Sandwich Showdown--Domino's Vs. Subway
Over the past couple weeks Domino's has been touting their 2-to-1 margin win over Subway in a national taste test. Why wasn't I part of this test? Heck, nobody I know was part of this test. And nobody they know was part of this test. How can a "national" taste test can occur and nobody knows about it until it's over? Next time, Domino's, call me.
Back to my point. Why is this taste test a big deal? Beating Subway in a taste test is like beating Paris Hilton at chess. Yeah, she can physically play chess and she might even know the rules, but she's so busy texting, checking her makeup, and ordering her seventh cranberry vodka that she isn't really aware a game is going on. Likewise, Domino's is too busy making inconsistently mediocre pizza to make a great sandwich. Sure their sandwiches might have a taste edge over Subway but I could go into my kitchen right now and make a sandwich that tastes better than anything Subway has. I'm not saying Subway sandwiches necessarily taste bad. They taste fine. I like them on occasion. But taste itself isn't the only thing Subway is focused on. They consider, among other things, taste, price, and nutrition.
Here's breakdown of the nutrition side of the game. As you can see, you can get comparable Subway sandwiches with double meat and they're still far healthier than Domino's sandwiches. This breakdown is brought to you by the "Subway, Please Sponsor Me" foundation.
In conclusion, Paris Hilton and Domino's need to stop multitasking.
--Spanno
Cliff on January 14, 2009 at 02:40 PM
The problem with Domino's is that you can't customize your sub the way you want it like Subway.
Iceveiled on January 14, 2009 at 02:52 PM
Of course those sandwiches taste better to fat, unhealthy american mouths: they are loaded with more fat and sodium. Got high blood pressure?
Iceveiled on January 14, 2009 at 02:52 PM
Of course those sandwiches taste better to fat, unhealthy american mouths: they are loaded with more fat and sodium. Got high blood pressure?
Five dollar foot long on January 14, 2009 at 05:35 PM
The problem (beyond how nutritious the sandwich)is that comparing Subway's sandwiches to Domino's is like comparing powdered mac & Cheese to Velveeta mac & Cheese. Sure they are similar but they aren't the same. If Domino's wants to go toe to toe with a sandwich maker they should try Quiznos. It's Quiznos, not Subway, that is famous for having hot, toasted sandwiches like the ones Domino's is making.
It doesn't surprise me that Domino's missed the mark in this campaign. If they can't make a decent pizza as a pizza chain, how could one expect them to make a fair comparison advertising campaign?
Five dollar foot long on January 14, 2009 at 05:36 PM
The problem (beyond how nutritious the sandwich)is that comparing Subway's sandwiches to Domino's is like comparing powdered mac & Cheese to Velveeta mac & Cheese. Sure they are similar but they aren't the same. If Domino's wants to go toe to toe with a sandwich maker they should try Quiznos. It's Quiznos, not Subway, that is famous for having hot, toasted sandwiches like the ones Domino's is making.
It doesn't surprise me that Domino's missed the mark in this campaign. If they can't make a decent pizza as a pizza chain, how could one expect them to make a fair comparison advertising campaign?
send food philippines on January 14, 2009 at 11:11 PM
I never tried to buy these before, do its really taste good?! but really looks delicious. Thanks for posting.
-vee-
dave on January 15, 2009 at 04:30 AM
Check this out:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5quiznos.6739500jan14,0,7258432.story
Matthew in Austin on January 15, 2009 at 12:21 PM
Is it fair to compare these Domino's subs to Subway 6 inch sandwiches as opposed to Subway 12 inch sandwiches? When you double the Subway numbers (I am assuming a 12 inch has roughly double the nutritional content of a 6 inch),then suddenly Domino's looks "healthy".
I am not sure this is a fair apples to apples comparison. Sandwhich size affects those numbers more than anything else.
For the record, I like Subway and eat it a couple times a month. They have fresh, healthy, reasonably priced food, unlike almost every other fast food chain in the country. If only they had drive-through.
Saint Patton on January 15, 2009 at 01:00 PM
Shouldn't you have said "consistently mediocre pizza"? Or is Domino's pizza sometimes not mediocre, being either better or worse?
Spanno on January 15, 2009 at 01:04 PM
Domino's is often below mediocre. And I can recall two glorious occasions where it was above mediocre.
--Spanno
susannac on January 15, 2009 at 01:05 PM
In the first three comparisons, the Dominos sandwich has substantially more protein than the Subway sandwich, which strongly suggests the Dominos sandwiches have more meat and possibly cheese. I see the weight in grams is similar, but if you pile a sandwich with tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc, and have poofier bigger bread... it makes up in weight. I think a better comparison than just overall weight would be amount of meat. So it's not really apples to apples.
Not that I care. I'm a Quiznos girl :D.
Ron Moses on January 15, 2009 at 01:08 PM
I recently tried the Domino's Chicken Bacon Ranch sandwich. It was quite disappointing, and I'm not one to turn my nose up at even mediocre fast food.
The outside of the roll was glistening with grease, and more seemed to accumulate as I ate the sandwich. The contents of the sandwich were paltry; I would guess the sandwich was 75% bread, at least. And it just wasn't particularly good. Maybe I tried the wrong sandwich, but I'd take a Subway sub (or preferably a D'Angelos sub) over that any day.
Tim on January 15, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Hmm, the Subway may be a little healthier, but still not what I think of as healthy. And the taste difference isn't just a little bit, the Domino's subs are a lot better! Of course they still fall short of Quizno's or Bellacino's, but I bet they are as healthy as those as well.
Subway is better than going hungry, but not much.
Joe on January 15, 2009 at 01:21 PM
The notion that one sandwich is "healthier" than the other is ludicrous. With few exceptions, the healthiness of food is relative to a person's overall diet and has no bearing otherwise.
Spanno on January 15, 2009 at 01:27 PM
Joe- If your diet consists of sandwiches, then Subway is healthier.
--Spanno
ColumEx on January 15, 2009 at 01:30 PM
Of course, it's also important to point out that subway has recently begun selling personal pizzas.
Seems to me that Dominos is only multitasking because Subway came after them first.
jaymaster on January 15, 2009 at 01:33 PM
A HUGE positive for a lot of folks is that Domino’s will deliver a sub to your door.
hitnrun on January 15, 2009 at 02:21 PM
I've just about had it with this bullshit marketing campaign. It's all well and good for Domino's (and Pizza Hut) to figure out other things they can make in their pizza ovens to sell. But this non-stop ad blitz has reached local-political-campaign levels of irritation.
I'm not going to Domino's to buy a futzing sandwich. I am not insecure, nor can I be made insecure, about the fact that the perfectly good sandwich I eat may trail in a national taste test according to some bullshit artists charged with making Domino's fantasy of absorbing the sandwich market work in spite of itself.
BMasso on January 15, 2009 at 02:27 PM
Ummm, if you want to discredit the results Dominos is touting for their "National Taste Test", This doesn't actually do that. The Dominos subs are bigger than the "6" Subway" subs, so it's not that surprising if they contain more fat, sodium, whatever when they contain more food.
MEC2 on January 15, 2009 at 03:07 PM
Jeez, comparing these two is like asking if you like a crap sandwich, or a crap sandwich with cheese.
Domino's obviously isn't going to run a commercial comparing their sandwiches to 1) sub shops that make clearly superior food, or 2) sub shops that have a 2% market share. They went after the largest, easiest target they could find - Subway, and that asshat Jarod. He and that "ya hear me now?" clown from Verizon are both subject to shoot-on-sight orders.
Tom on January 15, 2009 at 03:40 PM
I like subway sandwiches. It's not as good as a Publix sub, but it's decent. It hits the spot, and depending on what you get, it's not too heavy. A nice quick lunch that won't put me to sleep the rest of the day.
I ordered the philly from Domino's and it was just terrible. I know philly's are traditionally a bit greasy, but this was just over the top. My stomach felt like it was trying to digest a medium sized rock, and the grease was just disgusting. The bread was heavily buttered (I think it was butter) inside and out. Not something I would expect from eating a sub, even a philly. I will never order a Domino's sub again. My stomach is turning just thinking about it.
Buford Gooch on January 15, 2009 at 04:22 PM
Y'all are a whiny bunch. I'm looking forward to a nice, fat, greasy Domino's sandwich. And, just out of curiosity, how many times have you tried the "inconsistently mediocre" pizza from Domino's? Seems like you might give up after three or four.
Spanno on January 15, 2009 at 04:27 PM
Buford- Eating Domino's is like playing golf. I'd like to say that it's the one or two great shots/pies per round/year that keep me going, but in reality I just drink until I don't care that I'm playing/eating like crap.
--Spanno
Robert Mayer on January 15, 2009 at 10:00 PM
The real question is: Why would you buy a sandwich from Domino's when you can carryout a large pizza for $6?
strcpy on January 15, 2009 at 11:46 PM
"Domino's obviously isn't going to run a commercial comparing their sandwiches to 1) sub shops that make clearly superior food, or 2) sub shops that have a 2% market share. They went after the largest, easiest target they could find - Subway, and that asshat Jarod. He and that "ya hear me now?" clown from Verizon are both subject to shoot-on-sight orders."
I'll add to that that if you really want a good sandwich go to a local shop that specializes in them - no existing chain will be near as good.
Chains - even the better ones (and I agree Quizno's and Bellacino's are some of the better) - go for consistency as their top goal. That is you eat their food and you know you are eating their food. Note that this is a different goal than "best tasting". Sure, some make better than others, but if your goal is consistency then you aren't making the best you can. Only your local dives can do that and each one will have their own taste and flavor.
Heh, I read the above and I sound like the people who want you to purchase books only from small local book stores. Except in this case there is a *real* difference in food. If there is one day a chain that allows local franchises to focus entirely on taste and allow each one to be different if needed then I will happily recommend them.
Maybe your part of the country has them, indeed we have a few local "chains" (five or six places) that all have vastly different menus (though they all do have one or two items that are all "consistent") based on what their current cooks/chefs can do well and what the local clientele prefer.
Of course that is also because they only have five or six places - if you have 1000+ there is no real way to say they all make good food when they all have highly variable menus. So for those types of chains they seek to have food consistently in their chosen quality/price range.
Though I have to say as far as chains go I prefer Dominoes and Pizza Hut over all the others. The only Pizza I find better is specific local dives, though some places - say CiCi's pizza - still get my frequent business simply because they are 95% as good at 50% the cost. Not to mention I like the sheer choices that the CiCi's near my house puts out on their bar.
And, with respect to Pizza, I have not figured out where Papa Murphy's fits in yet either. Taste is between Dominoes/Pizza hut and the good local chains yet I have to drive out there, pick it up, and cook it myself. It's also between the price of Dominoes/Pizza hut and places like CiCI's. As such it it is pretty much all in its own class right now - cheap, tasty, and a lot of work so I get one from time to time to try and decide how to classify it. In fact, I may get one this weekend - they have instructions for charcoaling a pizza and I'm kinda interested in trying that (do you know of any food that needs large amounts of heat that *doesn't* taste better charcoaled?).