YumSugar

Subway Dabbles in Café Concept

Susannah Chen — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:50:33 PDT

What's next for Subway, now that it's surpassed McDonald's and Starbucks in store locations? According to Nation's Restaurant News, it's tackling the ever-popular café culture. Meet the chain's new Subway Cafés: slightly larger outlets designed to be a cross between a sandwich store and a coffee bar, with baked goods, hot and cold espresso drinks, and frozen blended beverages, among other offerings.

The decor, which might include coffee tables, lounge chairs, bookshelves, and a fireplace, mimics the cozy coffeehouse ambiance of - you guessed it - a McCafé or a Starbucks. In addition to his aggressive growth strategy of opening 2,000 new North American locations in 2011, President Fred DeLuca will also add about 10 more Subway Cafés to the franchise's current roster of 15 by the end of this year.

What do you think of the concept? Will tonier seating arrangements make you want to eat at Subway more often?

Yummy Links: From Soup Dumplings to Ham

YumSugar — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:48:12 PDT

Make your own Chinese soup dumplings. - Serious Eats
Subway's cut the salt in its Fresh Fit sub sandwiches. - Nation's Restaurant News
Padma Lakshmi and her baby go vegetarian. - Ecorazzi
Guess what? Chili's served a kid booze, too. - Grub Street CHI
TGD in Canton, OH offers Thanksgiving dinner all year long. - Eater
This Summer's fast food drinks look to be a bit of overkill. - USA Today
Ferrero Rocher magnate Pietro Ferrero has died in a biking accident. - New York Times
From smoked to spiral: a primer on ham. - Huffington Post Food

Yummy Links: From Subway to Craft

YumSugar — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:30:56 PST

There are now more Subways in the world than McDonald's. - Eater
Kahlúa from bean to bottle. - Serious Eats
Five things new cooks should know. - Eatocracy
Gabrielle Hamilton talks about her upcoming memoir, Blood, Bones, and Butter. - Elle
On the rise of female brewers. - The Atlantic
In the kitchen with Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo, of LA's Animal. - Huffington Post Food
Coffee with Grant Achatz. - Grub Street NY
A look at Tom Colicchio's Craft restaurant 10-year anniversary dinner. - The Feast

Source: Flickr User jetalone

Subway Goes Gluten-Free

Susannah Chen — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:45:41 PST

Nationwide restaurants are finally starting to notice that more and more people are paying attention to gluten in products. Case in point: Subway, which is currently testing out gluten-free options, including a sandwich bun and a dessert brownie, in about 700 of its Texas locations.

The bun, which arrives to stores premade, is a combination of corn starch, tapioca, and egg whites. Employees are even instructed to use disposable knives to prevent cross-contamination with products that contain wheat. With the change, Subway is hoping to increase its draw with the one in 133 people who have celiac disease.

The chain is also testing a diabetes-friendly menu in the Midwest, kosher menus in select US locations, and a halal foods menu in Europe. Is it a good move for large restaurant chains like Subway to be more sensitive to medical, cultural, and religious food restrictions?

Source

Your Favorite Fast Food Chain

YumSugar — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 07:30:43 PST

We asked you which fast food chain was your go-to spot for food on the run, and it was a close race between two major players. But we have a champ! A round of applause for Subway, whose footlongs pushed the franchise past drive-through bigwigs like runner-up McDonald's.

Maybe it was the sandwich shop's breakfast menu you couldn't get enough of, or maybe you were burning with desire for its new spicy offerings. Whatever the case, FitSugar would be proud of your fresh-over-fried pick for top fast food chain of 2010! Don't forget to check out our other Best of 2010 winners.

Source: Flickr User Vincent Desjardins

Healthy Offerings Win Big in Fast Food's Breakfast Battle

YumSugar — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:25:56 PDT

The latest twist in the fast food breakfast wars shows Americans are hungry for a hearty - but healthy - start.

Four months after debuting its calorie-conscious morning sandwiches, Subway has declared its breakfast a success, with sales exceeding expectations and more sandwiches on the way.

Meanwhile, Jack in the Box announced its latest product, The Breakfast Pita Pocket, will also be a fit-friendly morning option. The fast food chain's new item, priced at $2.69, will feature a whole-grain pita pocket with eggs, bacon, ham, and American cheese.

I'm not surprised to learn that specialty coffee drinks and breakfast sandwiches are the fastest-growing items in fast food. Wendy's and Taco Bell are both rolling out programs next year, and I'm willing to bet there'll be at least one healthy morning option on each. Are you happy to see these chains offering healthier breakfast? Do you ever eat fast food in the morning?

Source

NYC Transit Says "Keep Your Hands to Yourself Perv"

TresSugar — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 04:00:23 PDT

The wording of this very official-looking, yet unofficial, poster created by an artist for the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York is killing me. It starts off validating - "it's only natural to bump into each other" - and ends in all-out name-calling - "perv"!

Why not just slap on one of those passive-aggressive-but-very-effective signs that say, "Smile, you're on camera."

Subway Hopes to Wake Up Breakfast Sales

YumSugar — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:15:48 PDT

Yet another chain is vying for a piece of the pie in the ongoing fast food breakfast wars. Next month, Subway will roll out a breakfast menu, with a focus on low-fat egg and cheese sandwiches.

Options will include a Western egg and cheese; black forest ham, egg, and cheese; double bacon, egg, and cheese; and steak, egg, and cheese, all made with cage-free eggs.

Patrons will be able to customize whether they want egg whites or regular eggs, light whole-wheat English muffins, flatbread, or the chain's signature hoagie bread; and condiments or vegetables available in all other Subway sandwiches.

The breakfast offerings, which are priced from $1.75 for a basic English muffin melt to $6 for a foot-long breakfast sandwich, seem to reflect a trend toward personalized morning food and drinks. Do the new Subway breakfast items seem like something you'd order?

Source

Love It or Hate It? Times Square Station 42nd Street Chair

CasaSugar — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:00:45 PST

American artist and metalsmith Boris Bally was commissioned by the New York City Transit Museum to create his Times Square Station 42nd Street Chair ($2,200). Each one-of-a-kind chair is handmade in his studio in Providence, RI, with pieces hand-cut and edges shaped and filed by hand from reflective aluminum signs inspired by New York's famous MTA graphics. I'd love to see one of these in a New York City kitchen, living room, or even an office. What do you say?

Is Taco Bell's Christine the New Jared?

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:00:37 PST

Taco Bell has repackaged its "fresco-style" menu - which has been around since 2003 - as the new "Drive-Thru Diet." The new ad campaign touts the company's "healthier" menu, featuring items that contain nine grams of fat or less. And in a move that mimics the Subway/Jared pairing, Taco Bell has a newly slimmed spokesperson touting the benefits of the Drive-Thru Diet. Enter Christine Dougherty, an attractive young lady pushing the diet alongside her success story of losing 54 pounds in two years.

To see the commercial,