The $5 lunch wars
With the economic recession not looking to drastically improve any time soon, many people are keeping their wallets tight and looking to get more bang for their buck.
Many restaurants and fast-food chains are taking note and lowering their prices or offering more value-menu-style items to their customers.
Just like the grilled chicken wars, there is now the $5 lunch war. This war has three competitors though with Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Quizno's competing for lunch time supremacy.
Subway took the first blow with its $5 footlongs (no, please don't sing the song).
Eight of their sandwich varieties in foot-long size for a simple low price - tuna, BLT, Meatball Marinara, Oven Roasted Chicken Breast, Spicy Italian, Black Forest Ham, Cold Cut Combo and Veggie Delite.
Then Quizno's hit back with Torpedoes at $4. The foot-long sandwiches come in five varieties - Italian, Big Kahuna Tuna, Pesto Turkey, Turkey Club and Beef, Bacon and Cheddar.
Most recently, KFC has introduced its $5 Fill-Up Box working to outdo the sandwich mavens by offering a complete meal. The box comes with two pieces of its new grilled chicken, one side and biscuit and a drink.
And now Quizno's has added a junior version of their Torpedoe sandwiches with Bullets - at just eight inches of toasty sandwich.
To be honest I haven't had a Subway sandwich in over a year. Not since I found Bionicos in Baldwin Park with their freshly made, toasted sandwiches, complete with all the fixins at less than $5 have I craved anything at Subway.
And as soon as I tried for Quizno's for the first time about five years ago, I prefer it over Subway, when I could afford it.
So now with its new value sandwiches I can definitely forego the brown bag lunch at least once a week and eat out.
Over this week going into next week, I will give these $5 lunches a try. I will even give Subway another try.
TELL ME WHICH LUNCH VALUES YOU "SPLURGE" ON.
Both Subway's and Quizno's $5 sandwiches are good deals.
Really? $5 lunch wars? Now is the time to start brown baggin' it folks. With diabetes and obesity numbers on the swell I say this is the time to turn away from yet another faux war and take to the real battle. Personal responsibility.
Why force your five bucks to do things it shouldn't, like shove bad food down your throat? I suggest you take that 25 bucks spent in a week and make that work for you. I also believe it's fair to round that 25 to a 30 dollar amount...because who really stops at the five dollar amount? With chips, a cookie, or jumbo size coke and french fry to reward your end of the week obedience to a five dollar war, it's well over 25 bucks you'll shell out in weekly lunch expenditures.
Here's a radical idea for a "me" society...grab a lunch buddy at work and double that 30 into 60 for a week of brown bag lunches...creative spending will turn lunch into more than a baloney sandwich and half filled travel size bag of Lays.
It takes initiative and drive, sure, but holy smokes as a result you're healthier, wiser and more in tune with your personal tastes and nutritional habits. Or do otherwise and let the clown, colonel or sandwich crafter spoon feed you the idea that you're actually the big winner for choosing their big weapon in this time of shrinking wages and ever expanding waists.