5 Subway Sandwiches That Are Not Worth The Money In 2026

One of Subway's greatest strengths is market dominance. Wherever you go in America, chances are that you're not too far away from a Subway location. Even with recent store cuts, Subway still ended 2025 with over 18,000 locations, offering those familiar subs nationwide. Research has shown that folks who move from one state to another are more likely to visit restaurant chains they encountered in their previous home state, so Subway has positioned itself to be a go-to source for sandwiches. That doesn't mean every Subway sandwich is worth your money, though.

Subway routinely ranks below other sandwich shops like Jimmy John's and Jersey Mike's in customer surveys and has done so for years. When Tasting Table ranked 21 different sandwich chains, Subway placed dead last. That's not to say that Subway is always a bad choice. It ranked higher than any other sandwich joint in a 2025 YouGov survey. You can still get a good sandwich there, but, according to customers, that doesn't mean every sandwich is worth ordering.

We looked through professional reviews and casual user feedback on social media to uncover which Subway sandwiches fans have marked to avoid. Not all these items are widely disliked for their taste, although that is part of the reasoning here. For each entry, we found online reviews and complaints related to texture, ingredients, and quality as well.

Subway's meatball sub is a real love it or hate it item. Some customers have declared it their favorite Subway offering, but there is a vocal contingent of those who no longer enjoy it. "I just got a Meatball Marinara sub last night from Subway and it tasted awful, like no other meatball sub I have ever eaten before," said one Redditor. Other commenters agreed, and in a different thread, another Redditor shared their belief that the meatballs had changed: "I've tried them a few times recently and they're horrible now." Some years back, Subway switched from all beef to meatballs made with beef and pork, and this change may be what some have perceived.

There are several other reasons why customers think the sandwich tastes different. In another Reddit thread, an alleged Subway employee noted that their manager wanted leftover meatballs saved to be served the next day. Comments from multiple users suggest that meatballs are often served regardless of how fresh they are, despite official corporate policy. Other online complaints claim that the sauce is also too watery, with some suggesting that it may have been diluted with too much water or become watery from sitting in the hot well too long.

On paper, Subway's 5 Meat Italian sub sounds like it should be delicious. A sandwich made with pepperoni, salami, turkey, ham, and roast beef has just about everything a meat lover could want. However, the reality falls short for many customers. When Tasting Table ranked Italian subs from seven chains, Subway's 5 Meat Italian fell last. The biggest issue with the sub is that it has an identity crisis. While it does offer five meats, they're not all Italian. Our taste tester found that roast beef overwhelmed the other meats, especially the Italian ones, leaving the flavors muddled and confusing. None of the other toppings, from the cheese to the vegetables, did much to salvage it either.

Beyond the confusing taste, there's another reason to think twice about the 5 Meat Italian. We're all familiar with expectation versus reality when it comes to fast food (a sub will always look better in advertisements than in person) but some customers have been particularly disappointed by the 5 Meat Italian and its lack of toppings. This is not a new issue, and Subway has been frequently criticized for skimping on meat. Back in 2016, Consumer Reports tested multiple subs and found them short on the meat. With five meats in play, getting shortchanged becomes very noticeable on a 5 Meat Italian. "It's shockingly ridiculous how little meat they give compared to what is advertised," said one Redditor.

The Cold Cut Combo features ham, salami, and bologna. Like the 5 Meat Italian, this should bring a variety of flavors — and like the 5 Meat Italian, customers report that it doesn't deliver, but for a different reason: all three meats are made from turkey. For some, that makes it difficult to notice a difference in taste between them. "It also just tastes like bologna," said one Redditor. "It's basically just a bologna sandwich, so if you like bologna, you'll be fine," added another in a separate Reddit post.

Even in the UK, customers note that the Cold Cut Combo suffers from a lack of taste. "A sad trio of processed meats that somehow manage to taste identical," The Daily Dish wrote in its review. A 2011 review from another food outlet had essentially the same criticism as everyone else: This is a bologna sub.

The texture is also a point of contention for some. One Redditor described the Cold Cut Combo as "slimy," a word that comes up in other posts about the sandwich more often than we'd like. If folks have been complaining about Subway making slimy Cold Cut Combos that taste like bologna sandwiches for over 15 years — and the price is all that changes — it's probably not worth your money.

Roast beef should be a staple of any sandwich shop. The fact that it's a sandwich built around a single meat means there shouldn't be too many ways to mess it up. Yet, Subway customers have brought up some specific issues with its roast beef — and there's more than one problem. When we ranked 12 Subway sandwiches, the Garlic Roast Beef was right near the bottom. Admittedly, this was a specialty sub that's different from the traditional roast beef, but it suffered from the same problem many have with the typical order: an unappealing texture. Our reviewer felt it was both stringy and fatty.

In a different review that compared Subway to Jimmy John's, another reviewer echoed the notion that Subway's roast beef was too stringy. Other customers have issued their own complaints about the roast beef, namely that it feels as if it's disintegrating upon eating. Conversely, some have described the meat as too tough. It appears that Subway's roast beef runs the gamut of unpleasant textures.

Beyond textural issues, there's also the problem of skimping on roast beef. "I recently bought a footlong roast beef sandwich, and I was completely disappointed," said one Redditor who posted a photo with so little beef it was hard to tell it wasn't a veggie sub. "The sandwich came with only two very thin slices of roast beef." One of the commenters replied, "Where I worked, it was also two slices for a footlong."

A B.L.T. is a classic sandwich that isn't too difficult to make. You'd think this would be another case where Subway could easily nail it, but folks online believe that Subway has dropped the ball. You won't be surprised to hear that a common complaint is that there's barely any "B" in a Subway B.L.T. One Redditor posted a photo of an open sandwich showing off only tomato and lettuce, adding, "There's a raw strip of bacon under those tomatoes somewhere."

The texture of Subway's bacon is also disappointing to many. One Business Insider review called it "greasy and a bit flimsy," while another Redditor referred to it as "limp microwave bacon." Other comments and reviews have described it as thin and floppy, rubbery, and even raw-looking. For a sandwich that most any other shop can make — and one that is very easy to whip up at home — Subway isn't doing much to earn your money with this one.