As you know, I have not been a fan of the kosher Subways, based upon the amount of meat in each sandwich. However, I had never tasted one, only had seen them. Tonight, my wife brought home sandwiches for dinner from the new LA Subway. My wife brought home a foot-long Spicy Italian Sub to be split between us, and each kid got a half sandwich of her choice. I only tasted the Spicy Italian. The first thing is that it was a foot long sandwich for under $9. The second is that i tasted good, very well balanced. Evidently, they must have worked hard to formulate these things. Third, it was mostly salad, as we all knew, with little meat. Fourth, the amount of meat was adequate. It was about as much as I would have put on if I were making a sandwich of this type myself, given the cost of kosher meat. Fifth, if I had made the sandwich myself, it would have cost much less, but it certainly was reasonable for a store-bought meal. Finally, due to the fluffiness of the loaf, a half sandwich was not quite adequate for me in terms of filling. I was left feeling that a person could do a lot worse for the money and the quality than buying a kosher Subway sandwich, which surprised me.

As far as the meat is concerned, according to my daughters, who saw these packages being used, they must premeasure meat into plastic packages for use in each sized sandwich. Portion control of the most expensive ingredient must be a large part of the profitability equation. Once cost per sandwich is under control, variable costs are predicatable, and margins can be cut for school and other catering because fixed costs can be allocated elsewhere. The result is efficiency of production over the workday, and effective use of employees. I must take my hat off to these entrepreneurs, they are running their operation by proven management techniques.