. I don't know the English term for it, but they are called "daily menu" here. It's cheaper then regular restaurant meals because they cook in bulk each day. You usually have 2 or 3 options (that change every day) and many working people eat them for lunch. It includes both soup and second meal, usually you can choose between meat and vegetarian. I order almost every day and it costs 3.5€. I suppose it would be more expensive in the US, probably more expensive then the subway, but you wouldn't have to spend time shopping and cooking.

They are called lunch specials ( only one place I know has dinner specials). They cost from $7 to $8.50.

EDIT: There are also breakfast specials. I had one today: two eggs over easy (meaning the yellow part remains soft and liquid after cooking and the egg is fried), bacon, potatos and toast, together with coffee, all for $6.48 including tax.

 

[Seth1533]

oh, would you really throw away veggies and meat the next day after you buy them?

3 Days max

 

[DaveC426913]

Subway is bottom feeder sandwiches. There are so many better sub options. Really shocked how many Subways there are and how many people eat there.

Can you elaborate? Not on better options but on what makes Subway so bad. The ingredients?

 

[DaveC426913]

My favorite was Quiznos hot sandwiches.

Quiznos make yummy subs for sure, but man, I'll bet the calories could kill a moose.

 

[Vanadium 50]

My favorite was Quiznos hot sandwiches.

Going the way of the dodo. About 80 or 85% of their US stores have closed. Corporate went bankrupt two years ago. Essentially, their business model is "screw the franchisees". They lock them into buying from them at above market rates, and there was effectively no territory protection. They learned too late that by squeezing every nickle they could out of the franchisees, they would kill their own revenue stream.

As far as Subway is concerned, at quick service restaurants the food cost is typically about 30-40% of the price of the meal. However, this doesn't mean that you can pay this little for ingredients at retail. (How often do you buy pickles in 5 gallon jars?)

 

[jedishrfu]

We almost got into the Quiznos franchise ownership but decided it was too much for us to handle and raise a family. Looks like that was a good thing. I remember the pitch saying they provided everything we needed and that explains the demise. Wow.

 

[jedishrfu]

Ramen seems pretty hot now. In Austin there are a few hot places Tetsuya Ramen and Jinya to name a couple. We've been to Jinya, it's very upscale and the ramen while really good is somewhat pricey but it's really good. We recently had tonkotsu black at $13 a bowl and it was delicious.

 

[DaveC426913]

It would be more cost effective to go to the market, buy your supplies and make your own meals. There is no easy fast and cheap method of eating healthy and well but going to the market is a definite step in the right direction.

Well, you can have the best of both worlds.

I'll have a footlong veggie.
With tomatoes, lettuce, onions and all the other ingredients.
Extra.

Extra...

More...

More. They're free, right? I got to have enough to get through to Monday.
Keep goin'...

 

[WWGD]

Well, you can have the best of both worlds.

I'll have a footlong veggie.
With tomatoes, lettuce, onions and all the other ingredients.
Extra.

Extra...

More...

More. They're free, right? I got to have enough to get through to Monday.
Keep goin'...

And they also have the pizzas now, reasonably priced.

 

[Pepper Mint]

Ramen seems pretty hot now. In Austin there are a few hot places Tetsuya Ramen and Jinya to name a couple. We've been to Jinya, it's very upscale and the ramen while really good is somewhat pricey but it's really good. We recently had tonkotsu black at $13 a bowl and it was delicious.

Do you like Reimen ? I also recommend tsukemen.

 

[jedishrfu]

Do you like Reimen ? I also recommend tsukemen.

In general, I like soups and noodles of all kinds although they can be messy if you drop something back in. The restaurant ramen is really good. I never liked the quick ramen so much as the soup tasted like a boullion cube.

Thanks I'll check out the tsukeman.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Ramen seems pretty hot now. In Austin there are a few hot places Tetsuya Ramen and Jinya to name a couple. We've been to Jinya, it's very upscale and the ramen while really good is somewhat pricey but it's really good. We recently had tonkotsu black at $13 a bowl and it was delicious.

Ramen is also quite hot in Toronto, where several ramen shops have opened up, particularly near the downtown core -- which is a boon for me, as I love ramen (being half-Japanese, I grew up with ramen). Pho is also quite popular in this city as well.

(To the mods: am I allowed to provide names of restaurants that I would recommend here, as well as links to their websites? Or is that a violation of PF forum rules?)

 

[Evo]

(To the mods: am I allowed to provide names of restaurants that I would recommend here, as well as links to their websites? Or is that a violation of PF forum rules?)

We've allowed links to major chains before answering questions about food. It's never come up about small food shops before. Yes, it's fine, go ahead and list them.

 

[StatGuy2000]

We've allowed links to major chains before answering questions about food. It's never come up about small food shops before. Yes, it's fine, go ahead and list them.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[StatGuy2000]

Ramen is also quite hot in Toronto, where several ramen shops have opened up, particularly near the downtown core -- which is a boon for me, as I love ramen (being half-Japanese, I grew up with ramen). Pho is also quite popular in this city as well.

As a follow-up to my earlier post, here are ramen shops I would recommend in Toronto (to the mods: please feel free to separate this into another thread):

1. Konnichiwa (http://konnichiwa.ca)

2. Touhenboku Ramen (http://www.touhenboku.ca/)

3. Kinton Ramen (http://www.kintonramen.com)

For those PF members living in Toronto, I would greatly appreciate any recommendations for Vietnamese restaurants serving pho.

 

[StatGuy2000]

And back to the original topic:

To those PF members living in Toronto -- any suggestions for good sandwich places that is an alternative to Subway? The only place I know of that I can recommend is Lettieri (located at Bayview Village).

 

[WWGD]

And back to the original topic:

To those PF members living in Toronto -- any suggestions for good sandwich places that is an alternative to Subway? The only place I know of that I can recommend is Lettieri (located at Bayview Village).

You're making me cry thinking of the sandwich place nearby , that used a carving board to make sandwiches in front of you, absolutely amazing ones, that decided to abandon the fresh sandwiches and just sell pre-fabs. Sorry, I just needed to let it out to recover.

 

[Pepper Mint]

http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_vietnamese_restaurants_in_toronto/
I think there are plenty of Vietnamese restaurants in California and Texas.

 

[DaveC426913]

To those PF members living in Toronto -- any suggestions for good sandwich places that is an alternative to Subway?

No, there are none.

 

[StatGuy2000]

No, there are none.

Dave, I'm assuming you're being sarcastic (sarcasm doesn't translate well on Internet forums).

Because you can't be seriously suggesting that there are no good sandwich places in Toronto, are you?

 

[Pepper Mint]

Dave, I'm assuming you're being sarcastic (sarcasm doesn't translate well on Internet forums).

Because you can't be seriously suggesting that there are no good sandwich places in Toronto, are you?

Likely expensive ones. Customers look for cheap or even free yet clean ones.