The Subway Ordering Hack To Fit Way More Toppings On Your Sub

There's something inherently nostalgic about a good ole Subway sub. Maybe it's the comforting cookies that have barely changed over the years or the quick convenience of a sub, chips, and drink combo meal that takes us back to simpler times. In a world that's changing quickly though, prices are skyrocketing even at everyone's favorite affordable fast food joints, and Subway has not been able to entirely escape the times.

While the $5 footlong might be sadly a thing of the past, one way sub-lovers can reclaim the goodness of Subway times gone by is by requesting your sandwich bread be cut the old-school way. Yes, there's more than one way to slice a fresh sub loaf, and the way your sandwich artist cuts it dictates just how much of the inside part — the good stuff — you're able to pack in. The trick is to request a "V cut," versus the standard way of slicing a sub in half longways — easily one of the most genius hacks to try out next time you order at Subway.

This opens up a whole new world of possibility in terms of what that white, wheat, or Italian herb and cheese sub can hold. After all, if the price of your footlong is going to increase, may as well do your best to pack in as much of the veggies, cheeses, and meats as possible.

Next time you find yourself ordering in person, ask the Subway employee making yours if they can slice your bread with the V cut, or the old-fashioned way. Depending on the age and Subway history knowledge of the employee in question, they may or may not know what you're referring to. In the case they don't, you can try to explain the method and see if they'll give it a go.

Instead of slicing through the center of the loaf as might be intuitive, this approach essentially notches a long U or V into the top of the loaf, usually making one long cut then circling back around, and removing the top of the bread. What's left is more or less a bread boat with a hollowed-out center, ready and able to hold far more toppings than a normally sliced loaf.

Instead of two equally sized pieces of your loaf, the top portion will be much smaller than the bottom, more like a hat just topping the sandwich, so there is some risk your bread may fall apart depending on how thinly the employee slices it. This might be a price worth paying for the benefits — namely, far more sandwich to your sandwich. This cut allows for a neater sandwich too, with toppings held securely in the scooped-out area, unlike a sliced-in-half sub where tomato slices and lettuce shreds are often sliding around and slipping out.

Those who enjoy not just ordering food, but going deep into the lore, the history, and the hidden hacks within your favorite restaurant's culture, listen up. Just like the secret menu at In-N-Out, or the hacks for Taco Bell (like making dishes vegan with just one magic keyword), the V cut is a way to take your Subway experience to the next level.

The internet is fully nostalgic for a return to the old ways when it comes to Subway bread. Online commenters bemoan the loss of the "canoe cut," or "U gouge" — two other names for the style, which Subway lovers recall fondly, commenting things like, "I swear, Subway sandwiches tasted better cut that way." The technique was mainstream at Subway shops in the '90s and seems to have been phased out in the years following.

Why was this beloved and functional method retired? Since there's been no official word from Subway about the transition, we can't be sure, but the new, current way of slicing the bread means each sandwich is typically leaner, stuffed with fewer fillings. Other online sandwich sleuths speculate making this "fancy" cut might have been too time-consuming for employees to make, or that customers requested a traditionally sliced sub. Whatever the reason, times have changed. And in the case of this old-school method, we'll be rooting for its comeback.