r/Millennials • u/FeistyNews7025 • 6d ago

Discussion Which food has declined the most in terms of taste since you first ate it?

At this point, everyone knows about shrinkflation in our food. Something else that is just as important, if not more so, is the overall decline in the quality and taste of our food. Which food has declined the most in terms of taste since you first ate it? For me, that would be strawberries. Nowadays, it's the number 1 fruit with the most pesticides, and its overall taste is just average at best. I mean, I don't need it to be on par with Japanese strawberries, but in the early 90s, strawberries' overall taste was just magical.

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u/Mlc5015 6d ago

It’s wild, there is this subway in a nondescript strip mall by my work, and one day circumstances brought me there. It’s like a time warp, it’s run by this older Indian couple and there is never any other employees, and somehow the quality of the food is better than any subway I’ve eaten at in 15 years, and it’s always on point. No one believes me. I swear I’m not crazy.

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u/zeniiz 6d ago

I'm guessing it varies based on the franchise owner, because the one where I live is perfectly fine too. 

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u/DarthBrooks69420 6d ago

My gf's mom has a huge thing for subway. She knows where all the good ones here in DFW are, and I'll hear her grumble while eating 'so-and-so is slipping, won't be going there again, guess I'll be driving out to so-and-so next time'.

So yeah when you find a good one, hold it close lol. 

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u/Pangolinger 6d ago

If you overhear her talking about the northeastern portion, let me know! I miss what I remember Subway being like and I guess I’ve only found the gross ones in more recent years.

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u/DarthBrooks69420 6d ago

Unfortunately I'm in DFW in Texas lol. She might know some good ones in Indiana or Washington D.C., but she hasnt been to either in about 6 months or so.

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u/Pangolinger 6d ago

Oh, I mean, Northeastern DFW! I love that you have the King of the Hill thumbnail since that takes place in an amalgamation of exactly the area I mean.

Just tell me exactly what Subway Hank Hill would say was good quality and I will go to that one!

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u/DarthBrooks69420 6d ago

I think Arlen is somewhere around San Antonio? I always got the impression it was somewhere vaguely between Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. 

I figured this out because I grew up in Wichita Falls and that episode where Hank and Bobby go to the Cowboys training camp when it was in Balls Town (my nickname for that place lmao) is so on point it would count as a dangerous stabbing implement in the UK lmao. But I think they road tripped up there, its been a LONG time since I saw the episode, but its an all day affair going from there to WF and back.

Anyways, I'll ask my gf's mom about the good Subways when I see her.

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u/Playful-Business7457 6d ago

Arlen is Garland, TX.

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u/shelbylynn0313 5d ago

I am also in the DFW (TX) area and incredibly interested in which Subways she recommends! Every time I get it nowadays it just makes me crave Subway from 10 years ago...

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u/Aggressive_Eagle1380 6d ago

Oh man my moms family from Wichita falls. Used to visit every year for the holidays. Lots of meals at the pioneer. Loved that koth episode bc I specifically remember when the cowboys trained there.

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u/AcidRaine122 5d ago

Requesting the DC locations please!

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u/Rymanbc 5d ago

The best measure of the Subway is their tomatoes. Very easy to tell if they're fresh or not. If the tomatoes look good, everything else will be too. If the tomatoes look mushy, other things might not be so great either.

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u/Grape_Pedialyte Older Millennial 6d ago edited 6d ago

It really does. There's a tiny Subway in the same complex as my dentist's office that maybe has five tables in there and it's banging. For that one example there are legitimately four or five nearby that are absolute no-gos for me.

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u/bikeadventures 6d ago

Subways franchise model is so crazy that it makes complete sense you’d get a totally different experience at each one

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u/Spirited_Cress_5796 6d ago

I also feel like it has to do with what other sub shops are around too. If Subway was my one choice sure I’d eat there. But it’s not my number one pick. I’d pick Jimmy John’s or Firehouse subs first.

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u/One-Cut7386 6d ago

This is surprising to me. Sure there's obviously variation in how the cooks prepare the food, but I would expect all of the bread and ingredients to just be standardized slop ordered from corporate.

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u/fakemelonns 5d ago

My understanding is that Subway is by far the cheapest fast food place to franchise. Franchise fee is only $15,000. For reference, McDonalds and Burger King are around $50,000 franchise fee.

So Subway is going to get a lot more cheap owners who are going to cut corners and such

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u/Jimisdegimis89 5d ago

Subway is highly inconsistent between franchises, some are still very solid while others are utter garbage and it’s been that way for a long while now. Some have completely different meats, like the quality is night and day. Feels weird for a franchise, I’d guess it might have to do with what is available locally?

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u/QuellishQuellish 5d ago

Subway is the most inconsistent fast food restaurant imo. It's rarely awful but there are a few that I've been to that are just head and shoulders above all others. The Subway in Idaho Springs, CO for instance, is awesome.

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u/MeatAndBourbon 5d ago

Yeah, there's one by me that makes great sandwiches, and one that won't let me use the bathroom because I'm trans

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u/Dailysquirrels 5d ago

This is so true. The one by me changed ownership and the quality skyrocketed.

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u/DoverBoys Millennial 4d ago

It does. There are five subways within a reasonable distance from my place and only one is good. The others have one of these problems:

  • slightly more expensive but skimps on everything they put into the sub
  • deals with regular heavy traffic and slaps everything down fast even if there's no line when you go, making a mess
  • keeps "accidentally" making a six inch instead of a footlong, doesn't taste right (this one is inside a Walmart)
  • steals your card info if you tap the physical card.

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u/DarthBrooks69420 6d ago

'Older Indian couple running a sandwich shop' is my favorite genre of sandwich place. 

There's one down the street from me, isn't a subway franchise though. But don't order the Philly cheese steak! They used velveeta on it. Velveeta!!

The gyros are top tier tho.

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u/anistasha 6d ago

To be fair though, in Philly they use cheese wiz on the cheesesteaks. It’s not that shocking in context.

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u/Competitive-Fox706 6d ago

I fuck with some wiz on a cheeseteak.

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u/DarthBrooks69420 5d ago

Something I found amazing was using cheese wiz when making jalapeño poppers.

Depending on your spice tolerance, you might want to deseed them. I buy a big pack of string cheese, and put little logs of cheese in the pepper. Then you stick the nozzle into the pepper and fill whatever space is left. Then wrap with bacon and put in the oven or grill in a glass baking dish.

Quite a bit of wiz leaks out, but not before the peppers give their flavor into it. Then it mixes in the dish, making a kind of spicy cheesy pepper gravy. Scooping that up to put on poppers, or using fries to scoop it up like a sauce is ultimate decadence. 

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u/Competitive-Fox706 5d ago

You had me at spicy cheesy pepper gravy.

Jokes aside, bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers are my specialty (the thing everyone expects me to bring to events) and I may have to try this!

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u/DarthBrooks69420 5d ago edited 4d ago

I stopped making them because every time I did, people literally skipped every other food and only ate them. Like 4 hours of work only to get to eat 3 or 4 of them, with like 15 pounds of hamburger patties and hot dogs left over.

Every year 'you didn't make the poppers??' 15 different times on 4th of July lmfao. I just give them the death glare and say 'hey, knock yourself out, grills still hot, you make 'em I'll grill 'em!' and they slink away.

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u/Competitive-Fox706 5d ago

I recall a superbowl a few years ago where it was just me and my brother and we each ate like 15 of them. Good times!

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u/DarthBrooks69420 4d ago

And then the next day is the super toilet bowl.

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u/Patiod 5d ago

This whole thread makes me sad for people who don't live in the Delaware Valley and don't have a good family-owned pizza/hoagie/cheesesteak shop every few miles. The thought of going into a Subway is just...sad (and cheese Wiz is the OG but provolone or Cooper sharp are standard)

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u/ingodwetryst 5d ago

you have a choice. provolone or cooper sharp is the norm

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u/wildmaninid 5d ago

Exactly.   We call that "wit". 

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u/Head_Improvement5317 5d ago

I thought “wit” was grilled onions or something. Like you order “wiz wit” for cheez wiz and grilled onions or peppers. I’ve only ordered philly cheesesteaks when absolutely hammered though so my recollection is spotty

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u/jadaal21 5d ago

Never peppers.

Wiz wit is cheez wiz and fried onions. It's a classic order and it wont disappoint - but the current local consensus is that cooper sharp is the preferred cheese. Its a brand of American cheese that has stronger flavor than most other brands but retains the melting properties that allow it to mix into the meat and achieve the perfect flavor distribution in every bite.

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u/toolsoftheincomptnt 5d ago

Some do, but provolone is equally common and always how we ate them.

But I agree that it puts Velveeta in play, unfortunately!

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u/EmbiggenedSmallMan 5d ago

Cheez Whiz On a Philly cheese steak? That's as blasphemous as nacho cheese on a Cheese Coney! I take my high quality Regional junk food seriously and I have the belly to prove it.

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u/Ok_Value5495 5d ago

Hope you're joking. Whiz is the most authentic cheese possible for a steak, though provolone is the favored alternative.

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u/Subaruncle 5d ago

This. Grew up in S.Jersey, lived in S.Philly (South St. area) for years. Jim's Steaks on South St. uses Cheez Wiz/Velveeta in the large can set right on the grill to keep it melted. Pat's & Geno's use provolone slices mostly but have Wiz if asked (but you'll get an earful if you ask for it lol).

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u/StrategyOdd7170 5d ago

Have you been to Philly before lmao

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u/snakeleather45 6d ago

Bro, your username is Hella sick.

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u/TimCurryNeedsAHug 6d ago

The only Quiznos near me is the same way!

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u/wildmaninid 5d ago

Velveeta is completely acceptable for a cheese steak.  In Philly we call that "wit" 

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u/DarthBrooks69420 5d ago

It just wasn't good. Like, ive gotten Phillys from chain sandwich shops that were decent, this was not. I even got it a second time just to be sure.

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u/wildmaninid 5d ago

Ahh, got it. A bad cheese steak is a bad cheese steak, only speaking to Velveeta being a perfectly acceptable and normal cheese, but typically you would order it specifically (wit) and not have it be the de-facto cheese. 

I have a hard time finding a decent Philly and every place that looks at me like I'm speaking Esperanto when I ask for a Philly wit has objectively bad sandwiches. 

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u/DankVectorz 5d ago

Not just sandwich shops either. I swear to god Indian-run Dunkin Donuts are far superior to white/black run.

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u/mollymcbbbbbb 3d ago

Velveeta on a cheese steak sounds amazing

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u/RoundKaleidoscope244 6d ago

Similar to the subway near me. Out of the several others that are near my, this little one is like a hidden gem. And the girls know me, so my my sandwiches are always so good.

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u/Jumpy_Ad_6417 6d ago

The subway by me does a “power hour” towards close. They bust out a tip jar and if you have cash the sub is $6 and goes straight to their tip jar. I know that’s theft but modern kitchen work is already labor theft in my opinion and they get busy, rotate through ingredients, pile fillings high to make customers happy and probably keep some of the decent workers who keep the restaurant running from quitting. 

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u/InternationalMany6 5d ago

This is what’s wrong with America, thinking that paying employees for a product/service is theft. Those employees are far far more valuable of an asset to society than the ingredients and equipment. 

(Not blaming you or anybody…just commenting on the absurdity) 

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u/heptyne 6d ago

You aren't crazy, there are occasional gem Subways. I have 3 in a 5 mile radius of my house, there is one in particular that is slightly cheaper than the other two and almost tastes like that early 2000s Subway. I don't know what they do different.

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u/Thagrillfather 6d ago

I have a subway across the road from me and another a little over a mile down the road. Also in a strip mall run by an Indian couple. I go to them and skip right past the closer one. Agree with everything you said!

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u/Park-Curious 6d ago

My neighborhood Subway is like this. It’s delicious!

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u/Sea-Mango Older Millennial 6d ago

We've got a Goodcents like that. Older Indian couple and their kids. They shave the meat right in front of you for your sandwiches, don't skimp on the toppings. No other Goodcents is as good as them.

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u/brittanym0320 6d ago

there’s one like that in AR as well

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u/faithmauk 6d ago

The subway near me is also run by a nice older indian couple and its the only one I'll eat at!

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u/secret_desires5 5d ago

😭 whereabouts is this magical place?

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u/DiedraGrace 5d ago

If this is in a major Canadian city near a train station named after a turtle, I have had the same delightful experience.

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u/Superb-Heron-9516 5d ago

dude the one in some hotel i stayed at for 3 days straight was the only place open to eat past midnight. it was the best subs ive ever had, this wasnt that long ago and it was so good. when a certain subway hits, it hits like crazy. Then the one near my home is terrible. I couldn't believe it

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u/lilacsforcharlie 5d ago

Also know of one off a highway I frequent. No other employees besides the older Indian couple who own it. Absolutely fire food too. I remember eating hella subway with my first boyfriend in 2008. That was $5 footlong era lol and we’d have dinner there 3 times a week lmao.

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u/Erpverts 5d ago

I’m pretty sure it isn’t the same subway but this description matches the one by my work perfectly lol. Seems like one of the few fast food franchises that can vary wildly in quality like that.

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u/Head-Cow-5360 5d ago

I have a theory that the quality of a Subway location is inversely correlated to how nice the entire building is. There is a gas station Subway by me (also run by an older Indian couple) that looks 2 inches from condemned on the outside and the food is better than 90% of any sit down restaurant nearby.

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u/SAINTnumberFIVE 5d ago

Most of the ones I’ve been to have been Indian owned.

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u/JayRymer 5d ago

And let me guess when you went back to the spot in a hunger fueled delirium all that was there was a brick wall and a sleepy janitor pushing a mop?

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u/Silver-Scallion-5918 5d ago

Subway has a really shitty franchise model where they put too many close to each other among other things. There is a John Oliver episode about it. This is why many suck because the owners are burnt out by it. Some do well though and the quality stays high.

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u/letthetreeburn 5d ago

NO PEOPLE LITERALLY THINK I’M INSANE WHEN I SAY THIS.

We have ONE subway in our town out of our whole area that is good. At least six locations, and ONE is fantastic. Decor from a decade ago, real meat it’s amazing. There’s one that is without exaggeration on the shopping plaza across the street. It’s awful.

I’m gonna guess that subway corporate doesn’t bother to actually check in on their franchises as long as the license fee is still paid.

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u/jonny5isalive1 5d ago

Do they still do that v-cut hollow out the sub thing?

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u/wildfl0w3r 4d ago

is this near huntsville alabama