8 Common Customer Complaints About Subway

Before there was Subway, there was Pete's Super Submarines, a local sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that was opened by a teenager, Fred DeLuca, and a nuclear physicist, Dr. Peter Buck. After an impressive opening day in 1965 that saw them move over 300 sandwiches out the door, the store continued to evolve, officially becoming Subway in 1968. Franchising began in the mid '70s, spreading the Subway brand across the rest of the country.

Since then, Subway has become a familiar spot for made-to-order submarine sandwiches and, more recently, pizzas, salads, and foot-long churros. Customers can customize their orders in real time with Subway sandwich artists leading them through bread, meat, cheese, vegetable, and sauce options, and that flexibility has paid off. According to a 2025 report by QSR Magazine, Subway is the most popular fast-food sandwich restaurant, beating out Panera, Arby's, and Jersey Mike's.

While there are plenty of Subway fans boosting those sub sales numbers, there are seemingly just as many unhappy customers who share common complaints across the national franchise locations. From questionable flavors to too-high prices, these complaints have sometimes led to customers giving up on Subway altogether.

The Subway restaurant chain operates as individual franchises, which allows local business owners to partner with the international Subway corporation to manage a specific store. Although these franchises must follow Subway guidelines with company-approved ingredients and policies, each franchise is operated, stocked, and managed independently. Franchising is what helped Subway gain momentum in the 1970s, but from the customer's perspective, this business model has created inconsistencies across Subway locations. 

There are over 20,000 Subway franchises in the United States alone, and among those tens of thousands of locations, many customers complain of unpredictable food quality levels from store to store due to different management. As one Reddit user noted, food quality "all depends on which Subway u got [sp] to," adding, "The only thing that is consistent with every store is the prices going way up." Another Reddit user who experienced lousy service at one Subway location wrote, "i guess each subway franchise has their own rules." 

Perhaps the greatest evidence of inconsistencies across Subway locations is that when people field complaints from unsatisfied customers, many will simply suggest a different franchise location, rather than recommending a different chain entirely. 

Although Subway might feel different from other fast food chains like McDonald's or Wendy's, the submarine sandwich chain is technically a quick-service restaurant. As such, customers expect Subway to be affordable. For many unhappy customers, Subway consistently fails to meet this expectation with specialty sandwiches that can cost up to $15 to $18 for a footlong (though exact pricing varies by location). 

This assumption of affordability is not entirely unfounded. Subway began a "$5 footlong" campaign in the early 2000s. A massive commercial rollout and memorable jingle ("five, five dollar, five dollar footlong") helped solidify the idea into the general zeitgeist that Subway sandwiches were around five bucks. When this campaign was quietly phased out in the 2010s, many customers didn't know to adjust their expectations. That made doubling prices all the more shocking for Subway patrons, even as the general cost of living has increased over the years. 

Increasing prices have caused some customers to write off Subway forever, with one protesting on Facebook that they "might as well go to a restaurant." Even employees have noticed. One Subway associate wrote on Quora, "I always hear at least once a shift a muttered remark or outburst that it's way too expensive. I have to say that I agree with these customers." 

Customization has long been a major selling point for Subway, but a common complaint among customers is that their made-to-order submarine sandwiches often make it to the end of the assembly line looking scant. Stingy toppings and bread sizes are two widespread grievances among Subway customers, like one unhappy Facebook user who said their sandwich was "nothing but bread," adding, "this is why nobody goes there." 

In addition to feeling like their meat, vegetables, cheese, and sauces are far too light, customers have pointed out the actual size of the Subway sandwich. Submarines are available in 6-inch and 12-inch loaves; however, these measurements are not precise. Customers have exposed their shortened subs online by measuring them with a ruler. There was even a lawsuit attempted against Subway for inaccurate sub measurements in 2017, but the case was thrown out. In 2024, another lawsuit claimed that Subway sandwiches don't have enough meat.

Interestingly, according to one Subway employee on Reddit, the problem isn't the portion sizes now. The problem is what sandwich artists were doing before. "All that's happening is subway has cracked down on portion sizes due to food cost being so high at a majority of stores. You aren't getting less food, you're just getting what you're supposed to get now." 

Penny-pinching Subway customers commonly protest the fact that coupons are not honored across all franchise locations. Because these storefronts operate independently, accepting coupons is at the specific franchise's discretion. Most locations will base their coupon policy on their financial situation, which means external price hikes in food and gas can and do directly affect how likely a Subway location is to accept a coupon you got, say, in the mail. 

"Some coupons are a lot to absorb money wise," one Subway employee explained on Facebook, "so they pick and chose [sp] which ones they can afford to offer." Filing a complaint with Subway corporate might be tempting in these situations, especially if the coupon was going to be the difference between buying the sandwich or not. But it wouldn't work. As one Reddit user said, "at the end of the day, the individual franchisees have the final say on price because the franchisee owns the location." 

Other potential reasons a Subway might not accept a coupon are that the coupon is limited to a specific area, it's expired, or because the coupon is being used in-store when it's online only or vice versa. A small workaround for customers came in 2023, when Subway implemented a new policy that all franchise locations have to "honor all digital programs and promotions," per Business Insider. 

Subway debuted its "Eat Fresh" slogan in the early 2000s, implying that Subway was a nutritious option in the quick-service restaurant sector. Research shared by New York Times best-selling author and activist Vani Hari, known as the Food Babe, has refuted Subway's claim with a lengthy exposé that revealed Subway ingredients to include refined flours and sugars, nitrates, preservatives, and a chemical ingredient called azodicarbonamide, which is found in foamed plastics, like the ones in yoga mats. 

From a caloric standpoint, Subway's not necessarily the healthier option, either. Customers accuse Subway of leaning on lighter options, like vegetable and turkey sandwiches, to validate its "Eat Fresh" slogan, while others defend the chain by suggesting Subway is only as healthy as you make it. There are certain swaps that can significantly decrease a Subway meal's overall calorie count, but the average order will have almost as many calories as eating out at McDonald's. 

"It's not healthy at all," one Reddit user wrote. "It's just an unhealthy sandwich instead of an unhealthy burger." 

Customer complaints about Subway flavors are widespread and range from matters of personal preference to potential safety hazards. Cases in the latter category include reports of sandwiches having a chemical taste, almost like bleach or a similar cleaning agent, and reports of lettuce having a strong rubbing alcohol smell. One Reddit user described Subway bread as tasting like "cake and chemicals." 

Meat-specific complaints are also common, with many customers reporting Subway meat as having an overprocessed look, mouthfeel, and taste. Although not every meat option is processed equally, complaints about discolored, hardened, dry, off-smelling, and bland meat apply to a wide variety of menu items, including cold cuts, chicken, and steak. 

Another common theme in the complaints about Subway's flavors is a sense of deteriorating quality. Many customers say that they can remember Subway tasting considerably better in years past, with some claiming quality was at its peak in the early 2010s, the late '90s, and even the 1980s. 

One widespread gripe about Subway can be summarized by the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Subway menus have undergone several changes over the years, which has inevitably led to disappointed customers whose favorite items were 86'd. For some customers, the menu changes are enough to stop eating Subway altogether. Others have opted to fight for their favorite flavors, going so far as to write petitions calling for the return of discontinued items. 

A common favorite that's no longer on the Subway menu is the Seafood Sensation, which was a blend of imitation crab meat and light mayo. "I stopped eating at Subway when they stopped serving the Seafood Sensation. I miss it so much," one Reddit user wrote. Another Reddit user lamented that they missed the Seafood Sensation sub "Everyday of my waking life." 

Other well-loved items that are no longer available at Subway include ghost pepper bread, buffalo sauce, and wraps. Some ingredients, like black olives and cucumbers, will be discontinued in specific areas so that Subway can collect data about consumer spending habits. This happened to one Facebook user whose local Subway stopped offering one of their go-to ingredients. "I boycotted subway til the black olives came back," they wrote. 

Since its founding in the mid-1960s, Subway has continued to evolve its menu and preparation guidelines to optimize customer experience and cost- and time-efficiency. An old prep technique that is no longer used is a specific way of slicing bread called the "U-gouge." Sandwich artists sliced a U or V-shaped cut on the top of the sandwich loaf, leaving a narrow strip as the top bun. The bottom bun had raised sides, and toppings went in the U or V-shaped channel. 

The U-gouge was phased out for a hinge cut in the late 1990s, and online conversations around the phase-out date back to the early 2000s. This has been a common customer complaint amongst Subway patrons past a certain age, with many wistfully recalling the way the U-gouge held toppings inside the sub, thanks to the bottom half's raised edges. One Reddit user made the comparison, "If you had a bowl and a plate, which dish would allow things to fallout [sp] easier?" 

Not everyone was a fan of the U-gouge, though. Some claimed this type of cut only gave the illusion of more toppings, while actually allowing room for less. In any case, Subway corporate got rid of the U-gouge to increase speed on the assembly line, according to some Subway employees.