I Tried the Meatball Sub from 4 Popular Sandwich Chains & One Was Pitch-Perfect

Meatballs may conjure images of Italian spaghetti with red sauce, but there's something distinctly American about meatball subs. Recipes, meat, and ratios can vary dramatically, but the core formula of plump meatballs enrobed in marinara and molten cheese is as quintessentially comforting as a cheeseburger or a slice of pizza.

Naturally, meatball subs are a fixture at sub sandwich shops across the country, including many of the biggest chains in the business. Yet, for something so simple, there's a vast chasm between great and meh.

Indeed, the simplest sandwiches, like meatball subs, are often the best indicators of craft and quality. Without a melange of ingredients to potentially mask imperfections, meatball subs show their quality—or lack thereof—in plain sight.

I recently tried the meatball subs at four of America's most popular sandwich chains—Subway, Potbelly, Firehouse Subs, and Capriotti's Sandwich Shop—to find out which one makes the meanest, meatiest sub around.

Here's how each sub stacked up, ranked in descending order from my least favorite to the (surprising!) overall best.

Potbelly

With a menu moniker like Mama's Meatball, you half expect a homey sandwich made by an actual Italian grandma. Made with "homestyle" beef and pork meatballs, marinara sauce, provolone, and Italian seasonings, everything about Potbelly's meatball sub sounds divine, but there's considerable room for improvement. This sandwich cost me $6.29.

The look: If meatball subs were ranked purely on individuality, Potbelly might take the crown for its surprising presentation and composition. Rather then serving them in all their plump glory, meatballs here are sliced and smashed, achieving crispy-looking edges against a lackluster amount of marinara. The whole thing looks way flatter than standard meatball subs, more closely resembling a meaty panini, which would be perfectly fine—if the sandwich actually tasted better than it does.

The taste: No offense to Mama, but her meatballs aren't anything special. The sauce was indeed lacking, though what remnants of it were present at least tasted seasoned and fresh. The surprisingly crispy edges of the meatballs were a nice touch, though they weren't quite as warm and tender as I would have wanted. The cheese and Italian seasoning are doing a lot of the legwork here, and tend to even overpower the meat itself, while the thinner-than-usual bread lends a pleasant crackle.

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Subway

I had probably the lowest expectations for Subway's meatball marinara sub, so the mere fact that this wasn't last place makes it a resounding success. In fact, Subway's frills-free meatball sub was downright good! Made simply with meatballs and marinara, I opted for mozzarella as my cheese of choice, and Italian herb bread, to (hopefully) add a little more oomph. The six-inch sub cost me $5.39.

The look: Of all the subs I tasted, this one looked like the most quintessentially American meatball sub. It's unabashedly messy, saucy, and ooey-gooey, with bread that looks squishy (in a good way) and seasoned.

The taste: The taste isn't quite as surprisingly successful as the look, but it still over-delivered. The meatballs were a tad muted for my liking, and the herb seasoning on the bread didn't really come across at all. And speaking of the bread, it was a bit overpowering and rubbery, which wasn't ideal. Aside from that, though, the marinara and cheese were home runs. In fact, the cheese on this sub was probably my favorite cheese of any of them. If this was a cheese sub taste test, it would probably win. In the end, though, major kudos for exceeding my expectations, despite the fact that a couple of core elements were lacking in the taste department.

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Firehouse Subs

Firehouse Subs is a chain that clearly takes meatballs seriously. In addition to the classic Firehouse Meatball, the restaurant offers a Sweet & Spicy iteration, and another one blanketed in pepperoni. It's the original, though, made with melted provolone, marinara, and Italian seasonings, that I tried—and (mostly) loved. The small-sized sub cost me $5.49.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: This was the best-looking meatball sub of the entire lineup, thanks to the split-top bread that distinguishes itself from the sloppy pack. Everything looks perfectly balanced, layered, and delicious, if a bit unruly. The seasoning sprinkled on top looks, unlike Subway, fresh and fragrant. Meanwhile, the marinara is absolutely vibrant and there's an even blanket of provolone melting ever-so-delicately atop the hefty meatballs. This is quite appetizing, to say the least.

The taste: Biting into this thing is a tricky endeavor that requires some dexterous jaw work. But the efforts are rewarded with a sub that's super well-balanced and flavorful, albeit quite messy. I loved the ample sauce, at once slightly sweet, tangy, and rich with Italian seasonings. The same is true of the meatballs—plump, tender, and frankly, gigantic. Points were only docked for the cheese and the general chaos of the sandwich. All it takes is a bite or two for this thing to basically fall apart, including cheese that all slides off too easily. And the bread, while fresh and fluffy, can't stand up to the heft of its innards, all but disintegrating by the end of the sandwich.

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Capriotti's Sandwich Shop

Of all the subs on this list, the version that delivered the most on its humble promise of a "Classic Meatball" sub was the one served at Capriotti's Sandwich Shop. The menu describes it as meatballs with marinara sauce, provolone, and Romano cheese — clear indication that you needn't employ bells or whistles in order to stand apart. This was, surprisingly, the best meatball sub of the tasting—and, perhaps expectedly, the most expensive. A 5-inch sub cost me $11.79.

The look: Admittedly, the not-as-melted-as-I'd-like cheese left a bit to be desired. But beyond the top surface layer, everything looks pretty fantastic. Like Firehouse, this thing is big, bulky, and unavoidably messy, but that's part of the fun of a proper meatball sub. And this one clearly doesn't skimp on meat, marinara, nor cheese. For one, this looked like the sauciest of the subs, by far, causing initial concern that it might spill all over the place after one bite. The bread, too, looks perfectly fluffy and ample enough to hold up to the filling.

The taste: One bite of this took me right back to my school cafeteria days, when meatball sub day would have me sprinting to lunch. Everything about this, from the pleasantly chewy texture to the sauce-slathered meatballs, was pretty perfect. The sub is nicely and evenly seasoned with Italian herbs, the warm marinara enrobes every ounce of the interior, and the cheese—despite looking somewhat unfinished at first—melts nicely into the huge meatballs underneath. It's undeniably a messy affair, but everything holds together well with each finger-licking bite, and the sauce is present just enough to keep things moist without spilling everywhere.