As America–and food writers–continue to wrestle with the problem of obesity, another restaurant chain has done its bit to make things worse. Penn Station, which serves an acceptable cheesesteak sandwich, along with many variations on the sub/grinder theme, has stopped offering salads (and wraps, too). Removed from their menu boards, removed from their website.
It was crazy. The chain, in case you've not visited, offered to take its sandwich fillings and put them atop a field of lettuce instead of bread. Lighter on the stomach, lighter on the calories, lighter on the carbs. It's not like they don't have lettuce on hand.
We left the outlet, muttering.
A day later, we e-mailed the company and asked what was going on. This is the reply, which, by the way, came very quickly, a nice touch in these days of unreturned phone calls and ignored e-mails:
Thanks for the email. Unfortunately, salads were not a big seller for Penn Station, and we had no choice (we were only selling between 1-3 per day per store, system wide) but to remove them. We know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but it's the 'why'.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, as a side note, the store(s) can still serve you a salad in a kid's boat (as opposed to the bowl). It is basically the same as before (and actually costs slightly less). We just don't promote such. Did they not offer this as an alternative when you ordered? The restaurant should have if you did indeed ask. Which location did you visit? We hope this helps!
And, no, the substitution was not offered, but we're reluctant to disclose the location. We're not about to blow the whistle on the pleasant and apologetic server who makes a peasant's wage for telling crabby adults he can't give them what they hunger for.
So there's the answer. We hope this helps others who crave the tasty cheesesteak, a dish far easier to order with the rationale that it's far less dangerous without the bread.