Tuna Subs From 6 Popular Sandwich Chains, Ranked

Most people either love or hate tuna salad. I'm in the love camp, and I think it's a critically overlooked sandwich filling, especially at sub shops. When deli turkey and salami get boring, tuna will always be there to shake up your lunch routine. 

It's been years since I've ordered a tuna sub at a sandwich chain, though, mostly because I make my own at home. So I went to six big sub chains near me and ordered tuna subs with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, cucumbers, and pickles (if available) on plain white or Italian bread, with a few slight variations. 

I found that two were downright delicious, two were mediocre, and two I'm never going to waste my money on again. 

Prices and availability are subject to change.

Price: $8.99

JJ's knocked it out of the park with its tuna salad sub. I ordered the slightly more expensive Club Tuna (#15), big brother to the Totally Tuna (#3), because it came with cheese, and the generous amount of provolone between two layers of tuna was worth the extra money. This thing was packed, but because the bread is sturdy and a little bit chewy, it held everything into a burrito-like bundle. Almost nothing fell out, which is some sort of sandwich engineering marvel.

The tuna salad itself was the best of the bunch, too: lots of mild green onion flavor, some celery for crunch, and it was neither soupy nor dry. This was a really enjoyable, substantial, and well put together sub.

Price: $8.35

If you're looking for a hot, toasted tuna sub, Quiznos is the best option. The menu calls it a tuna melt, and it lived up to the name. Cheddar cheese was abundant, sharp, and beautifully melted, really hammering home the "melt" aspect of this sub. Usually cheese is an afterthought on subs, but not here. 

The tuna salad was thick and creamy, and did not get runny when heated. This is a purist's tuna salad, without a lot of seasoning, but the sharp cheddar makes up for any lack of flavor there. Pickles come standard on this sub, and are a great to cut through all the richness. 

If you are lucky enough to still have a Quiznos near you, try this melt.

Price: $10.35

Jersey Mike's is a great chain for Italian subs, but it's not the best for tuna salad. The main problem was that it was a total mess thanks to a very wet, runny salad. And while the bread is tasty, cutting it into two unconnected top and bottom pieces means that it doesn't come close to holding in tuna salad like this. 

That said, this sub was absolutely massive, making up for the high price tag (cheese doesn't come standard on tuna here, so it was $1.40 upcharge). The pickles were thick and tangy, and nothing is skimped on. Just don't plan to do anything but eat this within a minute of being constructed, or else you'll just have a soggy mess.

Price: $8.99

Normally, Potbelly is my sub chain of choice, so I had high expectations. The tuna salad, though, it a bit of a let down. Besides Quiznos, this is the only other toasted sub on the list. But unlike Quiznos, the tuna salad here failed to heat up in its short trip through the oven. The Swiss cheese had melted, but only barely, so it formed a kind of skin around the super salty tuna salad that was very unappetizing.

Thankfully, the outside of the bread was nice and crunchy from toasting, and the toppings were fresh and abundant. Next time I go to Potbelly though, I'll stick to the Clubby.

Price: $6.59

Subway's 6-inch tuna sub was the cheapest of the bunch, but it was also by far the smallest. For the price, it's downright tiny, and they really skimp on the tuna salad and toppings on top of it. Unfortunately, the flavor is best summed up as bland, despite the salt and pepper mix I had them put on. This boring sub was the worst value out of every one I ate.

Price: $8.49

Firehouse subs are usually served hot, unless you get the tuna salad. You could tell that the bread is designed to be heated, because it was a little too soft and slightly stale. The tuna salad was waterlogged, and it tasted strongly of sweet hot dog relish. What confounded me most, though, was that the cucumbers I ordered on it were chopped into tiny bits instead of sliced, so they added to the wetness of the whole thing before falling out. Only get this one if you like your tuna salad dripping with sweet pickle brine.

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