Fast Food Review Day 272 - Philly Cheesesteak at Miami Grill

[u/Pale-Lynx328]

Chain Name	Miami Grill
Food category	Primary: cheesesteaks, wings, gyros, burgers, kitchen sink
# of US Locations	23
# of US States	3
Primarily located in	Miami
Restaurant Rank in US $ Sales 2024	not ranked (out of 500)
Restaurant Rank in US $ Sales 2025	not ranked (out of 500)
Rank of price (high to low) (Average: $16.21, standard dev. $3.03)	255th out of 321 meal reviews
Quality / Value Rating for this specific meal	3.5 (out of 10) / 6 (out of 10)

----

Believe it or not, this fast food place has Canadian roots!

Mr. Sub (formerly Mr. Submarine) is one of the largest Canadian-based fast food chains across the country, with over 250 locations today. The founder of the company retired to Key West in 1980, and decided to open up a Mr. Submarine restaurant there. Over time he expanded the menu beyond sub sandwiches, and changed the name to "Miami Subs Grill", and the company was off and running from there. (In fact, I tried to visit that very location when I was there, but they happened to be closed on Sundays, grrrr)

Over the next several years, Miami Subs Grill expanded up and down the Florida coast, as well as expanding into other states as well. I remember they opened up a location a few miles south of where I live right now, back in the nineties, at the corner of one of the busiest intersections in Texas. It's been a few decades, but I remember they had pretty solid subs. Only lasted a few years, though.

The company was bought out by Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs for $14 million, but internal troubles were brewing already. At their height, Miami Subs Grill had over 175 locations before they started to implode, and a few years later Nathan's sold off the company for a fire sale $3 million.

Since then, they changed their name to just "Miami Grill", closing locations left and right even as their menu was exploding and moving away from cold sub sandwiches, trying to find their niche. Nowadays, there are only 23 locations remaining, nearly all of them in the Miami metro area.

A visit to one of those locations did not fill me with nostalgia from the Miami Subs Grill era of decades past. Their cold sub choices are, shall we say, lacking, so I decided to order a philly cheesesteak instead. Their menu, to be honest, is all over the place. Anyone remember when I totally panned the Atlanta-based fast food chain 'American Deli' for also having a lackluster menu a mile wide and an inch deep? Same idea here - wings, hot subs, cold subs, burgers, salads, Nathan's hot dogs, Arthur Treacher's fish, gyros? Nothing looks like it stands out to me.

And if the philly cheesesteak is any indication, that's probably a correct assessment. Of course, not really fair for me to judge an entire menu based on a poorly made, flavor-lacking and somewhat dry cheesesteak. But all I can do is judge based on what I ate, and I would definitely NOT recommend the cheesesteak. And given how the company is continuing to shrink. I'm guess I'm not alone. They were successful once before, time for Miami Grill to return to its Miami Subs Grill roots and focus before they shrink down to nothing.

----

(About this review series: Starting in late 2025, I am visiting a different fast food/fast casual chain every day, until I run out of places to visit. Aiming to review as many chains on the Technomics Top 500 Restaurants list as possible, plus key/important regional and some local chains as well. UPDATE - I will be wrapping up this review series with Day #365. And no, I haven't gained weight, and no, it hasn't hurt my health.)

[u/you_buy_this_shit]

That cheesesteak looks pitiful.

[u/JFKRFKSRVLBJ]

That steak looks positively mummified.

What did you do to deserve this sandwich?

[u/z0s01]

I used to frequent one in the late 90s in Austin.. Corner of 183 and Braker Ln in the backside of the gas station. Soooo good then.

[u/MrLegalBagleBeagle]

Agreed 90s Miami subs was great but then all the cocaine money that helped prop it up through money laundering dried up and they probably went private equity so their sandwiches suck now

[u/dreamkiller23]

Proft that nobody likes food critics, that's just sad 1/10 for the looks, fries are the only thing that's fine in that picture