Subway Oven Roasted Turkey Review

Today, we review a customized Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich option from Subway. It has been one year since the first food review on Cigar Coop, and today we officially introduce the food reviews under the name “Coalition Eats.” That first food review was of the Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich from Subway. At the time, the original Subway Oven Roasted Turkey Review was part of a project called “Turkey Sub Quest,” where we reviewed multiple nearly identical Turkey sandwich options. So it seemed appropriate to revisit the Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich at this time. However, this time rather than being limited by options, I decided to customize and design a turkey sandwich to my preferences.

Subway’s roots go back to 1965 Bridgeport, Connecticut, where it was founded by Fred DeLuca and financed by Peter Buck. Originally, it was called Pete’s Super Submarine Sandwiches. In 1968, it was shortened to Pete’s Subs, then rebranded as Pete’s Subway in 1970. Finally, it was shortened to Subway in 1972 and has held that name since. The first Subway franchise opened in 1974. As of September 2023, there are over 37,000 franchises in 102 countries and territories, with more than half (21,796) in the U.S. That makes it the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator in the world.

In 2023, Subway underwent a major transformation, switching from pre-sliced deli meats to deli meats freshly sliced on the premises. This involved outfitting about 20,000 stores with slicers.

The Construction

This was pretty much the first time I chose the combination of mentioned below. I wanted to pile this sandwich with meat, so I went for extra turkey, pepperoni, and bacon. Since I have been disappointed with Subway’s lettuce, I opted to use spinach as my green choice this time.

Oven Roasted Turkey (50% more option, $2.00 Additional) *
Artisan Italian Bread (Option)
Spinach (Option)
Tomatoes (Option)
Red Onion (Option)
Sliced Pickles (Option)
Green Peppers (Option)
Oil (Option)
Red Wine Vinegar (Option)
Black Pepper (Option)
Salt (Option)
Oregano (Option)
Bacon (Option, $2.00 Additional)
Pepperoni (Option, $1.70 Additional)
Length: 11 1/2 inches
Weight: 1 1/4 pounds
Location Purchased: Indian Trail, NC
Size: Footlong
Price: $15.69
Items Purchased: 2 (Separate Visits)

The Experience

This sandwich is highly customized, and it employs a similar scoring algorithm to the one used for the Turkey Sub Quest. The pepperoni and bacon are categorized under the “meats” section, along with the turkey. While I sometimes classify bacon as a condiment, I chose to classify it as a meat as there are a significant number of condiments on this sandwich.

Meats (Turkey, Pepperoni, and Bacon): 4.0 points
Bread: 2.0 points
Condiments: 2.0 points
Intangibles: 2.0 points

Meats (Oven Roasted Turkey, Pepperoni, Bacon)

I think Subway has made strides in the area of its deli meats, especially since going the freshly sliced route. I like that the oven roasted turkey has trim on it. The turkey didn’t have much smokiness, but it was still quite flavorful.

The pepperoni wasn’t bad, either. There was just enough spice to the pepperoni to give the sandwich a little zip. They say bacon makes everything better, but this bacon was the weak spot among the meats. It lacked sufficient smokiness, crispness, andflavor.

Score: 2.5 out of 4.0 points

Bread

One thing Subway has touted is that they bake the bread on premises (although the dough itself is made and shaped off-premise). The bread was tasty and was not chewy or doughy. While the bread has a good flavor, it is on the airy side, and I would prefer a more substantial crust.

Score: 1.0 out of 2.0 points

Condiments

The Condiments for this sandwich were the vegetables and seasonings. Here is a rundown:

Spinach: On one sandwich the sandwich was slightly wilted, but it was an improvement over the lettuce, which had been more consistently wilted from Subway. The spinach was tasty.
Tomato: They weren’t mushy, and could have been slightly riper. These still had good flavor.
Pickle: These were sliced pickles with a strong dill component. I found this worked well on the sandwich.
Red Onion: These were slightly a little more pungent than I preferred.
Green Pepper: This was the star of the show. The green peppers were crisp and had just the right amount of sweetness
Oil and Red Wine Vinegar: Subway has a lot of sauces for sandwiches, but oil and vinegar does the trick every time. Subway doesn’t drown the sandwich with dressing unless you request it.
Salt, Pepper, Oregano: This is a nice finishing touch on the sandwich. Again, Subway doesn’t go heavy with these seasonings unless you request them to do so.

Score: 1.25 out of 2.00 points

Intangibles

When evaluating intangibles, a key aspect I consider in a sandwich is whether the overall experience exceeds the sum of its individual components. In the case of this custom Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich, that was not the outcome. While the overall experience was solid, it did not reach an elevated level.

The proportions were what I requested, but even with 50% more turkey meat, the sandwich felt insufficient. Adding pepperoni and bacon still left it feeling light. Additionally, there were too many condiments compared to the amount of meat.

Score: 1.00 out of 2.00 points

OVERALL EXPERIENCE

When the original Turkey Sub Quest assessment was conducted for the Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich, I believe some people were surprised by the 5.75 score, considering it was as high as it was. I felt Subway had made some improvements to their sandwiches, and it showed. Going into this custom assessment, I thought making the changes I made would increase the score, but it actually came out with the same 5.75 score. In the end, the extra meat and bacon didn’t make a difference – and there still were too many condiments compared to meat for this sandwich. This was still enjoyable, but it wasn’t what I expected from a nearly $16 sandwich.