Quiznos FAIL

My first post on this great sandwich blog! What better first post than to expose the dirty sandwich scandal of the year (so far).



A couple days ago I went over to MillionSubs.com to get my coupon for a free Quiznos sub in exchange for giving them my email address and other personal information. Quiznos was giving subs away to the first 1 million people who signed up (the promotion is now over). I printed out my coupon and headed over to Quiznos for lunch the next day. I walked up to the shop and was greeted with an ugly handwritten sign on the door that stated they would NOT be accepting the coupons. This seemed like a scam to me, so after I went else where for my lunchtime sandwich needs, I did a quick google search to see what people were saying about this Quiznos coupon...

It turns out the whole thing is one big marketing FAIL! Apparently very few Quiznos' across the entire country will take this coupon! But why would they create such an ad campaign only to disappoint the hundreds of thousands of people who just wanted their free sandwiches? Well it's because corporate Quiznos are a bunch of d-bags. They want the money to come out of the pockets of the individually owned stores, and obviously these stores are not happy about losing thousands of dollars every day by giving out free sandwiches, so they just won't take them. Sounds like a winning business model to me! Is this a way to run a company, to send out worthless coupons that will only piss your customers off? I did read about certain stores that will give you $1 off if you bring in the coupon, or places that will accept the coupon only if the customer purchases chips and a drink with it. The coupon by the way, does not say anything about required additional purchases.

Check out The Consumerist to see what other people are saying and also to get the information for Quiznos Headquarters if you want to complain. Walletpop.com also has some interesting info, notably that the CEO of Quiznos resigned on Tuesday!

So what did I get out of this? Quiznos got my info for their marketing department and I got to waste my time. I can't imagine that this promotion is actually going to help them in the long run. I think the exact opposite effect will happen and people won't eat there because they feel like they were cheated. I know I won't be back anytime soon! If you still have a coupon to redeem, I'd call ahead to see if they'll even accept it. Good luck!

The Muffeletta

I hate to blow my load on the first post, but in honor of Mardi Gras tomorrow, I wanted to share with you the wonder that is the muffeletta.

I borrowed this photo from Flickr user Hankins. He made his own Muffellta, aside from using a thinner bread, he stayed true to the original plans and documented his fine looking meat between bread here.

The muffelleta (or Mustafa, as a friend playfully put it) is basically a combination of Italian meats and cheese on Italian bread. What really makes the sandwich so special is the olive salad spread. Damn, if that's not an oily fine sandwich topping. This spread will make or break a muffeletta, and Central Grocery in New Orleans (the originator of the sandwich) makes my favorite.

Its named after the bread its served on, a focaccia-ish type of loaf. Spread on a little olive salad, add capicola, salami, mortadella, then top it off with emmentaler (a Swiss cheese, apparently (I know! I did research, I lied!)) and provolone cheese. Heat it up, get the cheese all melty and serve. You can buy a half sandwich, if you want a light snack. But if you're in New Orleans, pony up and eat the entire thing! Seriously, though, this thing feeds like, 2-4 people.

As you would expect, the place that created the thing does it the best, or at least is my favorite version. Couple that with being across the country, and you'll be damned if you can find a decent, Crescent City-ish muffeletta in the City of Angels. All is not lost, however as my quest for the SoCal muffeletta has lead me to two interesting place holders (something to hold me over until I can get my hands on a real one):

One: Vons (Pavillions if your nasty). Yes, the grocery store. They sell sandwiches next to the service deli and for five bucks, you can get the Big Easy. I cheap version of the muffeletta, on a French roll with genoa salami, ham, capicola (not sure, actually), swiss and provolone. Like I said earlier, the olive spread makes the sandwich and their olive spread is actually pretty tasty. Again, it's a cheap, bastard version, but isn't that what LA is about?

Two: Honeydew. There is a small sandwich shop in Burbank that sells their version. I must stress this is their version. It's more inspired by really. Kind of like when a movie is inspired by true events. Anyhow, it has turkey, ham and salami, with cheddar, provo and parm cheeses, and a decent twist on the olive spread. The real issue here is the addition of lettuce, tomatoes and onions in between sourdough bread. Yes, hardly a muffeletta, but it is delicious in it's own right. While one part of me wants to boycott it for taking a name of a sandwich it clearly is not, I can't help but be drawn into it's mountain of melted cheese and toasted bread.

So, go out and get fat this Fat Tuesday on this greasy pile of Big Easy goodness. I suspect you can get a version of this at Stevie's Creole Cafe in Encino (in fact, I think I've had one there and remember it being pretty good) or perhaps Michael's in Burbank. If you're not in the valley, you can go to The Bourbon St Shimp Co. on Pico. They don't have muffeletta's, but you can get a po'boy (that's a whole other post).

Happy Mardi Gras! Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!

I like meat between my bread

I love sandwiches. They are, perhaps, the single greatest culinary invention. This is mostly due to their versatility as configuration allows for infinite possibilities of deliciousness. They're customizable for staunch meat eaters (a good steak and egg on a French roll, anyone?) or vegetarians (avocado, sprouts and cheese). I'm sure vegans have a form of sandwich, but as you will find, extra research will not be a staple of this blog.

Rarely, if ever, will I claim a sandwich to be the best, period. I will only offer my opinion as to the relative deliciosity (I'll make up words, too) of each individual sandwich within the sphere of my personal sandwich experiences. I recognize I do not have the diverse and vast backgrounds with every type of meat and bread combination to accurately weigh in on the grandness of such statements. The sandwiches that will follow are simply sandwiches that I enjoy, and I hope you will, too.

Depending on how ambitious or lazy I may be, this blog will document the best (and maybe worst) sandwiches found around the Valley, LA and the rest of the country (as appropriate). I welcome any tips on tasty sandwich providers around the city, as I'm always on the lookout for quality meats between bread.