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 4000 (2005)

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.  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.

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.  Under the Schadens, 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 know as “Chef Jimmy” in 2003.

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.  And to quote the rathergood.com creatures featured in a brilliant but short-lived advertising campaign, "they got a pepper bar".  Don't think Subway's change in decor and addition of toaster ovens didn't come along because Subway felt inventive.

The best Quizno's sandwiches started out as "limited time" offerings that never went away.  The Mesquite Chicken with Bacon and the Black Angus Steak sandwiches are such examples. 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.

Quizno's has resurrected Bob the talking baby for what is probably their most successful advertising campaign ever.  Bob was originally created in 1999 for an internet company's ad campaign.  Bob then got a short-lived sitcom.  Hopefully when Quizno's is done with Bob, they'll let the rathergood.com creatures eat him.

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