53 Years Ago, This Sandwich Chain Wanted To Bring East Coast Taste To The Midwest. Now It Has Almost 100 Locations

"Better bread. Better subs." Like two slices holding everything in place, these four words form the foundation of a Milwaukee chain that has been serving world-class sandwiches for over half a century. Back in 1972, Bill Specht and his cousin Jim Sheppard opened a shop so that they could bring their favorite East Coast sandwiches to the Midwest. Today, Cousins Subs is a much-loved brand with around 100 locations, and its remarkable growth story has layers that go well beyond what's stacked between the slices — from a clear idea of what they stand for to a mission-driven approach to community building.

But before we get to any of that, there's the sandwiches themselves. In a casual dining world where most brands sacrifice quality at the altar of operational effectiveness, Cousins Subs has always sold authenticity. "Some competitors sell fast service," explained CEO Christine Specht (co-founder Bill Specht's daughter) to Green Bay Press Gazette in 2019. "We sell this idea that it is an authentic East Coast-style sub sandwich, raised in Wisconsin."

What this means on the cutting board is an obsession with quality ingredients (the steak used in the chain's sandwiches is flown in from Pennsylvania, for instance) and a menu that is rooted in East Coast classics, sprinkled with Midwest experiments. So, you can order a grilled-to-order Philly Cheese Steak or a Meatball & Provolone, but with Wisconsin Mac and Cheese on the side. Additionally, the chain's seasonal specials often champion local ingredients, like the Wisconsin Steak & Brat or Brat & Bacon subs. But the hero is the bread, which is still made using the original recipe from 1972.

Arguably the most important part of any sub, choosing the right bread for your sandwich is crucial. More than anything, Cousins Subs seems to take particular pride in its choice of sandwich buns. In fact, it's a leading part of the brand's pitch to potential franchisees on its official website. "All of our restaurants bake fresh bread every day," the note reads. "It's all a part of our commitment to quality and authenticity in our products. It's one of the many things that keep our guests coming back." Today, Cousins' bread is baked and frozen into logs before being distributed to its many locations. Employees are trained on how to proof and bake the bread, a process that's repeated multiple times throughout the day to ensure that the bread is always fresh.

"You could never serve day-old bread," Specht says in a Cousins Sub commercial from 2011 (via YouTube). "Our bakers take so much pride in producing just the best loaves of bread every single day." The chain's CEO explains that the bread is baked in a way where it "has a softer inside, but there's a hint of a crunch in the crust so when you bite down," reinforcing the brand's fresh-made promise. Today, Cousins Subs makes four different types of bread: Italian, Multi-Grain, Parmesan Asiago, and Garlic Herb. The chain produces around 4.5 million loaves of bread annually, convincing celebrity sportscaster Dan Patrick to appear in a TV spot bigging up their "better bread."

The idea of "better" runs deeper at the company than what it simply puts on a plate. Apart from nearly 100 sandwich shops, Cousins Subs also runs the "Make It Better Foundation," which focuses on making a difference in three areas: health and wellness, hunger, and youth education. Founded in 2013, the foundation has raised $450,000 to fund cancer research and $350,000 as scholarships to student athletes and employees. Additionally, the foundation has spent over a million dollars in funding local nonprofits and supports the Hunger Task Force, Milwaukee's free local food bank that works to prevent hunger and malnutrition.

"One thing that's very special about Cousins Subs is our culture," Specht once told The Boss Magazine. "We expect people to embody our four core values: purposeful, passionate, optimistic, and grounded." Specht also added that these weren't just words thrown around in the boardroom. "They are qualities that we consider when we look at franchise prospects and hire for our restaurants and corporate support center," she explained.

This culture clearly filters down to their franchisees as well. Mohsin Khan, who owns a Cousins Subs franchise in Milwaukee, is constantly investing in his colleagues. "I really want to push our employees to further achieve their career dreams by focusing on life outside of our four store walls," Khan explained on the Cousins Subs website. "Whether it is enrolling in post-secondary education or creating their own business, cultivating an atmosphere that promotes employee growth is important to me."

There is a lot of love for the brand online, especially in a category where there are so many popular sandwich chains available, from Subway to Pret A Manger. "I've always said to people that if a Cousins was built next to every Subway, Subway would be out of business in a short time," one Redditor explained, praising the bread especially. But it's not just that "better" bread either. The chain's mayo and french fries get plenty of love as well. "They advertise better bread, but for my money their mayo is their secret sauce," another Reddit user posted. "I don't know what they use, but it's amazing mayo." Likewise, another Redditor shared that they never go anywhere else for fries, stating, "They are so much better than anywhere else."

But the most amount of love seems reserved for the cheese curds. These small pieces of cheese can be consumed straight up or fried, and the Wisconsin-style cheese curds on the Cousins Subs menu clearly have a fan following of their own. Here's what the Milwaukee Record thought of the cheese curds at Cousins: "They're really, really, really good. They're big, they're fluffy, and they deliver that all-important squeak when you bite into them. I honestly can't believe these curds come from a fast food joint." It's easy to understand why — you really can't go wrong with crumbed-and-fried cheese!

It goes without saying that it's not been all smooth sailing. When you run a business for half a century, you're bound to encounter a few bumps along the way. But Cousins Subs has reacted well to the two biggest challenges thrown at the brand in the last 25 years. The first came in the aftermath of the crippling financial crisis. Like many chains looking to streamline operations, Cousins Subs decided to shutter nearly a third of its 145 outlets in 2011. Over the next four years, the chain's same-store sales increased by 16%, with average unit volumes seeing a spike as well (via Nation's Restaurant News).

But then 2020 happened, and the entire industry was thrown into chaos again. Yet, for Cousins Subs, this sparked a period of unprecedented growth. According to the brand's president, Jason Westhoff, there were two factors that came into play here. The biggest was that, back in 2018, the chain had replaced its technology infrastructure and replaced it with corporately managed infrastructure. "Everybody has the exact same setup in replication in every single store across our system," he told NRN in a Zoom interview (via YouTube).

The COVID-19 pandemic literally changed the way we pay for food, but Cousins Subs was quickly able to develop, test, and deploy tech that facilitated curbside pickups and contactless payments in every outlet over a single weekend. Additionally, the chain's loyalty program allowed the brand to communicate with guests, who were never sure if a restaurant was open or not. According to Westhoff, Cousins Subs ended up breaking their all-time sales record in 2022, Cousins' 50th anniversary. As the brand continues to expand, we can expect it to stick around for a long time to come.