It’s weird how we come across new places to eat. My girlfriend needed to make a quick stop at National City. While inside the lobby, I saw a take out menu for Submarina. We get back in the car and she says she’s hungry and suggests Steak ‘N Shake. I happen to have that take out menu in my back pocket and I take it out and show it to her. Now, I know both places are chains. Steak ‘N Shake actually got it’s start in Normal, IL which is close to where I used to live, so I’ve eaten at Steak ‘N Shake’s many times. We decide to give the new place a try. Usually, I hate anything related to California (Submarina is marketed as California Subs), but Submarina is new to town and it’s the only location in Michigan. The majority of the chain is located in San Diego County with just a few locations outside of that…again, mostly in California.
The shop is in a strip mall and it’s pretty tiny. There are only a few booths, but they do have two flat screen TV’s. It’s like most sub shops where you order at the counter then watch them make your sandwich in front of you. Nothing out of the ordinary there, but the menu is anything but.
I got a six inch East Coast sub. Proscuitto, cappocola, ham, salami, and pepperoni are sliced fresh on a deli slicer right in front of you. It’s not like the sub standard place that has the portions already packaged out between sheets of butcher paper. They cut the meat right in front of you. The sandwich starts with a bed of provolone then the fresh sliced meats are piled on top. After that, you have a choice of a few toppings. Not as many as the other place, but they do have a couple items that make them “California.” I passed on all those and went just with lettuce, Italian dressing, and mustard. The sandwich was good and the meat was really piled on there. Unforunately, the flavors all kind of ran together. I love the taste of proscuitto and I couldn’t really taste it. I do prefer this sandwich over Subway, but let’s face it, it’s a cold meat sandwich.
My girlfriend got the Peppered Garden sandwich on Squaw bread. Again, the peppered turkey was sliced fresh right in front of us. The sandwich is supposed to come with Havarati, but they must have been out as they asked if Provolone was alright. On top of the turkey was a balsamic vinagrette and sprouts. She really liked the sandwich and actually took some of the turkey off because there was just too much there for her to eat. Good thing is, I get a little bit extra meat for my sandwich. 🙂
Submarina is a chain and normaly I hate chains. I don’t hate Submarina. The service was a little slow, but that’s because they were cutting their own meat (have I mentioned that already). There are a lot of sub shops popping up and each one needs to do something different to make it. Submarina offers unique ingredients like avocado, pepperocinni’s, and sprouts. The combination of meats and fresh ingredients make all the difference. For a little over $11, we had a quick, delicious and somewhat healthy lunch…..better than the hamburgers I probably would have cooked.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
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