5 Chain Restaurant Roast Beef Subs, Ranked Worst To Best

Built with shaved slices of roast beef, crunchy lettuce, juicy tomatoes, and a slathering of creamy mayonnaise, a roast beef sub is often overlooked in favor of more complicated builds. Too often, the roast beef is rubbery, flavorless, dry, or limp, making it a hard option to love in a lineup of famously stacked sandwiches. It's a meat meant for warm preparations, like we see in iconic sandwiches like Italian beef, French dip, and beef on weck — but that doesn't mean it can't also make a great sub. So what makes a great roast beef sub sandwich, and where can you find one?

To find out, I sampled sandwiches from five chains that offer a classic roast beef option nationwide. What I found was that none of the sandwiches were particularly bad — in fact, most of them were quite good, and each in a completely unique way. Each roast beef sandwich served a different purpose and satisfied a different craving than the others; some were best served toasted, with the flavors melding together, while others tasted better the next day, after some time spent in the refrigerator. To qualify a sandwich as one of the best, I considered the quality of the beef, the ratio of meat to toppings, the flavor of the bread, and the overall value. In the end, the sandwiches I kept going back to were those that felt truly classic, with layers of flavorful, thinly shaved beef and fresh, high-quality toppings. To decide for yourself which sandwich is best for you, read on below, where I ranked them from worst to best.

To establish some ground rules, I elected to dress all the sandwiches with the recommended toppings, which in almost all cases meant tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise, and onion. Subway is the lone choice to offer red onion instead of white, which sets it apart flavor-wise in a really unique way. It didn't ruin the sandwich, but enhanced it, giving it a sharper, more onion-forward flavor. I liked this, and for what it's worth, could see myself ordering it again if I ever find myself at a Subway.

The reason it ranks last is that if given the choice, I wouldn't choose Subway's roast beef over the other four restaurants on the list. I wanted to love it — the sandwich maker put so much care and effort into arranging the sandwich that I thought it might just win itself a top spot. The truth is, though, that Subway's quality is noticeably lackluster, the lettuce limp and discolored, and the tomatoes thin and dry. Even the most careful sandwich constructor can't change the ingredients they are given to work with. What they can change is the cut of the bread, which might help, as you could hack the sandwich into having a few more toppings, but without doing so, the thin layer of rubbery roast beef paled in comparison to other brands' meaty choices — and for that reason, I ranked the small sandwich last.

If you read our article about the ranking of Italian subs, you'd know I think highly of Firehouse Subs. The sandwiches at Firehouse are steamed, not toasted, which causes the bread to take on a uniquely moist texture and a flavor that melds together effortlessly between the buns. It's a method that works well for subs like the Italian, which have many different flavors that deepen in the steamed heat. For a sandwich like roast beef, it doesn't have quite the same effect.

It's also important to consider the beef itself. The Firehouse beef is one of the thickest cuts among the five chains I sampled, with almost no pink meat and plenty of gristle. Gristle, which is the connective tissue in beef that cooks into a chewy texture, is not generally what you'd expect to find in a roast beef sub, where the slices are paper-thin. The beef itself has the savory, authentic flavor of real roast beef, but isn't as perfectly sliced and rosy-pink tender as others on the list. Combined with a bread that is a little too moist for its contents, I had to put this lower on the list, despite having some of the freshest toppings of the bunch.

Potbelly Sandwich Works got its start in an antique shop in Chicago, Illinois, with warm, melted sandwiches made with uniquely crusty bread and hot giardiniera. You don't really go to Potbelly expecting a cold cut; you go for a toasted sandwich with artisan flair. That's generally what you get with the roast beef sandwich, and in some ways, that's a good thing — it's a little bit like getting a French dip crossed with a deli sandwich. Truthfully, though, that isn't quite what I'm looking for when ordering a roast beef sub.

There's also a little to be desired with the Potbelly roast beef and provolone sandwich. The bread, which I usually love for its tender crumb and crusty exterior, flattened and fell apart in this build, causing the sandwich to slide apart. The beef had good flavor, and the spattering of mustard added to the sandwich helped make the overall taste better, but not great — for a Potbelly sandwich, it was surprisingly bland. If I were to order this, I'd order it with Italian seasoning and giardiniera for a Chicago-style Italian beef dupe, but not to satisfy a craving for a roast beef sub.

I have to admit something: Jimmy John's Big John was my go-to midnight snack in college, and some of that nostalgia might have had an effect on my ranking. It's a sandwich that represents what Jimmy John's is good at: fast and easy deli-sliced sub sandwiches with classic flavor. There isn't anything out of the ordinary about this roast beef sandwich, and that is exactly what makes it so good. It's straightforward, with good beefy flavor, crisp, fresh lettuce, plenty of mayonnaise, and a uniquely airy French bread.

The bread is arguably the most important part of any sub sandwich. Jimmy John's allegedly bakes its crusty French loaves in-house daily (and sells them for cheap the day after), and the resulting loaves are crusty, airy, and light. It's a texture that works well for roast beef, which tastes best when sandwiched between particularly crispy loaves. It also stays crunchy, rather than getting soggy, making it a workhorse that is just as good the next day as it is when eaten immediately. A classic flavor with plenty of crunch, this roast beef sub is one I'd happily eat again (as I did many times in college).

Noticeably larger than every other sandwich, the Jersey Mike's sub also has significantly more roast beef, sliced perfectly and sandwiched tightly between the halves of a doughy hoagie roll. Each layer of the simple build is balanced to emphasize the rich, savory flavor of deli-sliced roast beef, which always seems to taste better than homemade. This is the roast beef ideal, and the one I would think of when imagining a roast beef sub — and even though it's the most expensive on the list, its hefty size makes it the most worth getting.

Like with Jimmy John's, the Jersey Mike's roast beef sub also travels well, tasting just as good the following day as it did when first consumed. This, to me, is a sign of a good sub, especially one that is meant to be eaten cold. The flavors meld further, and while the bread becomes denser from the cold of the refrigerator, it remains mostly the same, with a pleasant chew and subtle crusty bite. It nails the classic beef flavor in a sandwich well worth the extra money, making it the best roast beef sandwich on the list.

To find the best roast beef sub, I first decided what the list would include. I excluded roast beef sandwiches like Arby's and selected only subs, which are served on hoagie rolls and often — but not always — served cold. With the chosen subs, I ordered each with the recommended toppings, which for almost all of them meant lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, and mayonnaise. From there, I sampled them side by side, noting the size, meat quantity, and type of bread, then comparing each sandwich's beef. The higher-ranked sandwiches had thin, tender slices of pink roast beef, while the lower-ranked sandwiches had gray, limp, and even dry beef with uneven slicing. For the taste comparison, I considered which had the best beefy flavor, the freshest toppings, and the best-tasting bread. Finally, I looked at the value, taking into consideration which sandwiches could be eaten the next day without losing quality.