The Worst Fast Food Chili Comes From This 45-Year-Old Sandwich Chain

Outside of Wendy's, not many fast food and chain restaurants are known for their chili. But there are a few that make decent versions of this comfort classic. When we reviewed chili from five different chains and ranked them from worst to best, we discovered that none of the chain chilis we tried were actually bad. But there was one version that wasn't as good as the rest — and that chili came from Quiznos.

While Quiznos started in Denver, Colorado, in 1981, it reached 4,700 locations across the country at its height of popularity. But after Quiznos' downfall — which included poor management decisions, a bankruptcy filing, and a leveraged buyout — the sandwich chain is down to less than 150 locations in the U.S. It still has its share of fans, but, as for the chili, we found it to be quite thin and tomato-heavy. It also doesn't have the rich, stewy flavor like some of the other chilis we tried.

The chili is disappointing in that the beef and beans aren't very present. But the few bites that include the classic mix are nicely sized, along with the celery and onion. Chunky tomatoes are also present, but they're a bit too soft in texture for our taste. Overall, it's not a bad chili. But Quiznos could do better by making its chili a little thicker and richer with a better presence of the beef, sausage, and pinto bean mixture.

To be fair, plenty of customers actually enjoy Quiznos' chili. Some online reviewers have sang its praises, with one Redditor commenting that the chain has "sleeper" chili and a TripAdvisor reviewer calling it awesome. With that said, maybe the Quiznos location we purchased our chili from just had a bad day. If you want to try it for yourself, you can purchase a small chili for around $2.69, as well as a medium, large, or a bread bowl chili for around $7.49.

For what it's worth, we really enjoyed the chili from Famous Dave's — a barbecue chain with more than 100 locations in 31 states. It really touches all the notes for a great chili, with a smoky, sweet, and tomato flavor that comes from Famous Dave's barbecue sauce — in addition to a meaty texture that, in our opinion, Quiznos lacks. We won't just pick on Quiznos, though. The Potbelly restaurant chain also has a fairly unremarkable chili that, again, isn't terrible but isn't great either.

We've done many taste tests and, usually, there's a huge gap between the worst food item and the best. That's not the case here. All of these chilis were fine. But, eventually, we have to figure out which ones stand out and which chili just misses the mark. Quiznos' chili certainly isn't terrible. But the thin texture and overall lack of meat held this one back compared to the other chain chilis we reviewed.