There’s nothing I hate more about food writing than feeling like I’m riding the “trend train.” Some food writers make their living chasing down and capturing trends, but personally, I run as far away as possible, as fast as possible, from trends. I actually lost sleep at night pondering if I should include the quesabirria from Santi’s Mexican Grill & Sport Bar to represent the letter “Q” for my A-Z guide of dishes to eat in Chattanooga, only because I thought the taco had become too trendy.
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For me, there’s a significant amount of joy, satisfaction and purpose that comes with being the first to enlighten readers about foodstuff and foodways, whether it’s about Haitian spaghetti or the origins of Spam Musubi. However, it seems, that cat is already out of the bag. Apparently, these chicken tender subs have been trending for at least three years, getting coverage from Business Insider, YouTubers and TikTok food influencers. According to their signage, the chicken tender sub from Publix has been “customer favorite since 1992” — 62 years after George Jenkins opened the first location in Winter Haven, Florida.
Just about every grocery store has a halfway decent deli. You can get a “Danny’s Favorite” on their signature sesame seed roll from Wegmans, a roast beef and cheddar cheese on a pretzel bun from Meijer or a Whole Foods riff on a B.L.T., only the bacon is actually tempeh. However, none of these grocery stores had the genius, or common sense, to put chopped-up chunks of fried chicken tenders in their subs. The more I think about it, the more I realize that was a no-brainer. Even before I was hip to the “Pub Sub” phenomena, I knew their fried chicken was critically acclaimed.
Traditionally, the chicken tender sub is dressed in mayonnaise, provolone cheese, lettuce and tomato. It’s so popular that Publix decided to branch out and add four other variations: bacon ranch, sweet & spicy Sriracha, Parmesan-style and Buffalo-style, plus a hot honey version for a limited time. They’ve even done a special chicken tender sub for NFL franchises like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which included shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, imported cheddar cheese, spicy gold sauce and bacon.