I Tried Tuna Sandwiches From 5 Popular Sub Chains—There’s Only One I’d Order Again and Again

Tuna salad is typically the outcast of the sub shop menu—if it’s on the menu at all. To say the combo of canned tuna and mayo (and usually some combo of chopped celery, onion, pickle, or relish) is polarizing would wrongly imply that just as many munchers crave the fishy, creamy concoction as are repulsed by it. But the sandwich exists for a reason.

Some reluctant eaters might sheepishly order a couple of scoops of the stuff on sandwich bread as a Lent sacrifice or because “hey, it’s healthy, it’s fish.” Meanwhile, the rest of us hardcore albacore tuna devotees order the sub because (news flash!) we like the sharp, meaty, slightly salty taste of tuna on a sub.

Sadly, the history of the tuna salad sandwich supports some detractors’ argument that tuna salad is garbage—and in some ways, it was. Or at least, it was a last-ditch effort to keep food out of the trash.

A Brief History of the Tuna Salad Sandwich

In 1800s America, there was no household refrigerator, no reliable way to keep leftovers. Not to mention, food was neither cheap nor easy to find. So, when families ate meat and fish, they had to toss out even the smallest scraps of chicken, ham, crab, or salmon. Pragmatic cooks would often take the remaining morsels of meat, stretch them out with mayonnaise, and serve the glop on a bed of lettuce for the next day’s lunch. Experimental home chefs tossed in bits of celery, pickles, or even olives to spice things up.

Ironically, this homespun repurposing of would-be waste eventually became an actual delicacy. Toward the end of the 19th century, department store parlor menus would include chicken, ham, and fish salads, prepared specifically to be mixed in with mayo and relish. Still, none of these salads contained tuna. At the time, most Americans didn’t even know about tuna and those who did considered it no better than bait for other fish or cat food.

A 1903 shortage of the much more popular sardine forced fishing companies to pivot to the then much more plentiful albacore tuna. By then, processors had found a way to remove the natural oil that made tuna taste unpalatable, and canned “chicken of the sea” eventually caught on with consumers.

Once it became America’s most popular fish, it was only a matter of time before tuna got the mayo salad treatment. And of course, this sandwich-crazed nation puts just about anything and everything between two slices of bread, and thus, the tuna salad sandwich was born.

Though its popularity may have waned in recent decades for various reasons, some of us still adore the canned albacore. That's why we decided to try five different tuna sandwiches from some of the most popular sub sandwich chains. Here’s how they rated, including the catch we’d fish for again and again.

The Best Sub Shop Tuna Sandwiches, Ranked

5th Place: Jimmy John’s Club Tuna

Jimmy John’s puts an interesting twist on its tuna salad sandwich—with a thick layer of provolone and crunchy cucumbers to accompany the traditional tomato and lettuce. Unfortunately, those additions take away from the main reason we’re here: You can barely taste the tuna. Once you deconstruct the sandwich for a taste of the salad on its own, it’s a bit heavy on the onions and celery. We ended up just scraping the sub so we could feast on JJ’s always amazing French bread.

4th Place: Pot Belly Tuna Salad

Legend has it that, in the 1960s, a South Carolina cook knocked a bowl of tuna salad onto a grilled cheese sandwich, accidentally creating what we now know as the tuna melt. We mention this because, by toasting their Tuna Salad sub, Pot Belly’s entry is more akin to that younger cousin of the traditional tuna salad sandwich. Melted Swiss and toasted bread is a nice touch to a meaty, tuna-forward salad. Try it with the house-specialty giardiniera hot peppers for an extra kick.

3rd Place: Firehouse Subs

One of the only cold subs on the Firehouse menu, they still politely blast the bread with flames, giving the sandwich a nice balance of toasty crunch and cool creaminess. The tuna salad itself is a nice mix of fish, mayo, and black pepper—the latter of which really stands out, even on a bed of provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, more mayo, and spicy deli mustard. This is a solid, balanced tuna sandwich.  

2nd Place: Subway Tuna

This is a cold sandwich classic. A simple mix of 100% wild-caught tuna and mayo allows the fish to really stand out as the star. Assemble your own supporting cast, but we recommend pillowy Subway artisanal Italian bread, provolone, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a smearing of yellow mustard for a little kick. A must-try for any real tuna lover.

1st Place: Jersey Mike’s Tuna Fish

This might be the purest expression of tuna salad we found. A perfectly balanced medley of meaty tuna, mayo, freshly chopped celery, and a dash of pepper gives you fishy, crunchy, creamy, and peppery in every bite. Soft white bread, onions, lettuce, tomato, oregano, salt, and a healthy dash of Mike’s red wine vinegar-olive oil blend for a little tang—Jersey Mike's tuna sandwich is a true tuna treat.