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Despite fast-food image, Quiznos proves no ‘ordinary’ endeavor

By M.V. Moorhead

I love Quiznos. It’s as simple as that. My friend and colleague in these pages, the Discerning Diner, may disapprove of me admitting such enthusiasm for a fast-food chain, but I can’t help it.

Quiznos is no ordinary fast-food chain. So when a new Quiznos put down roots here in the Kyrene Corridor, I just had to get acquainted.

For those of you who haven’t yet discovered it, Quiznos is a chain of submarine sandwich shops. They build their subs assembly-line style, like Subway, though that’s a bit like saying that BMW builds its cars on an assembly line, like Yugo.

The two big differences between Quiznos and most of its competitors are, first, that the ingredients are, at least to judge by the taste, much superior and, second, that all of the subs are served toasty-hot, having been subjected to an oven-bake.

The new Quiznos, located since June 18 at the southwest corner of Warner and McClintock, is owned and managed by Amy Gardner, with an assist from her husband Al.

Amy, a Kansas native who studied purchasing and logistics management at ASU, worked in production control and management with Parker Hannifin, while Al, a native of Scotland who came to the U.S. at the age of 11, has worked in finance for Honeywell. Neither had done time in the food industry until one fateful day when Al was looking for a bite to eat.

“We wanted to look into our own business,” recalls Amy. “(Al) went to a Quiznos and had a sandwich, and loved it, and investigated the company.”

The sandwich that made Al a believer? The Classic Italian, says Amy—salami, pepperoni, ham, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, red onion, black olives with a red wine vinaigrette dressing.

“That’s all he eats,” she says.

Amy, on the other hand, has tried most of the sandwiches on the extensive menu, she says; her favorite remains the first she ever had: The Honey Bacon Club—ham, turkey, bacon, Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, honey-french dressing.

Both yummy, to be sure, these two sandwiches represent only a fraction of the goodies available at Quiznos.

My own favorite, until recently, was the Chicken Carbonara—chicken, cheese and mushrooms with alfredo-bacon sauce—but this masterwork, sad to say, has been discontinued.

Currently I’ve been relishing the Traditional (roast beef, turkey, ham, cheddar, black olives, etc. with ranch dressing); the Honey Mustard Chicken with Bacon (on Italian ciabatta bread); and the Tuscan Chicken on Herb Focaccia Bread.

I also love Quiznos’ fine version of that old standby, the Meatball Sub, with the meatballs sliced manageably flat.

Sandwiches are the real business here--the side items are mostly packaged chips and the like.

But there are four soups to choose from, and the chili is quite respectable.

Amy Gardner has gone through the three stages of training required to be a Quiznos honcho: The “101” stage, a home pre-study, followed by the more rigorous Quiznos 102: “Three weeks of in-store training which teaches you everything from cleaning the bathrooms to doing the books at night.”

This is followed by Quiznos 103, “at corporate in Denver. You take an entrance exam, and you take an exit exam, and you have to pass with, I think it’s 80 percent to open your store. And you get a diploma from Quiznos University.”

It should look great next to her ASU diploma, I say.

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