tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Planet
Sub
Owner -- Privately Held
Primary Operating Region -- Kansas, Missouri, and surrounding states
Number of Locations -- 23 (2005)
The second thing I noticed
when I pulled up to the strip mall was that the promotional sign in the window
looked very much like it was done for Jimmy John’s. (The first thing I noticed was that the neighboring cellular
store had a sign on the frontage with a big red arrow pointing AWAY from the
store. Apparently, they’re hoping
their customer base will run out in front of oncoming traffic.)
Planet Sub isn’t related
to Jimmy John’s that I know of, aside from that particular sign and maybe a
little of the marketing attitude. They’re
certainly closer to Jimmy John’s in concept than Subway.
Planet Sub started as “Yello
Sub” in Lawrence Kansas in 1979. Yello
Sub still stands in two Lawrence locations, but outside of Lawrence, the name
“Planet Sub” is used. Drink
cups feature both logos. Décor is
somewhere between “young college punk” and “bad Disney channel sitcom
diner set”. Clean and bright, but
trying to have an attitude. Planet
Sub considers it a bragging point that their employees do not wear uniforms,
expressing their individuality. Some
employee should start wearing suits and ties every day, just to freak out the
other employees.
Counter Guy was not in a
suit and tie. He was in a T-shirt,
just like the other employees. He
was REALLY tall…that is…until he stepped off the platform the counter help
takes orders from.
“What’s the difference
between the $3.99 price and the $7.19 price?”
I ask.
“Six inches or foot long,”
he says.
“What soups do you
have?”
“…Ummm, I’ll have to
check. I just got here.”
He scurries to the back
and, upon return, lists “Bacon…potato…something…and broccoli cheese”.
He kinda makes a face as he says “broccoli cheese”, which indicates
he thinks it’s gross. I agree.
I place my order and am issued an Ace of Spades playing card. “We’ll call you when your order’s ready.” The playing card replaces a standard order number, I guess. Cute. Although they call your order number, you don’t actually have to get up. Somebody will come out with the food, call out “Ace of Spades”, you’ll hold up the card, and they’ll bring it to your table. At least at this location.
 |
The sandwich menu is
extensive with over 40 available subs.
There’s your usual deli meats.
There’s chicken subs. There’s
seafood subs with tuna and “Surimi” (fake) crab. There’s an extensive list of “Veggie Subs” all of which
are devoid of meats, but some of which are also nearly devoid of veggies.
The sub is a decent manageable size. It’s not overwhelming. It actually looks somewhat skimpy compared to other sub shops. Taste-wise, I find the subs I’ve tried to have a nice flavor balance. Your mileage may vary depending on what sub you get. I’ve become quite fond of the Torpedo. There’s entrée-sized salads. There’s potato chips, soup (“seasonally” according to the menu board), cookies, potato salad, pasta salad, and pickles. There’s a line of energy drinks, milk, and some just plain weird looking bottled crap in a glass case built into the order counter. There’s the usual fountain drinks. The fountain included Mountain Blast Powerade. All sandwiches come on wheat bread baked daily. It’s not overly wheat, and it’s a bit crunchy from the baking. You might not even notice it’s wheat in the first place, so if you don’t like wheat, don’t be afraid to try it anyway. |
Oh…I have since tried a soup…”Portabella and Barley”. Not bad.
Bottom line...the format is basically cheap good eats, and Planet Sub does a good enough job on delivering that.
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