A Subway customer says his lunch came with an unexpected extra: a full-sized knife pressed into the bottom of his sandwich.
The Reddit post, which quickly racked up thousands of upvotes, included a photo showing the blade neatly imprinted into the bread and hidden beneath the wrapper.
While the customer says he never received a refund from Subway, the internet more than made up for it with an avalanche of knife jokes and sandwich puns.
One Subway footlong, extra sharp
On Thursday, Redditor u/One-Patient-3417 gained over 11,000 upvotes in just three hours with their Subway knife tale. Former sandwich peddlers recognized the type of cutting utensil favored by the company, adding credibility to the story.
"I found a knife perfectly imprinted into the bottom of my delivered subway sandwich…" the headline reads.
In a response to a comment, the OP said he contacted Subway about the unexpected addition to his lunch but didn't get much of a response.
"Yeah unfortunately I made a refund request and they just sent an automatic email saying my case was resolved but I didn’t get a refund or anything," he wrote.
Others advised him to call the store manager or corporate directly. While it's unlikely the customer would have been hurt by the knife (unless he was really hungry), that would still be considered a safety hazard.
At least one person has made a similar claim online in the past. In May 2025, someone on Justia's "Ask A Lawyer" requested legal advice for their situation.
"I went to Subway to get a sandwich, and when I got home, I discovered a knife left underneath it," they wrote. "I was getting a drink while they wrapped my sandwich, so I didn't notice at the store."
"I didn't suffer any injury, but I'm curious about potential outcomes or resolutions that could be pursued."
Most responders didn't appear to think a successful lawsuit was likely.
A mistake becomes a viral bit
Speaking to the Daily Dot, the Subway customer said he found the situation more amusing than frightening upon discovering the surprise inside the wrapper.
"I pretty much immediately noticed an object on the bottom since I was moving the sandwich around to remove the paper, and turned it over to see the knife," he explained.
"Honestly, I thought it was more funny than scary because it was such an obvious 'whoops.' My partner and I just started laughing and taking photos of it."
He considered turning it into a wider Reddit bit, but ultimately decided to contact Subway for a refund instead. He responded to the company's auto-reply with photo evidence, but still hasn't received a human response.
He's not interested in contacting management and getting someone fired, however.
"My hope was that it'll just be a simple auto-refund through the app, as I didn't think $15 was worth calling the specific store over and getting a worker in trouble," he said.
"A mistake is one thing, but when it’s been seen by millions, it no longer feels right to single anyone specific or a specific store out over it."
If nothing else, the OP got a good laugh out of the deal.
"The moment felt too funny to just disappear, so when I got a 'your case has been resolved' response from Subway without any more information or a refund, Reddit became a way to give it the life I thought it deserved. It's actually been a blast watching so many people share in the absurdity and make the jokes."
Indeed, the quips from fellow Redditors are fresher than anything you can get from Subway.
"Subway Prison Edition ®," wrote u/Dajearian.
"That sandwich was supposed to be for Jared," u/exipheas replied.
"Did you ask for sharp cheddar?" u/Esturk inquired.
"That’s worth a few free sandwiches I think," said u/qdtk. "Just check those for knives too."
In response to that comment, u/ricky-from-scotland had a stroke of brilliance: "Infinite sandwich strat unlocked."
Meanwhile, current and former Subway workers let the OP know that at the very least, they scored a quality knife.
"Those are good knives," wrote u/Tired-CottonCandy. "Keep that."
"I used to work at subway and I can confirm that," u/Ok_Complex4374 replied. "We used them for quite literally everything in the restaurant that required a knife and they just kept there edge and kept working. Idk what sorcery they used to make these."
The Daily Dot has reached out to Subway for comment via email.
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