Cousins Subs

Service here has gone down-​hill in the last 6 months. Drive thru is slower than the lobby! Last visit (in lobby) for a to-​go order was 40 minutes. The people working have no sense of urgency. Management needs to step in and shake things up. Everyone (customers) were pacing around looking at each other as if they were to say «seriously?! how long have you been waiting?!» Email/​survey to store (from receipt) has been unanswered even though I requested contact back. Fries were served cold; all other stores make fried items «to order». I will go out of my way to avoid this location in the future; sad — since the drive thru was a super convenient option for this HIGH traffic location.

Okay, so I rarely do fast food reviews, but this was so bad that I can’t resist.
I popped in here on my way to work to get a sandwich really quick. I left with plenty of time, by the time I was out of here I was rushing not to be late.
I arrived and there was a big family in front of me taking their time placing their orders. Okay, that sucks… but I can cut them some slack for that. They can’t control how long it takes somebody to place their order, but this went on just way too long. Like, unreasonably long. «Open another goddamn register» long, even. I contemplated leaving the restaurant and just driving going across the street to Pita Pit or down a few blocks to Jimmy John’s, but stupidly, I waited.
I placed my order, meatball with provolone with a drink and chips. Generally, it takes a only couple of minutes tops when I go to a Cousin’s – it’s a simple sandwich. Bread, lay cheese across it, fish the meatballs out of the heater with a spoon, wrap the sandwich up, go. Nothing needs cooked, I’m not even asking you to screw around with lettuce or tomatoes or even mayonnaise. This is like the simplest thing on the menu to make.
I was done with my chips and had been to the soda fountain twice before I got my sandwich. Guys, I watched the clock. It took all of twenty minutes. For a to-​go order. For a damned meatball sandwich. I could have gone to a decent fast-​casual chain, sat down, and eaten in the time that it took me to get my sandwich.
The staff bickered back and forth the whole time. One of the people from the family in front of me came up to ask for mayonnaise on their sandwich (on a cheesesteak? that sounds gross but who am I to judge?). The woman making food shouted back at the cashier when he said to do that. «I ain’t doing no side orders.» Bitch, please. You clearly aren’t overworked to the point where this is going to screw up your rhythm or something. You’ve got like three sandwiches to make. Give the girl her mayonnaise. And give me my sandwich.
At some point some old guy comes in and asks what bread is the softest for his sandwich. He hasn’t got any teeth, see, so he needs a soft bread. The cashier shouts the question to the person making the sandwiches (slowly, seriously, the bread rose faster than this girl moved… I can’t emphasize that enough). She responds, and I quote: «How the hell am I supposed to know? Bread? The wheat. The wheat is always the softest-​est.»
Then she almost got my order wrong. «You wanted mustard on that turkey, right?» she asks me. What?! No. Meatball! Meeeeeatballllllll. At this point, my patience was stretched very thin, so I probably was a little bit of a dick in correcting her.
I watched her make the sandwich. At most Cousin’s, they just hand it over the counter. No such luck. It looked like she was going to, but as I reached out she marched down to the cashier and placed it to his side. He grabbed the sandwich.
But at this point another customer walked up. I had to wait. He’s swaying back and forth on his feet, taking this dude’s order, my order swinging lazily in his fingers.
I had no sooner taken a deep breath, literally a second from saying «Can you just give me my fucking sandwich so that I can get out of here, please?» before he sorta said «oh,» and handed me my bag. I almost wish he’d have been a second or two slower. I generally don’t make a scene, but there was no motivating these people.
I like Cousin’s, but I will never come back to this one. It’s a shame, too, because it’s close to my house.
Five stars if it’s a piece of performance art about frustration.
One star as a restaurant.

Is it fast food?
I mean, it’s fast.
It’s food.
But it’s not burgers and fries.
(They have fries, though… I just don’t order ‘em.)
I like Cousins. (There, I said it.)
For a quick sandwich, I’m a fan of turkey or tuna on wheat with provolone, extra oregano.
Yes, they’re a chain, yes they’re big, but it does the trick when you want food fast.
Fast food?
This particular location has a drive-​thru, so if you’re feeling especially lazy, you don’t even have to leave your car!
To me, the sandwich is a perfect quick meal. Veggies, bread, dressing, and maybe meat if you’re feeling it. ALL THE food groups, multiple, in easy-​to-​eat, submarine sandwich form.
Drive thru subs on the southside are AOK by me in a pinch, yo.

This is not the first, second or even third closest Cousin’s to my house, but when I have a good coupon that works only at certain Cousin’s I will travel.
I used to go to school across the street when this place used to be a bank. Not much has changed since then outside of a paint job and a new sign.
This trip took me through the drive thru, and if your auto is bigger than a mid-​size SUV, you might want to think about going inside to order. These are some very tight quarters. The lady helping me at the DT was nice, but this was a very weird exchange. She asked me to start ordering, I said I needed a minute. She told me to go ahead when I was ready. I did and she was asked me what kind of I wanted it on, I told her and kept going. Then I asked her what the soup of the day was, and I was meet with absolute silence for what I could swear was two minutes. She came back and mumbled something, I asked if she could please repeat and she told me they were out of the bread I ordered. I said OK and asked for a different bread. They didn’t have that one either and then I had to settle on regular old Italian. What’s the point of having five different breads if I can only have one after 8PM.
The subs were made well, the fries were hot and my order was correct after I finally got that order through. Outside of the awkward exchange, it was a decent trip.

This review is for this location and the chain in general. The subs are decent, nothing special. If you don’t have coupons they are a bit overpriced. I would not rate them high for value but the main issue is they are the champs at messing up orders. Just try ordering without onions or any other special request and you will find out. They are a step below the other chain sub shops in town and far below some of the small locally owned shops.