Who would have ever thought that the day would come when I would get excited about a Subway store.  I certainly never thought I would, but I certainly did when I recently visited the newest store on the island located on Charlotte Street, north.

Actually a few weeks ago, an advertisement in the newspapers for their turkey avocado and bacon sandwich caught my attention, but of course, the problem was the store was downtown, and thoughts of where I would park in the middle of the day to get it had to be factored in. But still, that sandwich is one of the sandwiches of my dreams -- sweet, buttery avocado on moist delicious turkey with a few strips of salty bacon thrown in for good measure - what could possibly be better?

I finally made it happen two nights ago, when I stepped into the brand spanking new store that's only a few weeks old.  As I was dressing my salad with the usual lettuce, tomatoes, jalapenos and olives, I spotted fresh spinach amongst the offerings and almost passed out clean.  I had never seen fresh spinach in a local Subway store before, and she said I could actually have both greens.  I went for it -- a turkey avocado bacon on wheat with lettuce, spinach, tomato, olives and jalapenos.  It was a sandwich that hit the spot, considering the fact I hadn't been inside the doors of a Subway store in at least two, maybe even three years, because the offerings just didn't seem to change and I do tend to get bored with the same old same old.

But in the new store I was surprised to see also offered thick cut slices of Black Forest ham and turkey, as opposed to the thin deli slices that had been the order of the day.  I was also taken aback to see buffalo chicken strips, so-much-so that I had to ask for a taste just to see if it indeed had any kind of kick to it, and it did.   There was also the usual meat suspects like salami, pepperoni, steak, roast beef, and tuna, and lovers of this seafood will be happy to know that the owners of this Subway franchise add a little goat pepper and real lime juice to the tuna salad to give it the taste that Bahamians love.

For picky eaters, there was even a choice between regular mayonnaise and light mayonnaise when it came to the dressings, along with sweet onion, southwest chipotle (that I understand is very good and that I must try on a return visit), ranch and the standard oil and vinegar, hot sauce and honey mustard.

If I hadn't passed out before at the sight of Black Forest ham, I'm sure I swayed a little when a familiar scent that I did not associate with a Subway store hit my nostrils.  It was the delicious scent of a pizza in the oven.  This new Subway offers pizzas that are a little bigger than the personal pan size you're accustomed to from regular pizza joints.  I didn't have one on my recent visit, but it sure smelled good.

For the soup and sandwich lovers, a bowl of broccoli and cheese, minestrone or chicken and dumplings should hit the spot. And forgive me if it's not new, but the breakfast offerings, especially the sunrise melt with turkey, ham, egg, cheese and bacon served on the customer's choice of bread --Parmesan oregano, honey oat, Italian, Italian herb and cheese and wheat bread or flat bread -- certainly caught my eye.  

Remember my visit two nights ago was my first foray into a Subway store in approximately three years so what would I know.  Maybe the previous stores all needed to be updated to fall in line with industry trends, and this newest store certainly does -- from the food to the décor, I was pleasantly surprised.
If there's one thing that's standard, I could never leave a Subway store without a look at the cookie offerings.

I don't know what I would be looking for, because I always go for macadamia nut which I of course did on my recent visit, but, they also offer double chocolate, raspberry cheesecake (which I understand flies out the door like hotcakes), peanut butter, oatmeal and raisin.

So I've now taken everything I thought I knew about a Subway store, and thrown it out the window, because this new impression is even better.  I just may become a regular again -- even if the store is all the way downtown and I may have a problem finding parking.

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