Ah! Five Dollar Footlongs!

by | Aug 17, 2024 | Beer, Economy, Food & Drink, Markets, Musings | 139 comments

Another sign of impending economic doom, or was this just poor planning? Why not both?

This is my review of Rogue Blackberry Honey Kölsch:

A few years after shuttering one of the most aggressive and lucrative marketing campaigns of all time, a rumored emergency meeting created speculation Subway might close down more stores. That fucking jingle is still stuck in my head…Where can I short them!?

Turns out there was no such meeting (yet) but things aren’t looking great for America’s most meh sandwich maker. There are reasons for the store closures they are fairly open about—sales are down since the end of the promo, inflation, people in general aren’t eating out, competitiveness in the sandwich market. Or maybe…this is Bidenomics in action?

Easiest thing to do is check their competition. Jersey Mikes unfortunately is a private owned franchise (not owned by a guy named Mike) so there isn’t a lot of info out there in terms of sales but the ones around me always seem pretty busy. A few hits on DDG suggest owning a couple of these will put you in a much higher tax bracket.

Let’s try Jimmy John’s. They are owned by Inspire Brands, who is also private but is rumored to go public later this year. They seem to be doing well, too. What’s Subway’s problem? Is it really because their sandwiches suck?

Yes. They suck, but maybe the Meagan Rapinoe hate train is much more real than previously thought.

I hope you’re happy. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I found this is Seattle earlier this summer and damn was I about to curse the shutter speed on my iPad. That is until I saw it on the shelf at home. I don’t know about anyone else here, but I like Kölsch—even if I can’t pronounce it. The trouble of course is this is a very simple style on the palate so it was only a matter of time before some purple-bearded whackadoodle was going to screw with it. Rogue at least isn’t completely retarded and this actually works. Its pretty low abv so my problem is I can drink a bunch of these. Rogue Blackberry Honey Kölsch: 3.5/5

About The Author

mexican sharpshooter

mexican sharpshooter

WARNING: Glibertarians.com contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. https://youtu.be/qiAyX9q4GIQ?t=2m22s

139 Comments

  1. The Late P Brooks

    I have never been to Jersey Mike’s, but I like Jimmy John’s.

    Forgive me, but I have been known to eat Subway meatball subs from time to time.

    • SDF-7

      I used to prefer Quizno’s before they imploded. Subway is the only one nearby now… I think there’s a Togo’s or two not terribly far away, but they have a very, very different feel (to me at least).

      • CPRM

        I went into a Quizno’s once. I asked if I could get a ham and Swiss. Guy at the counter said no. I pointed at the case “Is that ham?” Him, “Yes”, me, “Is that Swiss cheese?” “Yes” “Can you put them on a sandwich together?” “No”. I turned around and walked out. That is my only experience with that restaurant.

      • J. Frank Parnell

        I haven’t been to a Togos in a while. Their pastrami reuben is great.

      • Spudalicious

        Togo’s used to be a firehouse staple when we didn’t have time to cook.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Subway is a perfectly cromulent sandwich. One that I rarely seek out, but one I typically frequent at a truck stop. There are better options.

      • Mojeaux

        I like Subway. It’s just too expensive for me now. I can get hot food at Chili’s takeout for the same price.

        Subway is a perfectly cromulent sandwich.

        Yes. Especially when you have no other options.

      • Bobarian LMD

        Subway has improved their sandwich from the $5 days, but not enough for the current $12-15 price.

        Definitely Bidenomics pounding them like Jared getting it in jail.

  2. SDF-7

    . Jersey Mikes unfortunately is a private owned franchise (not owned by a guy named Mike

    Owned by a cow with audio amplifying equipment then, I assume?

  3. DEG

    I don’t know about anyone else here, but I like Kölsch—even if I can’t pronounce it.

    I like Kölsch and can pronounce it. It’s pronounced “Kölsch”.

    The trouble of course is this is a very simple style on the palate so it was only a matter of time before some purple-bearded whackadoodle was going to screw with it.

    I laughed because it is true.

    Rogue at least isn’t completely retarded and this actually works. Its pretty low abv so my problem is I can drink a bunch of these. Rogue Blackberry Honey Kölsch: 3.5/5

    This looks like it could be good.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      In all seriousness I ordered a “Ko-alsch” at a brewery and both my wife (neither a beer drinker or German speaker) and the server corrected me as it clearly is pronounced “Coal-sh”.

      • Grummun

        “ö” is pronounced like you’re trying to say “o” and “e” at the same time.

    • R C Dean

      The “Blackberry Honey” gave me pause.

      Getting the Dragoon Sonoran Amber again today.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      I have a similar sentiment for Chipotle.

      • JaimeRoberto (carnitas/spicy salsa)

        Chipotle sucks. The roach coaches that cater to farm workers are far better.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        Oh yeah. There are four burrito places within a five minute drive of my house that are always busy with Mexican landscapers in the mornings. I just go to one of those if I want a burrito.

    • rhywun

      Our mom and pops are crazy expensive – sometimes I want cheap but good enough.

      Subway is cheap but crap. Quiznos fit that spot well. PotBelly too – dunno if they are still around.

      • Beau Knott

        There’s one in E. Lansing, across the street from MSU. My friend who does cataloging at the library is fond of it, but I infer it’s gotten spend-y/-ier as she’s not mentioned it in a while.

      • Gender Traitor

        There’s a PotBelly near U of Dayton, too. I used to stop there on my way home from my across-town hairdresser, but I usually got a salad, not a sub.

        I used to really like Subway’s tuna salad…but I haven’t been to Subway in a long time.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        My issue with Pot Belly is they require you to get a hot sandwich. I went in there and asked for my bread to not be toasted because if you enjoy hot lettuce and mayo, you are a psychopath. But they said they par-bake their bread and it finishes baking in the toaster, so I was shit out of luck.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Subway is not at all cheap. It’s expensive af.

  4. The Gunslinger

    Last time I got Subway it was $12 for a foot long and it had a single little layer of meat. I felt like I got ripped off.

    • Fourscore

      Yesterday was 6 inch hoagie from Walmart, $4.47. Crammed with meat and cheese. I’m not a food connoisseur but it filled me up . ‘Course I had a big salad and fruit, too .

    • rhywun

      it was $12 for a foot long

      Oofa. Was it at a rest stop or something cuz that’s crazy.

      • The Gunslinger

        It was inside a gas station.

  5. Fourscore

    The local Jimmy John’s seems to be barren of traffic. I actually feel bad for the proprietor. The location is on the wrong side of town, in my opinion.

  6. cavalier973

    We like Jason’s deli, but I rarely get a sandwich from there. Usually, it’s a giant potato and side salad.

    I like Newks’ chicken bacon club sandwich. They have excellent strawberry cake

    • DEG

      WaWa superiority.

      • Sean

        😃

      • creech

        😃😀

  7. Chipping Pioneer

    I like Kölsch, but Blackberry Honey is an automatic DQ for me.

  8. The Late P Brooks
  9. Suthenboy

    Discussed yesterday with neighbor: Restaurant food quality from top to bottom has plummeted in the last 20 years.
    I remember when even Taco Bell was good stuff. Now the quality is shit and the prices exponentially too high. I really dont know how they can stay in business.

    • The Hyperbole

      “I remember when even Taco Bell was good stuff”

      I am more and more convinced that we live in alternate realities.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      even Taco Bell was good stuff.

      🤨 To each his own,

    • R C Dean

      Ima side with Suthen on this. Taco Bell used to be on the shortish acceptable fast food list.

      • DrOtto

        There was a time I ate Taco Bell. The next morning has always told me it was a poor food decision.

    • Gdragon

      I can honestly count on one hand the number of restaurant meals that I have eaten in the last couple of years. The quality is down and the prices are up, everywhere. Unless I’m forced I just won’t do it anymore. Especially if it’s not “fine dining”, every time I bite into a french fry all I think about is how the potatoes cost less than a dime. Maybe I can’t turn off my trader’s brain, maybe I’m turning into my father. Either way I’ve lost weight and I’ve discovered that I kinda love cooking so I don’t see any reason to stop what I’m doing.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        I hear you. I can’t order a steak at a restaurant anymore, I can make one just as good or better at home.

  10. EvilSheldon

    Subway is probably getting their asses kicked by Wawa and Sheetz. The one near me certainly is.

    I love Kölsch.

  11. Timeloose

    The interstate is being closed for 2hours today due to the orange man visiting.

    Does he want people to vote for him or not?

  12. Derpetologist

    [puts on linguist hat]

    Kölsch (also spelled Koelsch) means “of Cologne” (called Köln in German) and sounds like “curl-sh”. It’s sort of like how pilseners are from Pilsen (the German name for the Czech city Plzen).

    The vowel in Kölsch is open, mid-front, and rounded. That means the mouth is fully open, the tongue is raised to an intermediate height and pushed forward, and the lips are rounded when the vowel is pronounced.

    In most dialects of English (except US), this is the vowel in “bird”.

    • R.J.

      The bird is the word.

      • Derpetologist

        [polite applause]

    • Don escaped Texas

      “kurlsh”

      yeah, that was my guess

      why would this umlaut be pronounced any differently than it is in a million other places (Schröder, Schrödinger…)

      if anything, that’s the whole point of studying German: brutal consistency

      • Derpetologist

        wiki sez:

        ***
        œ öffnen somewhat like hurt; RP ugh
        øː Österreich, Möhre, adieu somewhat like heard
        ***

        The one on top is open mid-front rounded and the other is close mid-front rounded.

        So with one, your mouth is wide open (kinda hard to do while also rounding your lips) and with the other your mouth is almost closed, kinda like when you say “ee”.

        The difference is similar to the one between the Spanish o (mid-back rounded vowel) in “hola” and the English o (dipthong the above and the near-close near-back rounded vowel) in “open”.

        There are IPA sounds I have trouble distinguishing, like the sounds transliterated by ch and q in Chinese. For the Chinese, the sounds are as distinct as d and t.

  13. J. Frank Parnell

    We used to go to Subway all the time for cheap poolside lunch for the kids, but ever since a Jersey Mike’s opened up nearby, we’ve switched to them.

    The chain I really liked was Which Wich, because they made it easy to customize your sandwich with whatever ingredients you wanted, but then they took those options away and standardized on a list of a dozen or so sandwiches, so now they’re just like any other place but a bit pricier.

  14. Derpetologist

    Some amusing tidbits about kids these days:

    ***
    Teachers quit jobs in droves as new generation tests their limits

    Born between roughly 2010 and the end of 2024, Generation Alpha will make up the largest cohort of children ever to live on planet earth.

    However, the two billion-plus toddlers and pre-teens are already being cited for their illiteracy, unruly behavior and an uncontrollable addiction to screens

    ‘We have seventh-graders who don’t know what town they live in and they’ve lived in the town their entire life. They don’t know they live in the state of Connecticut.

    She continued: ‘We have several students who couldn’t identify incomplete versus complete sentences, and they weren’t special ed students, they were regular students, ages 12 and 13.’

    She said the biggest difference between Gen Z and Gen Alpha, besides reliance on screens, is their inability to use technology for research.

    ‘[Gen Alpha] will just ask somebody, a lot of kids don’t know how to find information even on their phones, which is very different from Gen Z,’ she said.

    ‘We had a really long stretch of around 12 years where you had students who were really proficient with technology tools. They might have been slightly prone to being distracted by them, but they could find a balance because they were able to use their tools for learning.

    ‘I am not, seeing that in the last two years with the groups of students that I have. They are not able to use Google in a way to find information. They don’t even know what questions to ask the search engine.’

    And with Gen Alpha’s very real screen addiction and reliance on technology for dopamine, Haze said she has seen her students actively experience withdrawal symptoms.

    ‘They will have tantrums and they will fight you for it,’ said Haze. ‘They’d rather accept the zero than do their work on paper, because there’s no consequences – they’ll go to the next grade regardless.’

    Gen Alpha students who are well below where they should be in reading, writing and arithmetic and don’t pass their end-of-the-year state exams still move on to the next grade.
    ***

    [wistful sigh]

    There is nothing new under the sun.

    The History of Adults Blaming the Younger Generation
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC3kBsRpkZQ

    • Suthenboy

      I am not usually a fan of documentaries as most of them are bullshit but there are a few gems out there. My favorite one is Idiocracy.

    • The Other Kevin

      The screen addiction is real. For parents, they’d rather be on their phone and not have to supervise their kids. And many kids would rather look at a screen than play with toys.

      This was how it was with the cousin that lived with us. Her son had one of our bedrooms FULL of toys. Months later there were stacks of toys from Christmas he’d never opened. He wanted to play on his tablet all day. And she let him because otherwise he’d sass back and it would be a fight. Conservatively, I’d say at least 30% of kids are like this.

      • Derpetologist

        Letting kids, especially younger ones, vegetate in front of a TV for hours to keep them quiet has been going on for a long time.

        I don’t blame parents for doing it because it works. My parents did it, and all my relatives who have kids do it too.

        “So we parked him in front of the TV. That’s how I was raised, and I turned out perfectly TV.”

        -Homer Simpson

        “Ah, TV. Teacher, mother, secret lover…”

        -ibid

      • The Other Kevin

        I will agree with you on that. I watched a ton of mindless TV growing up. I think the difference is we could be physically separated from the TV. I had a TV in my room in high school, but not before. With tablets, these kids are plugged in every waking second. In the car, in a restaurant, outside, everywhere.

      • Suthenboy

        And here we all sit…in front of a screen.

        My excuse is that I am laying patio bricks today and only checking in now and then on my breaks. I have some news btw – as unbeleivable as it might seem – it is FUCKING HOT outside. I think I am going to put a roast in a pot and set it on the back porch in the sun. It should be fall-apart tender in a couple of hours.

      • The Other Kevin

        Touche Suthen. I wish it were that hot here, we’re in the 70’s this week just as I have the pool in a perfect state. Today I’ve been to the gym, and had another traumatic trip to the grocery store (I think every citizen should be required to go grocery shopping right before they vote). I’m using Glibs to avoid some programming work I should probably do.

      • rhywun

        If screens had existed when I was little, I absolutely would have been addicted. No question about it.

      • CPRM

        Dude sucks at parenting.

      • The Other Kevin

        “- Our two-year-old with anger-control issues refused to stay with the babysitter, so we had to take her with us.”

        First bullet item is the problem. Who exactly is the parent? Mrs. TOK has been sitting for kids for a good decade. Often the parents will tell us their kid just won’t take a nap. Little kids absolutely need naps. And every one of them napped for Mrs. TOK, because she put them done for a nap at the same time each day and didn’t take no for an answer. If they cried, we let them cry (within reason, say 30-45 minutes).

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        First bullet item is the problem

        I thought the same. The toddler is running the house. That’s probably a big reason she has “anger issues”

      • Mojeaux

        We had a lot of problems with XY.

        But one thing we DIDN’T have to worry about was the kids behaving at restaurants and during the main church service. I have the evil eye down pat. “Your kids are so well behaved!” Yeah, well, wait till he gets to his classroom.

        I saw some TikTok person and her husband would set the dining room table like a restaurant, sit the kids down in nice clothes, and teach them etiquette, how to order, how to tip, etc.

      • Suthenboy

        Exactly what I was going to say. Who is the adult and who is in charge? No adults and the two year old is in charge.
        I always made sure my son knew who was in charge but I also treated him and talked to him as if he were an adult..or at least an equal as a person.
        He has grown into the man every father wants his son to be.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        My issue overall with that post (and the guy is taking the replies with good humor, BTW), is that he’d rather give up date night with his wife than discipline the toddler.

      • Mojeaux

        Sounds to me the wife is the one not parenting. If the guy’s at work all day, he can’t do much. Her, “Well, next time, we can go to Chuck E. Cheese.” Um, wut.

  15. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Someone on the Tweeters was saying basically Subway charges too much for a very mediocre product. People buy Subway because it’s a fast and cheap way to get something on the stomach without the calorie intake of a McD’s (depending on what you get, as usual). Last time I went to Subway, my footlong was, like, $12. So, no. Haven’t been back since.

    Also, they got rid of the Hoagie spread and I’m pissed about that.

    • Derpetologist

      $5 footlongs are just another reminder of all that inflation that we’re told hasn’t been happening. I remember eating them often in college circa 2003 to 2007.

      A regular Chipotle burrito problem has the most calories per dollar of the major chains.

    • Suthenboy

      Calorie intake? Whut?
      The majority of calories in FF is the bread. Subway is a loaf of bread with a bare smattering of meat and veggies. Same with pizza. Most of what is called pizza now is just a loaf of bread with a little tomato sauce smeared on top with some paper-thin slices of meat and a little bit of fake cheese sprinkled over it.
      I remember when lots of women would get wendy’s baked potatoes so they wouldn’t get fat. Nothing I would say would convince them to eat meat instead then they couldn’t figure out why they couldn’t lose weight…so they doubled down on the baked potatoes.
      *facepalm*

      • J. Frank Parnell

        I remember when lots of women would get wendy’s baked potatoes so they wouldn’t get fat.

        Heh, I used to work with a woman who would go to McDonalds and get a salad… and ask for 3 extra packets of dressing. Somehow she didn’t lose any weight either.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        Anyone who eats fast food to lose weight specifically is on a fool’s errand.

        I was referring more to “I’m on the road/in a hurry and I need something quick and cheap. I’ll go to Subway so I’m not weighed down by a quarter pounder and fries”.

        If Subway can’t provide that, then who is going to eat there? A $12 footlong is just stupid.

  16. Derpetologist

    ***
    Educators don’t mind when parents contact us with questions. We want good communication with families, and we hope our students share what they are doing in school. But the increased parental surveillance has blurred the boundaries between home and school so much that students are not developing into independent thinkers.

    Students whose Chromebooks are monitored by their parents are also not as invested in their work as they could be. They may be less likely to play Minecraft in class, but they’re also less likely to let their thoughts wander when they brainstorm in a draft because they know that their parents are watching them.

    The classroom is so important that even during lockdown, when we were remote, teachers tried to duplicate the physical space. Students played games in the Zoom chat, shared their screens to show presentations they created, and led discussions. Yet, some parents still violated the sanctity of the classroom by surveilling their kids.

    One day, during that time, a mother of one of my students sent me an email. The subject line, in all caps, read, “I CAN HEAR EVERYTHING AND I DON’T LIKE IT.”

    We were discussing Romeo and Juliet. Her email quoted things students had shared about whether they believe in love at first sight and if they think that love lasts forever. It was the liveliest discussion they’d had all year. With everyone stuck at home—and given the increased mental health concerns during the pandemic—I was glad my students were eager to talk about relationships and human connections in the cyber world we’d created together. I never fully understood why the parent didn’t “like” what she heard. It didn’t matter. Our classroom wasn’t for her.

    Her son barely spoke in class after that. I tried to encourage him, but his mother was right there with us, having scolded both teacher and student.

    If we don’t all work together, our students won’t be prepared for the adult world. Or they’ll reshape it into the surveillance state they are getting used to, where they won’t know what it feels like to take risks or be imaginative or spontaneous because their whole lives have become a recorded livestream.
    ***

    Eh, we live in a surveillance state already. Sanctity of the classroom? Gimme a break.

    link

    • The Other Kevin

      Part of that unfortunately comes from the gender ideology and social justice crap that some teachers feel are more important than actual skills. I think most on this site would agree our parents had little idea what we were learning each day, because with good reason they assumed we were learning math, reading, grammar, PE, etc.

    • Brochettaward

      I have to agree with the teacher here on overbearing parents. There’s some room to operate between being the parent who lets their kid get convinced they’re a trannie and the one who has to put their two cents in on everything.

    • Mojeaux

      Okay, I have a serious problem with computers as the major source of learning material, especially at that age. Porn is way too easy to get to, even with the school’s server constraints and parents are right to monitor that shit. We tried, heaven help us, we tried. We put net nannies on them (which interfered with their getting the information) and my son STILL found a way around everything to get to the porn.

      So, I have ZERO sympathy for schools who bemoan kids not using their Chromebooks as intended, and EVERY sympathy for parents trying to regulate their usage.

      Put the kids on books, paper, and pens until they’re AT LEAST middle school.

      • The Other Kevin

        I had a similar issue with my middle kid. She kept finding ways to get into trouble on her Chromebook. For example, finding pornographic fan fiction about her favorite bands. We ended up putting into her special ed plan that she had all paper books and no computer use. The school fought like hell against that but we persisted.

      • Mojeaux

        When XY was … away, all his school work was books and paper. He was only allowed the computer to practice for his GED, which he aced.

      • Mojeaux

        Also, when we took the wifi away from him, he would go to the library, which loaned out mifi’s. Didn’t know for the longest time. Who’s going to tell a kid “No, you can’t go to the library”?

    • Mojeaux

      One day, during that time, a mother of one of my students sent me an email. The subject line, in all caps, read, “I CAN HEAR EVERYTHING AND I DON’T LIKE IT.”

      Welcome to the world after school got shut down for a year and a half because of those raging totalitarians and pharma fascists, which pretty much destroyed all human interaction.

      • Suthenboy

        I dont socialize much anyway but I never understood why people put up with that shit. I paid no attention to it.
        Someone I am close to live in madisonville, LA, a very upscale town. he tells me no one there paid any attention to it either. These are wealthy, educated, connected people. No masks, no lockdowns/shutdowns etc.

        I remember when that toad Fauci first started flapping his gums and me thinking…that freak again? I remember him when he first got his job. He was a loon then and hasn’t changed one bit. Everything he is saying is bullshit, that is now how that works at all. I had nine hours in micro, the labs and lots of micro work in associated subjects. Everything Fauci said was bullshit and he purports to have a phd in infectious disease? I think the dude needs to brush up on his field.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      My dad treated the shit that we did in school that he didn’t agree with with good humor and patience. When I joined the “student activist” group in high school, my dad laughed and called them “pinkos”.

      (we spent a lot of time sending postcards to various organizations and governments about prisoners of conscience in the USSR, so not all that pinko, I suppose)

  17. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    It’s not just Subway, either. A Reuben at Katz’s was probably ~$5 in the early 80’s when I went there (all I know is that my dad would have never brought us there if it were in any way an expensive family meal – we walked out of Red Lobster one time because it was too expensive).

    Now? https://localmenu.katzsdelicatessen.com/menu-and-local/katzs%20reuben.html

    • Mojeaux

      If Dude and I are going out, we always budget to drop $70-80.

      • Tres Cool

        The last time Jugsy and I grabbed lunch at BW3 (I had 2 beers, she had dessert) it was $65.

  18. The Late P Brooks

    I guess I was lucky. My friends and I were outside doing stupid shit on our bicycles. Computers were for NASA.

  19. Mojeaux

    Today’s driving lesson went well. XY’s only experience really driving has been at night without traffic or pedestrians, so I had him navigate the local grocery store’s parking lot with people and other cars. He said, “This is kind of scary.” “You’re damned right it is. Remember that.”

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      The single most valuable lesson I learned in driver’s ed was to do a regular sweep of ALL of my mirrors.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      (one thing I never learned was how to back into a parking spot – to this day, I avoid doing it as much as possible. But I’m a champ at parallel parking, simply because when you live in a city, you have to.)

      • Mojeaux

        Yeah, parallel parking is going to have to wait a bit. Thing is, we’re in a time crunch and he’s been working 18-hour shifts.

        My main piece of advice is, NEVER look in a direction you don’t want to go. If you’re looking at pedestrians, you’re going to hit them.

        The other thing is, don’t be nice. Be predictable.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I feel like things like backing into a space and parallel parking are bonus lessons and more specialized skills. The base skills are defensive driving and situational awareness, which you seem to be doing.

    • DrOtto

      I always remind my kids driving is one of the most dangerous activities they’ll ever participate in. Also that most cops are killed in the line of duty driving, not by getting shot.

  20. R C Dean

    “the Meagan Rapinoe hate train”

    I am not clicking any link with the words “Megan Rapinoe” and “train” in it.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Relax, its a Fox Business link.

    • dbleagle

      Not enough available shade. That place looks hot.

      • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

        I want to know how the chocolates and macarons survive that climate!

    • The Other Kevin

      Would 100% go there. Bonus, the boardwalk is all one level so it looks accessible.

  21. trshmnstr

    There are reasons for the store closures they are fairly open about—sales are down since the end of the promo, inflation, people in general aren’t eating out, competitiveness in the sandwich market.

    I can get a better sandwich for cheaper at Jimmy John’s or a handful of other places. There’s no reason for Subway to cost 2 adults and 2 small children almost $50.

    Last time I went (which was the first time in years), they were super skimpy with everything, too.

    • Ted S.

      This is why, given a choice, I’d prefer to cook for myself.

    • creech

      ? Go to stop on road trips for lunch. Two adults split a footlong, a bag of chips and a large drink for under $13.

  22. R C Dean

    Random thought:

    For me , footlong is two sandwiches (as long as I get chips, too).

    Most restaurant meals are enough for two servings these days. My Saturday sandwich covers Sunday, too. Our weekly takeout dinner usually handles two meals. We haven’t eaten out in years, in part because it’s easier to divvy up the serving at home.

    I find dividing the cost by two makes it easier to, err, swallow.

    • Mojeaux

      Same with us. Depending on the restaurant, I might be able to get 3 meals out of it.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      footlong is two sandwiches (as long as I get chips, too)

      If we go to a sandwich shop, I’ll order what one of my kids asked for as a footlong for the same reason.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      So it’s gone from $2.50/meal (assuming $5 footlong) to ~$6/meal.

    • Evan from Evansville

      This is exactly true. 6″ = 1 meal. Euphemism, please insert into that moist, succulent suck-hole.

      Meals for me are a damn chore. I’m never hungry. I eat all the time, but I’m a nibbler. A salad is nibble food for two hours or so. My stomach never says its hungry, and filling it too fast is, well. Time-consuming.

      Long ago, I learned to embrace leftover love. I get several extra meals when we go out to eat. Ya can always update it w other remnants. Reminds me of why coyotes are among my favorite creatures. They work hard for a living, and IIRC, are one of the only animals whose territory actually expanded as humans took over more for themselves. I love scrappers. Well. Underdog love.

  23. Grummun

    Re: sandwiches, Jimmy Johns better than Jersey Mike’s better than Subway, in my market.

    Re: burritos, my options are Chipotle and Hothead, and I’ll take Chipotle every time.

  24. Stinky Wizzleteats

    Subs: Publix deli if you’ve got one close, they’re miles better than any of the fast food type sub joints.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      I had their chicken. Everybody told me Publix chicken was like, life-changing chicken. As if the chicken was a gateway to a mind altering experience, some sort chicken singularity where time and space stops as you munch on salty, crisp breading, bursting with intense juiciness as if it wasn’t raised in a pen fed soy meal pellets but it was instead fed by some passive aggressive shaman.

      You know what? Its not, but its really good.

      • cyto

        Publix chicken sub, toss the chopped chicken strips in Buffalo sauce, provolone, lettuce, ranch.

        Good lord, that is a sandwich.

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Relax, its a Fox Business link.

    So you get unkillable un-mute-able video clips? Or is that just FOX nooz?

    • mexican sharpshooter

      I’m on an iPad so I can choose to play it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Woof

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Back from the grocery store. After all the back and forth about sandwich places, I thought about trying Firehouse (never been to one) but… too much work. Now I can have a couple of Nathan’s hot dogs on Hawaiian buns. With sauerkraut.

    • Mojeaux

      Nathan’s hot dogs are the BEST.

    • Tres Cool

      Ive only had Firehouse once but their brisket sandwich was solid.
      Cant remember the cost tho.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      I love all the God’s Chosen Hot Dog brands. And a nice squishy bun. I like chili, slaw, onions, and mustard as is proper in the South.

    • Ted S.

      I thought about trying Firehouse (never been to one) but… too much work

      Don’t treat them bad.

      • DrOtto

        You had a perfect opportunity to post a shitty music link and didn’t – thank you!

      • Ted S.

        You still got the earworm.

        (I would have posted it if I had been on my PC instead of my tablet.)

  27. DrOtto

    Locally, I go to a couple mom & pop sub shops. Here in Round Rock, we have Hoodies, which has only recently raised prices, but are still reasonable for their quality. When in the southern part of the People’s Republic of Austin, I frequent Tucci’s Southside. Also, very good, but about 40% more expensive than Hoodies. If I’m going chain, I’ll do Jimmy John’s or Jersey Mike (JM is expensive though). I used to enjoy Thundercloud, but they enjoyed enforcing Convid restrictions so much I said fuck all that. I haven’t set foot in a Subway for probably a decade. Megan the rappin’ ho has only enforced that stance.

  28. Evan from Evansville

    Subway was the pinnacle of a ‘good,’ semi-readily available sandwich in Korea. I found it upsetting as I discovered this truth.

    My Last Meal wish is still Schlotzky’s where I had my second, though first ‘real’ high school job for 2.5 years. Reg turkey original on jalapeno cheese, no tomato w Dijon. (And a bbq chicken pizza.) I loved that place and am sad it no longer exists.

  29. Mojeaux

    Stopped taking my anxiety med because it made me gain weight. Now I can’t stop gritting my teeth and my jaw hurts.

    • Evan from Evansville

      Yikes. I was rationing but nothing like that. Be well, as best ya can.

  30. cyto

    Making celebration dinner with the kids. Hit up BJs for steaks. Got 3 lbs of flank for $13/lb and 3 lbs of strip for $14/lb. Added on salmon and tuna to make sashimi.

    Walked out spending $90. But compared to usual, this is great. My wide likes to eat out for birthdays, and we take her sister along. After inflation, 6 of us with no more kids meals is north of $200. And that is a mid teir with no drinks, appetizers or deserts. Last time it was $300+ for steak, wine and appetizers.

    Totally not worth it to me.

    So baked potatoes, steak, broccoli and sashimi appetizer at the house for about a hundred sounds great.

    Plus, wife made me a chocolate pie with merengue, just like my mom used to make. Pretty sweet. And a bunch of key lime pie torts.

    • KK, Plump & Unfiltered

      My wide likes to eat out for birthdays

      Oh, boy LOL

      • cyto

        Do not let her find out I missed that typo. I’d be lucky to survive to the divorce

    • Ted S.

      Plus, wife made me a chocolate pie with merengue, just like my mom used to make.

      Dominican music on a pie. Sounds interesting.

  31. LCDR_Fish

    On base Little Creek, I’ll normally get Jersey Mike’s from the food court at least once per drill weekend. If I’m there on a weekday, there’s a good chance I’ll stop by the Blimpies within walking distance of the office I work from.

    Norfolk also has a Firehouse Subs – only went there once because they had a limited time Cubano version that was pretty good.

  32. Derpetologist

    I got fingerprinted for the college that hosts the charter school where I teach. Today I’m told I have to get fingerprinted again just for the charter school. This will be the 5th time I’ve been fingerprinted this year. I’m starting to feel like John Dillinger. I think I’ll pass on burning mine off with acid though.

  33. Suthenboy

    Given the current conditions I am not sure people understand just how serious this is. Kamala’s plan with certainly cause severe food shortages. Get that? We give money away to other countries in the hundreds of billions, have an administration that is actively aiding our enemies and actively attempting to destroy the culture by importing millions of people from other countries and now wants to destroy our economy on the scale of Venezuela where food and medicines are not available.

    When deciding who to vote for consider this: Do you like food?

  34. The Late P Brooks

    Kamala’s plan with certainly cause severe food shortages.

    The best part will be when farmers start dumping milk down the sewers and p[lowing fields of corn and wheat under because it’s not worth taking their crops to market.

    • Suthenboy

      I remember 20? years ago Jamaican dairy farmers dumping their milk like that while crowds of people tried to scoop it up off of the ground with whatever they could get their hands on. They were screaming and cursing the farmers. One farmer was interviewed by the clueless lefty American press. I dont remember what he said cuz it was kinda long but it did make me laugh. In a nutshell he said “Fuck them. They are getting what they voted for.”

  35. EvilSheldon

    Smith & Wesson has now discontinued production of the single best pistol they ever produced, the M&P2.0 4″ Compact Thumb Safety. https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/m-p-9-m2.0-4-inch-compact-thumb-safety

    Which happens to be the gun that I carry. Carrying guns that are discontinued gives me the whim-whams regarding parts breakage and such. So now I have to decide, buy as many of them as I can get my hands on (tough, because I’m broke as fuck right now) or give up and switch to something else? Sigh.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      What parts are not interchangeable with a standard M&P? Barrels, guide rods, springs, extractor, etc. can’t be too different from the the rest of the line, right?

  36. The Late P Brooks

    So now I have to decide, buy as many of them as I can get my hands on

    Do they sell rebuild kits for the parts which wear out?