Who chops Subway lettuce?
December 14, 2011 1:56 AM   Subscribe

Are Subway vegetables cut up on premises -- or are they frankenfood prepared days before in some far off factory then vacuum sealed? Please help settle a pointless argument.
posted by dontjumplarry to Food & Drink (13 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I met a woman whose company produces all the half-baked loaves for Subway Europe in Northern Ireland. I would imagine it's the same for the vegetables, that they are pre-packed sliced but never frozen to retain freshness.
posted by parmanparman at 2:01 AM on December 14, 2011


Best answer: According to ex-Subway employees here, here, and here, vegetables are cut up on the premises.
posted by SpringAquifer at 2:15 AM on December 14, 2011


Best answer: From observation of one Subway location: the jalapenos, pickles, probably olives, and banana peppers are presliced. Lettuce comes shredded from a bag. Tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and bell peppers are sliced on site.
posted by notquitemaryann at 2:17 AM on December 14, 2011 [2 favorites]


My experience as a Subway Sandwich Artist (holy cow, over 15 years ago now!), matched exactly what notquitemaryann says, except I don't think we had cucumber.
posted by solotoro at 2:53 AM on December 14, 2011


Yep, agreed with notquitemaryann, though (and this is 10 years ago) we shredded the lettuce ourselves. Bread came par-baked and frozen. I think cookies were also par-baked, and many of them ended up breaking, so we got to eat them. Olives, pickles, hot peppers came in clear plastic bags. I still can't stand that Subway smell.
posted by OLechat at 3:03 AM on December 14, 2011


In California the avocado comes in a plastic tub (but it's fresh).
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 6:53 AM on December 14, 2011


FYI at Wawa the meats are cut up on-site, but not the onions, tomatoes or shredded lettuce.
posted by MangyCarface at 7:36 AM on December 14, 2011


Yes, unfortunately for my lacrimal glands, onions are sliced by hand. Same goes for green peppers, cukes and tomatoes.

Lettuce comes in bags, we usually go through about 8 bags (2 boxes) a day.

Olives, banana peppers, jalapeƱos and pickles are just drained.
posted by addelburgh at 9:24 AM on December 14, 2011


God, I worked at Subway on campus 18 years ago. There were no cucumbers back then. Just wanted to agree with the above, and marvel at HOW FREAKING OLD I AM.
posted by sillymama at 11:32 AM on December 14, 2011


Agreed with the other ex-Subway employees. Cutting onions sucked, but we did it every few days. We even made the tuna salad ourselves (mixing big packages of tuna with big packages of mayo).

It was 15+ years ago for me too, and we didn't have cucumbers, avocado, or fifteen sauces. We also only had white or wheat bread. And we cut the bread in a "U-gouge." Thems were the days.
posted by tacodave at 2:47 PM on December 14, 2011


Ah, the "U-gouge." That brings back some memories for sure.

When I was at Subway it was about 25 years ago so I figured my info wasn't necessarily relevant these days, but, yeah, we cut most of the veggies. And made the "seafood salad" and "tuna salad" ourselves.

(I was there for a month or so -- I was hired to deliver sandwiches, on roller skates. Yes, on roller skates. The boss figured it was a good gimmick, I guess. But after a month they decided they weren't getting enough demand for deliveries, so I was laid off. Part of the problem was that the first time I delivered sandwiches to a certain local skyscraper I was 86ed from the building for wearing skates. If I couldn't deliver there I wasn't going to be able to deliver much.)
posted by litlnemo at 3:38 PM on December 14, 2011


The U-slice-the-shit-outta-your-hand-Gouge, that brings back memories. My experience was 10 years ago too, but my Subway franchisee friends say that the tomatoes, onions, cukes and peppers are all cut on premises. They're also supposed to be washed on premises, but that sorta depends on the employee who is assigned that duty (some employees slack a bit).
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:43 PM on December 14, 2011


Employee since 1987 and franchisee since 1998. We used to sliced all meats and veggies. Now just tomatoes, onions, green peppers and cucumbers are sliced inshore. Bread and cookies are frozen dough, not parbaked.
posted by Mr Subway at 10:59 PM on January 13, 2012


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