5385 Franklin Blvd (At Fruitridge)

• Credit / Debit Cards Accepted
• Hours:  Monday thru Friday 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM ; Saturday & Sunday 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Chelsea’s Take

Subway: Fast convenient, cheap, and not fried. It’s the modern day sandwich spot offering decent sandwiches for minimal money, and less of your time.

I have always liked Subway just fine. Gone since I was a kid to the Subway on Freeport, and I will tell you, it tastes exactly like the one on Franklin Boulevard. This is because Subway’s goal is to have that same special “Subway Flavor” throughout all the restaurants so that people know what they are going to get when they go there.

This Subway flavor I’m talking about is that certain taste that tastes like Subway – when you take a bite of a sandwich and say “this tastes like subway”, and the flavor you know you are going to get and expect when you buy a sandwich from them as well. Maybe it’s in the bread.

Know it or not you know good ingredients when you taste them, and Subway uses surprisingly fresh ingredients. To test this, I ordered avocado with my Black Forest Ham $5 Foot Long, and instead of smearing less than a teaspoon of some lime green mush covered in plastic in a plastic container resembling the taste of pesticides, they grab a whole real avocado and cut it open in front of me and smeared nearly the entire half on. For someone who sighs with sadness for paying an extra dollar for a little avocado, this was awesome to see.

The rest of my sandwich was piled with the perfect amount of ham and Swiss cheese, toasted on Italian herb and cheese bread, topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, mustard, mayonnaise, vinegar, and salt. And it was a good ham and cheese sandwich (first time I’ve ever toasted my sandwich there and the outcome was delicious) The meat was good and smoky, the cheese was melted and flavorful, the lettuce crisp and fresh – they make a good Sub!

This location was clean and the employees efficient. If I’m in the mood for Subway, I’ll certainly be returning.

A word from The Old Man

As we started down the trek that is Franklin Boulevard, we made one rule – no donut shops, otherwise we would visit every eatery.  That’s it.  Plain and simple.  No compromises.  Then admittedly, as we got closer to Subway, both Chelsea and I fudged on that one.  We decided that we could live without going to a national chain that is ubiquitous on practically every major street in Sacramento, and around the nation.  This compromise was a serious infraction to a number of followers who felt we should stick to our game plan.  They were right.  I am glad we did.

I am actually very familiar with this particular Subway.  I once had an office right next door during a political campaign.  As a neighbor, they were great – and a great source for feeding volunteers.  In fact, one employee even wandered into the office one day and said she wanted to help us out.  And from that day forward, we had an amazing volunteer to call Russian speaking voters.

During our visit, I ordered a $5 Foot Long “B.M.T.”  The “B.M.T.” sandwich at Subway was originally named after the “Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit.” Consisting of sliced Genoa salami, pepperoni, ham and your choice of salad, it has become one of the chain’s most popular subs.  With time, the sub’s name has evolved to mean “Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest.”

Now, I don’t make a habit of eating my food by the foot, but seeing that the 6-inch sandwich was $4.25 and the Foot Long was $5.00, I quickly did that math and opted for the better deal, half of which went home to Sinead.

The sandwich, which I ordered toasted on Italian cheese and herb bread, was quite good, and I was particularly pleased with the amount of banana peppers piled on.  One thing that Subway takes pride in is their bread, which is baked on the premises.  As they should be, it really makes the difference, and holds up very well to toasting.    One note, and a phenomenon I find at many sandwich chain shops, is that some of the menu items are very difficult to distinguish between.  We also brought a Spicy Italian home to Mrs. Old Man, and she felt they pretty much tasted like the same sandwich.

All in all, is Subway the best sandwich in town?  No.  Is it good?  Yes.  Can you get in and out with a satisfying meal to-go in minutes?  Yes.  And, when considering that we had 2 1/2 feet of sandwiches, chips and two sodas for less than 20 bucks.  It’s pretty tough to beat.

THE FRANKLIN BOULEVARD PLEIN AIR PROJECT

As a special bonus, we wanted to introduce readers to a very cool feature of Franklin Boulevard that most people just drive by without notice:  The Franklin Urban Plein Air Project.

The Franklin Urban Plein Air Project debuted three years ago as a “temporary” public art project.  It features 25 artworks painted on businesses, schools and other locations along Franklin Boulevard. If we had known anything about this blogging thing back then, we might have embarked upon Painting Franklin Boulevard.  As it is, we have already enjoyed seeing 18 of these works  as we make our way down the boulevard, with the latest adorning a column in the Franklin Center, just outside Subway.  (A complete list of the works can be downloaded here).

According to the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, the project was inspired partly by artist Ellen Harvey’s New York Beautification Project and partly by Architect Mary deLaittre’s curriculum designed to “make neighborhoods visible”.  It is “intended to encourage dialogue and exchange about neighborhood, community, and the urban landscape, but more importantly about how urban design can affect a community’s fate.”

The artworks are painted in the style called “Plein Air”, a French term meaning ‘in the open air’ which refers to a process in which the artist paints a subject, on location, which is within his or her immediate view. In this case, the participating artists focused on the colorful sites along Franklin Blvd. Originally, the paintings were meant to be temporary and expected to last from a few days (if struck by graffiti) up to 10 years.  So far they seem to be lasting, and that is a great thing for the boulevard.

If you are in the neighborhood, print out a map and take a drive (it is not the best walk) down the Boulevard and see each of these unique pieces of artwork.  Another hidden treasure on Franklin Boulevard!