tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Quizno's
Owner -- The Quizno's Corporation
Primary Operating Region -- Nationwide, Canada, and developing internationally
Number of Locations -- About 5,000 (2007)

We've had the weirdest time with Quizno's here.  First, a franchisee opened something like five of them with plans for about a dozen to compete with the poorly run Subway's we had all over the place (the franchisee of those was said to be a "cheap bastard" by a friend of mine, but I haven't paid that much attention.)  Quizno's didn't take any time at all to win me over with their fine oven-toasted subs.  But the operator wasn't exactly hands-on.  The employees who ran the stores were notoriously disorganized and they were always running out of stuff.  One day they ran out of napkins and started rationing while fighting over who was going to run to the store.  So it was no surprise that one day, one closed, then another about a week later, then another...Pretty soon, we were fresh out of Quizno's.

A couple of months later, one of the five locations re-opened under new ownership.  The new owner was totally dedicated to the shop and made it a huge success.  Slowly he planned his second location, intending to have one of his employees manage the old store, when somebody came along and asked to buy the first store.  So he sold it and opened his new one, taking his key employees with him.  He's built, bought, or sold several locations since.  Today, we have Quizno's popping up all over the place.  Frankly, I'm now concerned about market saturation.  There are eight Quizno's I can easily get to during my lunch hour with time to spare.  Apparently, this only one of many complaints of franchisees.  Google "Quiznos lawsuit" to see what some Quizno's franchisees think of the chain these days.  Wow.  There's some nasty allegations out there.

James Lambatos started Quizno’s in 1981 with the idea of bringing to Denver an Italian sub similar to what he’d experienced growing up in New York.  Franchisee Rick Schaden and his father bought him out in 1990, when the chain consisted of 18 stores.  The company went public, then was taken private again in 2001.  J.P. Morgan Partners took a significant investment in 2006 after the Schadens unsuccessfully tried to sell their stake in 2004.  Schaden stepped down from day-to-day operations in 2007 but returned in 2009 as CEO.  The Schaden family are still the largest shareholders of the company with a forward goal of making the existing store base more profitable over expansion.  One of the things they're trying in my local market is eliminating the "regular" size sandwich.  Currently, you can get a "whole" (large) or "half" (small).

I do NOT approve.

Quizno's became one of the fastest growing franchise operations in the country.  Lambatos returned to the company payroll in the form of the marketing prop you knew briefly as “Chef Jimmy” in 2003, one of many wacky marketing attempts over the years, which have included resurrecting Bob the Talking Baby (previously used in an internet company's marketing campaign...and once had his own sitcom) and my personal favorite...using the creatures at rathergood.com with a rewrite of their "We Love the Moon" ("We love the suuuuubs!  The Quizno's Suuuuubs!  They got a pepper bar!")

Quizno's takes the Subway concept and presents it upscale.  The kicker is the subs are "oven toasted".  The sandwich meat, dressing, and cheese are assembled, placed through a conveyor toaster, then lettuce is added on the other side.  Quizno's sandwiches are pre-designed with specific toppings (although you can order them however you want them.)  You can side your sub with chips, cookies, soup, or a salad.  Soda is available, or a nice line of drinks in a self-serve cooler await...everything from bottled water to Fruitopia to Minute Maid Apple Juice.  There's a pepper bar for you to add more pizazz to your sandwich.  Don't think Subway's change in decor and addition of convection ovens didn't come along because Subway felt inventive, although I don't think of Quizno's as so much a Subway challenger than the outright killer of the Blimpie chain.

The best Quizno's sandwiches started out as "limited time" offerings that never went away.  The Mesquite Chicken with Bacon is such an example. Other good ones to try include the Traditional, Turkey Ranch & Swiss, and Quizno's once self-claimed best seller (until the Mesquite Chicken came along), the Classic Italian.  My favorite is the Mesquite Chicken...although it was displaced as my favorite while they had their awesome pastrami sandwich.  When they discontinued that one, the guy at my local Quizno's made me one final sandwich with all the pastrami they had left, which they were going to throw away at closing anyway.  That was the best sandwich ever.

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