Subs-N-More – Grand Rapids

• 146 Monroe Center NW, Ste. 160
• Grand Rapids, MI 49503
• (616) 719-3554
• No Known Website
• Menu

Friday night’s dinner break turned out to be more of a hassle than I had hoped.  I tried three times to leave for dinner only to get called back to work for something.  I intentionally didn’t bring a lunch because a new sub shop opened in downtown Grand Rapids that I wanted to try.  Hey, at least it’s not a burger, right?  Or is it?

Subs-N-More is now a three store West Michigan sub shop with it’s newest location in the McKay Tower on Monroe Center in downtown Grand Rapids.  The address is listed as Monroe Center NW, but the front entrance to the shop is actually on Pearl Street.  146 Monroe Center is the address for the McKay Tower.  While there’s an entrance on Pearl Street, you can also walk through the building and get to the shop from the inside.

The large space is set up with a number of tables taking up a majority of the space.  The order counter is in the back with a small kitchen that consists of a conveyor oven and a couple of small workstations to build the sandwiches and pizzas that are available.

The menu is written on a series of chalkboards behind the counter.  I was a little overwhelmed at first, but quickly found a couple of sandwiches that sounded good.

While my intention was to not a have a burger, that’s exactly what my eyes were drawn to.  I ordered a 7″ Cheeseburger sub.  All the of the subs are made on home made bread which they also sell loaves of.  The sandwich is loose ground meat, bacon, garlic butter, tomato, cheddar cheese & mayo (which I left off).  The sandwiches are toasted in the conveyor oven then boxed up in a fashion similar to Mancino’s. 

As I was ordering, I noticed the option to make the sandwich a meal with chips and a pop.  I went for that option although later I noticed a third chalkboard off to the right of the cash register.  I really wish I would have seen this before ordering as this board is the sides board.  They have fries available in wedge cuts, criss cross, or oven fries.  To make it even better, you can get any of these fries smothered with either mozzarella or cheddar cheese.  Unfortunately, I didn’t see this option until after I had paid and I didn’t want to go back and place another order.

As I was waiting for my sandwich, I grabbed a bag of Doritos and munched on them to pass the time.  About the time I was finishing off the small bag, my sandwich was handed over to me.  I got out of the door for about eight bucks with a sandwich I was really looking forward to eating.

I headed back to work kind of surprised I didn’t get called off to something else again.  When I popped open the box, I was actually kind of surprised to see loose meat instead of a burger patty.  I make sandwiches like this at home all the time.  Back in Illinois, we call these Maid-Rite sandwiches after the restaurant chain from Muscantine, IA that pioneered the sandwich.  Most people will probably recognize the sandwich from Roseanne.  When Roseanne opened the Lanford Lunchbox in Season Five, they specialized in a loose meat sandwich.

The rest of the sandwich made for a pretty impressive cheeseburger.  The bacon was crispy and the cheese was melted into the garlic butter and bread.

Subs-N-More stands out a little bit from the typical sub chain.  The fact that a local shops makes their own bread is sure to help their cause.  The toasting of that bread really made the sandwich stand out from the other sub shops that have taken up space downtown.

Cheeseburger Sub