Subway: Kosher fast food hits LA

The much awaited Kosher Subway has finally opened and having eaten there a number of times I think I have the good and the not so good down pat. For those who aren’t aware, Subway is located on Pico and Crest right next to AAA flag and banner 1 block west of Pico Deli and 4 doors down from Jeff’s Gourmet. I mention those two establishments as they are the ones that operate in the same market as the new Subway and are probably the ones that will lose the most business to the new Subway - at least initially.

The concept is pretty simple, you tell the first guy behind the counter what bread you want (white or wheat – baked fresh on site) and what meat you want. He slices the bread and takes the meat you have chosen out of neat little pre-packed bags and passes your selection to the next guy that puts on the desired vegetable toppings and sauces. He passes it to the next guy that wraps it up and passes it to the guy at the register. Very smooth operation with a good flow. The line moves and they crank out a ton of sandwiches really quickly. Circa would do well to hang out there for a while and study the people flow.

As far as the meat selection, they have hot meats like meatball marinara (very good) and shwarma (not particularly good) and they have meats that need to be hot like chicken teriyaki (bland and a bit gross looking) and steak (could not bring myself to order it uggggh). The ones that need to be heated are thrown into their turbo toasters that heat up the sandwiches really quickly. My recommendation would be to toast whatever sub you order. They have the all the regular cold cuts that I am guessing are the standard Rubashkin deli meats that you get anywhere like salami, bologna, corned beef, roast turkey, roast beef, etc.

The greatness of Subway is that you can completely customize your sandwich (or wrap or salad – not sure who is ordering those). Being that the guy is making it right in front of you, if you want extra lettuce, tomato on only one side, onions on the other side, bbq sauce, honey mustard, chipotle mayo, salt and pepper, oil and vinegar – no problem. The fact that they offer 6 inch as well as 12 inch sandwiches along with double meat options is also a big plus. From a pricing standpoint I find them more affordable then both PKD and Jeffs (although PKD could argue that they put more meat in their sandwich and Jeffs could argue that they use a better quality product in their sandwich). The sandwiches that I would order again are the meatball, turkey, spicy Italian and hot pastrami.

There are a few negative aspects to Kosher Subway with the most prominent being the lack of parking – they have a total of 3 non-handicap spots in their lot. When Pico Café and the Nagila gift shop have twice the number of spots that you have, it’s a problem (don’t even think of parking there as you will be towed!). The in-store dining is very uncomfortable. It has a cafeteria feel which wouldn’t be that bad if there wasn’t a line of people snaked along the wall right next to you starring at your sandwich trying to figure out what you chose, asking if the hot pastrami is good, yada yada. Speaking of the line, it is huge at almost all times of the day right now (not at 9am Yaak, I know). The idea is speed – and they are really quick once you get to the counter – but waiting for 25 minutes just to get to the counter defeats the purpose. You cannot call in an order and just come to pick it up so for now there is no way around this issue (it has been rumored that there will be 2 additional Kosher Subways opening up in the area so this would help).

Once the novelty wares out, I think most people will go back to Jeff’s and PKD for the reasons those places have been so successful for this long. PKD is still the only real deli in the area, you can sit down for a proper lunch and the food is good. Jeff’s has a much broader range then Subway does (sausages, burgers, deli, salads, soups, etc), the food is delicious and fresh (no microwave steak) and if you don’t want to wait you can phone in your order. That being said, if you are running to a ballgame or the park and want to pick up something quick, Subway is a great choice.

FYI – In addition to their well priced lunch menu, Prime Grill currently has 3 amazingly priced Prix Fixe lunch specials so if you have been staying away because of the price, now is the time to go. Two examples are for $12 you get a salad, burger with fries and a scoop of ice cream or for $16 you get a soup or salad, BBQ short rib sandwich with fries and a scoop of ice cream. The current specials will be replaced on November 15.