Most of us have probably relied on a fast food or fast casual restaurant for a quick bite on the go, depending on the circumstances.
Whether it's during a busy study time for students, watching our budget but still wanting a meal out, or traveling and commuting, fast-food shops can be a quick, cheap and reliable way to feed ourselves and our loved ones.
Related: Popular dessert restaurant makes a very confusing change
To be sure, the number and diversity of fast-food options has changed in recent years. When in previous decades Americans had but a handful of selections to choose from, many of our urban areas and strip plazas are now laden with a myriad of choices, from Mediterranean, Mexican, dessert-only, Chinese, and more.
But one fast-food shop has managed to stick around for years. Subway, which was founded in Connecticut as Pete's Super Submarines in 1965, has seen its fair share of iterations and change.
It's rebranded no fewer than three times, first as Pete's Subs, then as Pete's Subway, and now as Subway. Since 1974 the footlong sub shop has operated as a franchise and has over 20,000 locations around the world.
And as a standalone restaurant, it packs a punch. It's both the largest single-brand chain and the biggest operator in the world.
Still, even giants sometimes get overstretched and need a rethink, and in 2023 Subway announced it was selling to Roark Capital for $9.6 billion.
Subway announces another major change
Since its August sale, Subway has been hard at work imagining new ways to entice fans and attract new ones.
And beginning on Dec. 4, Subway began rolling out a new item that sweet tooths might love: a footlong chocolate chip cookie.
The full cookie rollout doesn't happen until January, but on Dec. 4, four locations in four cities will offer a sneak preview of the new item.
They are:
- Chicago: 604 S Wabash Ave., Suite D, Chicago, 60605
- Dallas: 1222 Commerce Street, Suite 150, Dallas, 75202
- Miami: 2795 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, 33140
- New York City: 545 8 Ave., New York, 10018
Cookies will be available at the location from 1 p.m.-6 p.m.
Footlong cookies are coming to Subway restaurants nationwide https://t.co/9KoHLjdQFd
— WGN TV News (@WGNNews) November 29, 2023
In 2022, Subway experimented with other cookies and received resounding feedback.
"The overwhelming response we received from fans around the country last year let us know that we needed to make the footlong cookie a permanent addition to our menu," Paul Fabre, Senior Vice President of Subway Culinary and Innovation said. "At Cookieway this year, our guests will get a sneak peek of an even better footlong cookie: thick, gooey, packed with chocolate chips and served warm – right out of the oven. It's the perfect pairing with your favorite footlong sub and may even become your favorite footlong after the first bite."
