Food Review : Subway Pizzaiola + Meditations on Pizza Generally

When it comes to commercial subs everyone falls into one of two camps; Quizno's or Subway. In the effort of full disclosure I should probably admit that I fall into the Quizno's camp. This has caused a deep rift between my brother and I, as he is a devout Subway loyalist. Nonetheless, since Subway started selling pizza a few years back I felt personally betrayed, and that once glorious institution has, in my personal opinion, sacrificed a lot of street cred for this mistake.

Now fast forward to November 6, 2008. I was running late to my patent class, so I had to grab a meal on the quick. I stopped by Subway and saw they were promoting their new Pizziola. My brain trust will readily admit to you that I have a weakness for pizza subs. They combine all of the glory of both of the aforementioned foods. However, I must candidly admit that the old Subway Pizza sub (which has since shamelessly been removed from the menu) just flat out sucks. So, reluctantly, I ordered the Pizzoala.

After being warned that they had run out of tomatoes I knew things were about to take a turn for the worse. It all started to add up... She started scooping the marinara sauce out of the meatball tray, she added the cheese... I knew what was going on here, this was the same terrible pizza sub that was long ago removed from the menu! It had just been resurrected with the addition of chicken. Needless to say, like its now defunct cousin, this sub totally sucked. I stand vindicated in my choice to support Quizno's in the sub-wars.

And as a brief aside, to ruin something as wonderful as pizza is not a gesture I take lightly. Growing up only minutes away from Jets, pizza is something I hold very dear to my heart. The reason is, pizza is inherently awesome. Instinctively, we all know this. That is why parents serve pizza at every childhood party. I think in our adolescent years we try to deny the glory of pizza in our efforts to fit in. However, in college, I am very glad to see that pizza has made a resilient comeback.

Which brings me to Saturday, November 8. We were at the club, and I witnessed something that I have never seen before, and likely never will see again. Two men ordered 15 pizzas to the club. Everyone flocked. People were eating pizza while dancing. It was a filthy and yet simutaneously beautiful sight for those who were lucky enough to be there.

So, let me summarize

Subway Pizziola - bad

Pizza generally - amazing

People eating pizza at a club - indescribably awesome