UPDATED 2017: Originally published in 2011
Not long ago I compiled a list of Kosher Subway Restaurants across the U.S., which in its heyday numbered 12 across the country, 5 alone in the NYC metro area.
Today, all 5 of the NYC area Kosher Subways are closed and only a total of 2 remain open nationally.
I was recently interviewed by the Jewish Week discussing my (3 main) reasons why I believed the deli sandwich chain did not do well in NY.
Here are the remaining 2 Kosher Subway restaurants that have thrived (not necessarily in places you’d expect), both inside JCCs (although the one inside the Rockville JCC closed as well):
- Cleveland, OH – JCC 26001 South Woodland Rd., Beachwood
Los Angeles, CA – 8948 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles- Miami, FL – JCC 18900 Northeast 25th Ave, North Miami Beach
Baltimore, MD – 706 Reisterstown Rd., BaltimoreRockville, MD – JCC 6125 Montrose Rd., Rockville
Now I’m left wondering… what will be the next kosher restaurant fad to sweep the country and will it last?
Surely, the Kosher Subway chain experiment is an eye-opening lesson to would be restauranteurs.
~Dani
Dont understand why Subway would go into the Kosher business if they wouldnt support it. Having worked at corporate McD before, the franchisor needs to work with the franchisee. ITs ridiculous to make them pay the advertising fee when they got nothing out of it and had to pay their own advertising. Not sure what value Subway provided them…The local owners would have been better off just creating their own kosher deli and adding things like matzoball soup, knishes, jewish cookies, etc.
I’d hazard a guess that Subway itself didn’t purposely go int the Kosher market. It was the franchisees that came to Subway and told them they wanted a franchise, and also wanted to make it kosher.
As for the advertising fee? Don’t discount having the big Subway sign on the street. That’s recognizable alone, for someone looking for a sandwich. The people wanted to trade on the Subway name, rather than try and make it on their own. They probably didn’t draw enough customers specifically looking for the kosher aspect, and the Subway fans that tried it, probably were turned off by the soy-based cheese (nasty stuff!!).
Robert, you’re likely right to your first point. Subway, as a non kosher brand, was seen as a gimmick within the kosher observant community since we couldn’t eat it previously.
The issue with having the Subway branding and attracting non-kosher customers is that the experience is totally different. Fewer selection of products, higher prices. No reason to eat there for the non-kosher consumer.
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A rabbi does not make a food kosher by praying over it. The animals are fed strictly vegetarian feed, and are slaughtered, inspected and processed in a humane and careful process so the buyer is assured the animal was completely healthy. Please don’t comment on things you know nothing about.
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Think this list needs updating