7 Bizarre Subway Sandwiches Workers Will Judge You For Ordering
Some of these technically can't even be called sandwiches.
Subway, the well-known sandwich chain has struggled recently both to stay relevant and to maintain at least a somewhat acceptable image in the public eye. Plenty could be said of the brand's mistreatment of franchisees and desperate attempts to keep customers coming back—but every now and then it's the customers themselves that need to do a little self-reflection.
Being that Subway allows the customer to build their own sandwich, this leaves room for a lot of "creativity" that we weren't ready for. Some people take this freedom just a bit too far and end up with a concoction that leaves employees—and, by extension, us—struggling to keep a straight face. Here are some of the more bizarre Subway sandwich orders we've ever heard of.
“All the sauces”
Imagine a footlong sub topped with every single dressing offered at Subway, along with a variety of meats, cheeses, and veggies. That's what Reddit user @Th3_Admiral, who claims to have worked at Subway, says that one customer ordered, and that it was "The biggest, most disgusting mess I have ever made." That's not surprising, considering there are 11 different sauces on the Subway menu.
Apparently this sort of dripping saucy mess intrigues quite a few people, though, because YouTuber Milad Mirg decided to create this very concoction, and the resulting video has more than 2 million views. "To each their own" is the motto behind these build-your-own orders, but just remember that asking a Subway worker to pull out every sauce in their arsenal will likely earn you some sidelong glances.
Toasted seafood
The smell of rapidly heating seafood is just diabolical. Imagine the scent that wafts through the office when that one coworker microwaves their salmon in the communal kitchen—and then turn that up to 11. Multiple Reddit users and self-identified former employees of Subway agreed in this thread that customers who ask for seafood-filled sandwiches to be toasted are not very well-liked. Although the Seafood Sensation sandwich is no longer part of the chain's regular menu, Subway's controversial tuna remains an option in a build-your-own sub. If you want a tuna melt, you're better off hitting a diner.
A sweet-and-savory sandwich combo
A savory and sweet combination sounds delicious in most cases, but this particular Subway order defies that logic. Reddit user @The_JFK_In_The_North posted that a customer at their location ordered "CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES ON A MEATBALL SUB WITH A LOAD OF VEGGIES AND A DISGUSTING COMBINATION OF SAUCES." (The caps lock is the Redditor's, not ours.) The poster's coworker was the one who assembled it, and apparently that employee was able to roll with the punches of this strange specification. "My coworker didn't question it at all," writes the Redditor. "Which is extremely impressive to me."
As much as I'd like to brainstorm some kind of justification for crumbling chocolate chip cookies onto a saucy meatball sub, I'm afraid I just can't defend this order. Save the sweet stuff for last.
Make it creamy
This order is similar to the order where a customer wanted every one of Subway's dressings and sauces dispensed onto her sub, but here it's taken up a notch. In 2021, a Subway worker posted a video to TikTok of a jaw-dropping build-your-own order that looks more like a bisque than a sandwich. The customer keeps requesting more and more sauce until the squelching sound of the bottle indicates there is no more sauce to be had—at that point, you should really just ask for a bowl of sauce with bread on the side for dipping. That would be easier on the employee, whose hands are worn out from so much squeezing of the drizzle bottle.
Burnt to a crisp
Once again, this is all about personal preference, but the idea of an insanely toasted sandwich does pose an interesting question: At what point does an item go past toasted and become fully, irredeemably burnt? Reddit user @GentlemanGallimaufry describes their experience with a burnt bread enthusiast:
"Worked the night shift for Subway during college. Had a regular come in at 3am usually that would request that we toast the shit out of his sandwich. I'm talking the whole thing was basically charcoal...Apparently he really liked the taste of burnt everything."
We'll give this to the customer: he knows exactly what he likes and he isn't afraid to ask for it.
Meatballs and mayo
Although mayonnaise is divisive, this Subway combo is shockingly commonplace. Reddit user @kusanagisana (as well as multiple others) writes, "Someone ordered a meatball sub from Subway that had nothing on it but meatballs, the sauce, and about four times as much mayonnaise as would go on a regular sandwich. That was it."
Not a Subway worker, but a former Grubhub driver, @kusanagisana tried the sandwich themself and gave a mixed review. The taste of the sandwich was surprisingly pleasant, but hours later their stomach did not agree.
Ranch, ranch, ranch
We can call this one the "Midwest Special," because only the most stereotypical Midwesterner would savor a mouthful of this order. A viral Twitter thread from user @pb_and_garlic tells the tale of a Subway order that shook the worker to their core. "I think about this sandwich at least once a week," they write. "It haunts my nightmares." What was it? A sub topped with seemingly endless ranch dressing.
"My soul exits my body as I continue to squirt ranch dressing onto her 'sandwich,'" the user tweeted. "It's more of an open-face soup at this point. I look up at her, expecting her to tell me to stop. She doesn't. She wants more." On and on the saga goes...
To the credit of the customer—or not, depending on your opinion of ranch dressing—the Twitter user reported that the customer did eat the sandwich without any hint of their dripping-wet order being a joke. Maybe they're angling for a Guinness World Record we don't know about.