The Most Popular Hungry Howie's Sub Might Surprise You - Exclusive

If you're in the mood for origin stories, Hungry Howie's hasn't messed with bread since the early 1980s. The chain prepares subs, with a pizza dough fold-over, calzone-style (via Hungry Howie's). It's not that in the '80s, in a quest to keep up with the hacky sack-equipped, car-surfing cool kids, Hungry Howie's decided to be different. Going calzone-style was as simple as standardizing. "When we'd open in new markets in other states or cities, you had to find a local bakery to supply at the bun," the pizza chain's CEO Steve Jackson explained to Mashed in an exclusive interview. "And it was too hard to get a consistent bun." Et voilà, that's how Hungry Howie's fold-over sub was born.

Hungry Howie's most popular sub stands out as much as its origin story. Hang with us. Subway's most popular sandwiches in the United States — at least according to QSR in 2018 — are turkey and tuna. (A recent Mashed poll suggests that the chain's sweet onion chicken teriyaki is also a favorite.) You go to Arby's for roast beef, no questions asked. And nationally — at least according to a 2019 YouGov poll — grilled chicken comes second only to just cheese (grilled cheese) as the United States' most-sought-after sandwich topping. Hungry Howie's most popular sub, however, boasts none of those ingredients.

If your usual Hungry Howie's order is like 90% of the pizza chain's orders, you probably don't treat yourself to a sub. "Subs is less than 10% of our business. Pizza is the lion's share of our products," CEO Steve Jackson admitted to Mashed. But, since when was it in vogue to order what everyone else wants? Next time you have a hankering for Hungry Howie's, branch out. If you've never ordered a sub before, CEO Steve Jackson has got some starter tips for you. 

"Probably the most popular [sub is] kind of steak and cheese and mushroom," Jackson dished. Order that one, and you'll get — as per the chain's menu — thin slices of marinated steak, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese with Italian dressing on the side. Pro tip: don't skip the dressing. Twitter assures us that the chain's sub sauce is something to write home about, and some adventurous orderers even put it on their Hungry Howie's pizzas (via Twitter).

If steak's not your thing, then Jackson says that Hungry Howie's traditional Italian style sub (which comes with ham, salami, pepperoni & mozzarella cheese, and — yes — Italian dressing on the side) is a close runner-up in terms of popularity. 

Are you a vegetarian? The chain has an option for you, too. Check out Hungry Howie's website for more mouth-watering menu items, and nutrition information.