Serving Subs With a Side of History

 

Welcome to Olean, NY- at one point in time home to four different Subway restaurants. Although now down to three, this particular Subway location has the most interesting story behind it as it has undergone a number of events that have effected its business. Originally located elsewhere, (see picture below) this location opted to relocate down the road and open in a former Pizza Hut.

Below is a picture of the former Pizza Hut (when it was abandoned)

Picture Courtesy of Auction Management Corporation.

For some unknown reason, the now relocated Subway opted to use a new at the time 'Subway Cafe' concept. From what I can tell, it would appear that the 'Subway Cafe' concept was a limited prototype and something that only a handful of locations did.What was a Subway Cafe? Read on to find out....

The Pizza Hut frame sign being reused. As you'll see below, a more permanent sign was installed later.

What is so special about Subway Cafe? Well, it offered a lot more beverage options:

....and a bit more options to choose from in terms of baked goods:

The other noticeable thing is that there was more seating than at the usual normal Subway and it had a 'real' fireplace.

Eventually the cafe branding was dropped entirely therefore making this a normal Subway.

So that covers that, but wait there's more history to cover. In 2018, this Subway experienced a fire and a result the building was torn down. But that didn't deter the owners as they decided to rebuild. So in an interesting turn of events, this location found itself featuring a new concept that a lot of other locations did not yet have. To wrap this post up, I leave you with pictures of the new modern concept.

At Home at the Subway House

In the tiny town of Houghton, NY there lies of a college. Because of that college, one chain has opened its doors to the public and that chain is Subway. Now this is no ordinary Subway as this particular location has opened in what looks to have possibly been a general store. It has definitely been here a while as the oven features the old old Subway logo. For a fast food establishment, this place is really quite special and something that I had to share for all to see.

The usual tables aren't here! Instead we get some fancy tables.

Unfortunately, the upstairs is blocked off. Would of loved to have gotten a few pictures from up there.

Fireplace!

These are nice touches with a local theme. The viaduct is supposed to be the railroad bridge that spans over the Genesee River in nearby Letchworth State Park.

Restrooms are around the corner of the green wall.