These Sandwich Chains Serve The Lowest And Highest Quality Breads

When you order a sandwich, the bread does much more than keep the fillings from falling into your lap; it can also change the sandwich's personality and flavor profile, for better or worse. It can be crusty or pillowy, chewy or soft, tangy or completely neutral — those differences can make or break an otherwise great sub. At some sandwich chains, the bread is memorable enough to become part of the restaurant's identity. At others, it can fade into the background or, worse, be soggy, stale, or so offensive that it ruins your lunch. Good-quality bread is perhaps one of the most important parts of a sandwich, and when you're picking a spot for lunch, you want to make sure the bread measures up. Most sandwich connoisseurs look for a loaf with a light, crispy crust and a fluffy center, strong enough to hold any toppings you like. 

So which sandwich chains serve the best bread, and which ones leave something to be desired? The most popular sandwich chains in the country are reviewed every day by happy and unhappy customers, and those online reviews were the first thing we looked at when trying to find out which chains have the best-quality bread. Some chains go above and beyond, baking their bread in-house each morning, while others rely on frozen bread or loaves that taste anything but fresh. Here are the places you should go if bread is a top priority, and a couple of places you should skip. 

If you're ordering a sandwich at Schlotzsky's, there's a good chance the bread is going to be the first thing you notice. Instead of the standard white sub roll you'll see at many sandwich shops, Schlotzsky's uses a signature round sourdough. The chewy interior and tangy flavor give the sandwiches a unique identity that's hard to forget. Good bread is the foundation of a good sandwich; if the bread doesn't taste right, the whole thing falls apart. One of the secrets to the company's great bread is that it's baked fresh in-house every single morning. Customers online claim that Schlotzsky's sourdough is not only flavorful, but consistently delicious. This consistency matters in fast casual dining, where people expect the same product every time. The bread is such a hit that enthusiastic fans try to replicate the recipe at home. 

These reactions prove that the bread here isn't only a vessel for toppings; it's part of the taste and texture profile that rounds out the sandwich. For many sandwich fans, the combination of sourdough's chewiness, acidity, and structure makes it a particularly effective match for bold fillings. When the bread contributes its own flavor instead of disappearing into the background, the sandwich feels more thoughtfully constructed.

Blimpie has plenty of loyal fans, but certainly not the best bread in the business. The chain has plenty going for it: Its bread selection includes traditional white, wheat, and specialty options, and it emphasizes fresh-sliced ingredients. However, the lack of quality bread does seem to be enough to drive people away from the chain. Customers know that the bread makes the sandwich, and folks who eat at Blimpie are often disappointed.

One ex-Blimpie customer said, "The sandwich bread used at [Blimpie] has more in common with yoga mats than it does bread" – a crystal-clear, if not disheartening, review. Some hardcore fans of the chain will always exist, but the obvious lack of quality discourages many. "I remember the bread being terrible," said another person about Blimpie on Reddit.

Jimmy John's is a lot of people's favorite sandwich shop right now, and many say it outperforms other chains with similar offerings. It can be a little underrated, and overshadowed by chains like Subway or Jersey Mike's, but the quality is definitely there, particularly in the bread. It's also baked fresh (not from frozen dough) in-house throughout the day, which makes a big difference in terms of taste and freshness. It also isn't baked from a frozen dough, which makes a big difference in taste and freshness. People are such avid fans of JJ's that they'll buy day-old loaves and bring them home to make sandwiches, garlic bread, or croutons.

Jimmy John's has built a surprisingly large part of its reputation around bread. The chain's French bread is soft enough to bite through without fighting the sandwich, but substantial enough to give a cold sub some structure. The consistent flavor and texture are why Jimmy John's bread inspires customer loyalty and so many copycat recipes online. Customers cannot get enough of the bread, so they find ways to make a never-ending supply at home.

Potbelly showing up on the low end of this list may surprise many fans of the chain. The restaurant has a strong following, but it falls short on consistency in the bread department. Some customers praise the shop for producing fresh, great sandwiches, but when the reviews are bad, they're bad. Some items like the chicken salad are widely disliked, and, when paired with mediocre bread, the sub is a recipe for disaster. 

A big complaint involves a change in the size of the rolls. The chain apparently changed its bread sizes (and customers said that the prices changed too). Many report that Potbelly now can't seem to get its toasting method right. Customers complain that they received subs that were completely underdone. Not knowing what you'll get when you order is a huge red flag for people who go to fast casual spots for convenience and predictability. It's no surprise, then, that customers are disappointed when Potbelly's falls short on one of fast casual's main draws: consistency.

Considering all of the branding Panera does around bread, it better be good. The chain built its identity around bakery offerings, and its bread selection has traditionally included sourdough, ciabatta, baguettes, focaccia, and other loaves with a variety of textures and flavors. When one chain offers so many choices, "good bread" can come down to whether you want chewiness, a thick crust, or softness — and Panera offers them all. Although Panera now ships its dough to stores, employees still bake everything in-house each morning. 

Panera makes one of the best sourdoughs around that doesn't come straight from a traditional bakery. Its sourdough has a satisfying chew and just enough of that signature sour flavor that makes it a great vessel for any sandwich. Folks are also huge fans of Panera's ciabatta bread, while others say that tomato bread makes good croutons. The white Miche bread, meanwhile, is one of Panera's top-ranked breads, and many customers' go-to vechicle for sandwiches. The soft texture and unoffensive taste mean it pairs well with pretty much any topping combination.

At Penn Station, the bread's job gets especially complicated because its sandwiches are often loaded with hot ingredients, cheese, oil, and other components that have a lot of moisture. Texture seems to be the main reason customers are let down by Penn Station's bread. They complain that the sandwiches are only good for a few minutes before they start to disintegrate. Penn Station seems unable to get this right: No matter what, the sub ingredients make the bread soggy. 

It's not just the sandwich construction that's an issue at Penn Station. Customers often complain that the bread is chewy, with an almost artificial mouthfeel. "I imagine the bread is made in some kind of tube or vat and is simply shaped to look like bread," said one Redditor, who called the bread "cheap."

Customers who have loved Quiznos since its peak likely have a soft spot for the warm, toasted bread it serves its sandwiches on. It serves standard options like white sub rolls and the ever-popular Rosemary Parmesan bread, but it also features more interesting offerings like slider rolls (called Zliders). The chain's Ciabatta Toasties have been offered on and off in varieties such as Dijon Ham and Veggie Caprese.

While some other sandwich chains essentially microwave their sandwiches, Quiznos toasts its bread in an oven. This results in not just a warming of the ingredients, but a true toast that leaves the bread crispy and gives the sandwich a bit more texture. Select Quiznos locations also offer gluten-free bread that's quite popular. Sub chains have been slow to serve gluten-free options, and in a restaurant where bread is a centerpiece of the meal, a chain risks alienating an entire demographic of customers by not serving a gluten-free option. It's not bad gluten-free bread, either. While gluten-free bread is known for being overly dense, the offerings at Quiznos seem to be well-liked by those who have tried them. 

The complaints about Subway's bread are vast. Some customers think the bread has a chemical smell, which definitely makes for an unpleasant dining experience. Others complain about the bread's sweetness, which makes sense; countries like Ireland have declared that, because of the sugar content, Subway bread is closer to a cake than bread. Some customers have nothing more eloquent to say other than that the bread is just plain bad.

The high sugar content of the bread may explain why it gets soggy quickly. Subway's bread is soft and mild, designed to accommodate a wide range of fillings, which is part of its appeal. But when faced with oil, vinegar, sauces, juicy vegetables, and hot fillings, this chain's bread can't quite stand up to the challenge. Soggy bread is a great way to ruin your lunch, especially when you're not eating the sub immediately. These issues are reason enough for customers to avoid Subway and turn to other well-known sandwich chains instead.

To determine which sandwich chains serve the lowest- and highest-quality breads, I considered both objective nutritional information and subjective customer experiences. High-quality bread can be identified by texture, flavor, and structural integrity (like whether it falls apart when fillings are added to it). I did take nutritional information into account, especially for low-quality bread, but mostly relied on the reviews of customers about each chain's bread offerings, taste, and texture. 

I primarily looked at reviews on Reddit, Facebook, and other sites to see what customers had to say about each chain's bread offerings. Of course, every one of them had both positive and negative reviews, but I tried to categorize each restaurant based on the majority of reviews. If a restaurant got a few negative reviews but they were mostly glowing, for example, I put that bread in the "high" category.