We Tried Subway's New No-Look Chicken Sandwich And Found It Lacking

At the Super Bowl in February 2022, Subway unveiled its top secret Vault menu, available exclusively online with specialty sandwiches created in collaboration with professional athletes across a variety of sports. None of the sandwiches appears on in-store menus or even third-party food delivery apps, tempting Subway lovers and sports fans to order directly from Subway online to get ahold of the limited-edition sandwiches. Over the course of the year, the Vault menu has expanded to include several big-name athletes, and most recently Patrick Mahomes, the 27-year old quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes' specialty sandwich hit the Vault at the beginning of December 2022, and it's called The No-Look Chicken sandwich in honor of his incredible no-look pass — a move the quarterback has successfully completed on several occasions.

We jumped at the chance to sample the new sandwich and have collected everything you need to know about the secret menu item. We'll tell you how you can order it, how much it costs, what's on it, what you can customize it with, what some of the nutritional information is, and most importantly, how it tastes. Here's everything you need to know about The No-Look Chicken by Patrick Mahomes from Subway.

The No-Look Chicken by Patrick Mahomes comes with just three ingredients inside the bun. The main attraction is the rotisserie-style chicken, which is then topped with Monterey cheddar cheese and Frank's RedHot Buffalo sauce. It's all served warm on a traditional artisan Italian roll. Like all sandwiches at Subway, it can be ordered as a Footlong sandwich or as the smaller 6-inch sandwich. You also have the option to make it a "Footlong Pro" with double the protein.

But that's really just the beginning. The sandwich can be customized with three additional bread options, three additional cheese options, 10 vegetable choices, 11 other sauces, six premium add-on options, and seasonings. While you can choose only one type of cheese for the sandwich, you're free to pile on as many vegetables, sauces, add-ons, and seasonings as you'd like. So while you may choose to start with The No-Look Chicken sandwich as your base, there are countless combinations you could create from there.

There's only one way to get your hands on The No-Look Chicken sandwich, or any of the sandwiches in the Vault for that matter, and that's online directly through Subway or the Subway app. Even if you look at the menu on your phone and head to a store to order it in person, you won't be able to order it (although you can order your sandwich online and go pick it up in person). The Vault is intended to be a top-secret menu that you can only access through the Subway website or mobile app. It's so secret that you won't even immediately see the sandwiches listed on the regular menu when you pull up Subway's main menu page. Instead you've got to pick a location from which to order before the Vault options appear.

The sandwich is available nationwide, but you'll have to check your local Subway restaurant online to see if the Vault collection sandwiches are being offered in your area. This particular sandwich was released in early December, according to Subway's Instagram page, but no indication has been given as to just how long it'll be around. Some of the sandwiches in the Vault have been around since the very beginning, like The Beef Mode by Marshawn Lynch. But others, like The Vaultwich by Simone Biles have had shorter stints on the menu. So grab one now if you're interested because there's no telling how long it'll last.

At the Subway location we ordered from in New York City, the price for a Footlong No-Look Chicken sandwich was set at $11.49. The half-sized 6-inch sandwich cost $7.99, and the Footlong Pro with double the protein cost $15.49. For an additional $3.59 we upgraded the sandwich to a meal, which included a drink and a side. But these prices appear to be on the higher end of the spectrum, with others reporting the price of their sandwiches at $9.79 for a Footlong sandwich, $6.29 for the 6-inch version, and only $13.99 for the Footlong PRO.

Most of the custom options you can choose to add to your sandwich won't cost you any extra, so feel free to pile on additional vegetables, sauces, and seasonings and change up the choice of bread. But a few add-ons, including bacon, sliced avocado, pepperoni, fresh mozzarella, smashed avocado, and capicola, will run anywhere from $2-$3 more apiece. You can also expect additional taxes and fees, plus a tip for your driver if you opt for delivery.

If you order The No-Look Chicken sandwich without any additions, a Footlong sandwich will run you about 740 calories. The smaller 6-inch sandwich is a very approachable 370 calories, and the Footlong Pro sandwich has about 930 calories. Different bread choices will yield slightly higher calorie counts, but additional vegetables pack on a lot of flavor with negligible impact on the overall calorie count. Additional sauces can range anywhere from 0 to 200 calories, depending on the sauce.

Specific nutrition information for The No-Look Chicken sandwich wasn't available on the Nutrition & Allergies portion of the Subway website when we checked, but we were able to piece together an idea of what the sandwich offers based on existing nutrition data. The rotisserie-style chicken packs about 30 grams of protein into a Footlong sandwich (15 grams for a 6-inch sandwich), and there are an additional 6 grams of protein from the Monterey cheddar cheese (3 grams for a 6-inch). But a Footlong portion of the rotisserie-style chicken also comes with about 800 milligrams of sodium (400 milligrams for a 6-inch sandwich), which might be an important number to watch for those trying to follow a low-sodium diet. The Food and Drug Administration recommends that adults consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, so while this sandwich doesn't go over that, it could be worth balancing with the rest of your nutrition goals.

There's a real possibility that the sandwiches available in the Subway Vault may be different based on the location, but at the restaurant we ordered from there are currently seven sandwich options, including The No-Look Chicken by Patrick Mahomes. The other sandwiches currently available include The Frontcourt Feast by Charles Barkley, The Redzone Roast by Tony Romo, The Meatball Marksman by Stephen Curry, The Beef Mode by Marshawn Lynch, The Benissimo by Jimmy Garoppolo, and The Dangerwich (which isn't listed with a specific player).

Each of the sandwiches in the Vault offers something a little different, whether it's a different protein, sandwich style, bread, or combination of toppings. The No-Look Chicken sandwich is one of two sandwiches currently in the Vault served warm (along with The Meatball Marksman) and one of two sandwiches made with the rotisserie-style chicken (including The Benissimo). None of the options currently in the Vault is vegetarian, although the sandwiches can be ordered without cheese for a dairy-free meal. For those looking for other chicken-based sandwiches on the Subway menu, the restaurant also offers two chicken options in the Subway Series collection, and four chicken options in the Classic Sandwiches lineup.

The photo of The No-Look Chicken sandwich on the Subway website features a roll bursting with rotisserie-style chicken, melted cheese, and hot sauce alongside a clever description that states, "WARNING: this sandwich is saucy!" — so our expectations were high. What arrived was something else entirely. This sandwich is primarily bread, with a little bit of shredded chicken tucked in. When we opened it up to investigate, we could see the Frank's RedHot Buffalo sauce, but could hardly taste it, and it was difficult to find the melted Monterey cheddar cheese except for in a few areas. To say that the featured image and description oversold the sandwich would be a massive understatement. It's about as close to false advertising as it legally gets.

After the initial shock of how little sauciness there was, we still had to taste it. The tender rotisserie-style chicken has a great flavor. The hot sauce and cheese are good, even though we're not convinced we were given the "double helping" of cheese that the description promised. Ultimately, we like the flavors fine. We just wish there was so much more. If we were to order this sandwich again, we'd definitely order it as a Footlong Pro with double the protein, and fill the sandwich up with more cheese, more hot sauce, and as many vegetables as we could stuff into it. And maybe some bacon. Otherwise, it's only memorable for being so disappointing.