There is no official Subway secret menu. What exists is better: an open pantry. Because your sandwich is built to order from ingredients sitting in front of you, almost any combination someone has named online is orderable — as long as the store stocks the parts and you ask for it clearly. Below are the off-menu builds our readers order most, written the way you should say them at the counter.
Before you order: three rules of etiquette
- Don't ask for a name, ask for ingredients. "Chicken parm" means nothing to a new hire. "Rotisserie chicken with marinara and double provolone, toasted" gets built perfectly.
- Avoid the lunch rush. A complicated build at 12:15pm is unfair to everyone in the queue — see our guide to Subway hours for the quiet windows.
- Expect to pay for extras. Added meats, extra cheese and avocado are all chargeable, and marinara or egg from another station may be too. Our price guide lists typical add-on costs.
The 15 builds
| Build | How to order it |
|---|---|
| The Pizza Sub | Meatball marinara base, pepperoni added, double cheese, toasted hard. Ask for it 'open-faced toasted' if your store will do it — the cheese browns properly. |
| Chicken Parm | Rotisserie-style chicken with marinara from the meatball well, double provolone, toasted, then oregano and parmesan. The single most-ordered off-menu sub in our reader mail. |
| The Old Cut | Ask for the original 'U-gouge' cut: a wedge lifted out of the top of the loaf instead of a side slice. Holds fillings far better on a loaded Footlong. Many veteran staff still know it. |
| The Double Toast | Bread and cheese toasted first, meats and vegetables added after, then a second short pass. Gets you crisp bread with vegetables that aren't wilted. |
| The Cordon Bleu | Grilled chicken, ham, bacon, Swiss, toasted, ranch and honey mustard. Absurd, and very good. |
| The Buffalo Chicken Ranch Melt | Rotisserie chicken, double cheese, buffalo sauce, toasted, then ranch, lettuce and extra jalapeños after the toaster. |
| Bacon Egg Lunch Sub | Any lunch sub with a breakfast egg patty added, while the flat-top is still on. Adds about 6–7g protein for a dollar or two. |
| The Italian Bomber | Italian B.M.T. plus pepperoni, double provolone, oil and vinegar, oregano, banana peppers and jalapeños on Italian Herbs & Cheese. |
| The Veggie Melt | Double cheese, avocado, all the vegetables, toasted so the cheese melts into the bread. The best meat-free build in the store. |
| The Sweet Heat Teriyaki | Sweet onion chicken teriyaki with jalapeños, banana peppers and sriracha-style hot sauce where stocked, plus extra sweet onion. |
| The Tuna Melt | Tuna with double cheese, toasted until the top browns, then tomato, pickles and black pepper. An old deli-counter classic Subway can absolutely do. |
| Dipped Steak | Steak & cheese toasted, then a cup of marinara on the side for dipping. Cheap approximation of a French dip. |
| The Breakfast Wrap Burrito | Egg, cheese, bacon, sausage, spinach, tomato and chipotle in a tortilla, toasted, then wrapped tight. |
| The Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich | Buy two warm cookies of the same flavour; assemble at home with a scoop of vanilla. Ask for them 'fresh from the tray' and they hold together better. |
| The Churro Split | A Cinnabon Footlong Churro cut into thirds so a table of three can share it — most stores will do this if you ask at the till. |
Three small tricks that improve any sub
- Ask for oregano, salt and pepper. They are free, most people never request them, and they close the gap between a homemade sandwich and a shop-bought one.
- Ask for vegetables after the toaster. Toasting wilts lettuce and spinach; adding them afterwards keeps the crunch.
- Ask for the sauce zig-zagged both ways. One pass down the middle means the first and last bites are dry.
What stores usually cannot do
Ingredients from a discontinued promotion, anything requiring a separate cooking step, and sauces that were never on the line in the first place. Locations inside airports, hospitals and supermarkets carry the shortest ingredient lists, so ambitious builds work best at standalone stores. If you want to know exactly what your store should have on the line, check our breads, cheeses and sauces reference.
These are unofficial, reader-sourced builds — not Subway menu items. Availability depends entirely on what your restaurant stocks, and staff are within their rights to decline.
