The Quiznos restaurant chain disappointed many franchisees on a company-wide call Thursday when it announced it was adding items — not subtracting items — from its menu, sources said.
Money-losing Quiznos told its franchisees it was bringing back pricier items, like the lobster and seafood sub, and salads in an attempt to perk up sales.
Also, Quiznos said it was adding a whole line of pastas: macaroni and cheese, macaroni and cheese with bacon, macaroni and cheese with lobster, meatball marinara, sausage marinara, and two kids’ pastas, the source said.
In recent months, both McDonald’s and Burger King have successfully turned around sagging revenue with new menu items.
However, franchisees were hoping the call with management of the struggling chain would be to discuss reducing items on the menu that some see as too full already with its 17 subs.
“We’ve been asking them to reduce the number of items for a year,” a Quiznos owner told The Post.
“The new items will make it that much harder to make a profit. They are more labor intensive, so it will require more time to make, thus costing us more in labor and decreased sales. Based on their instructions, we will probably waste half of what we make just for the pasta products every two to three days.”
While the franchise owner bellyached about too many subs, management did seem to be listening as the items added were more offbeat and could attract a new type of customer.
Sales have been less than stellar at the chain and Quiznos is in discussions with its lenders to restructure its debt.
Quiznos had roughly 2,500 restaurants in January 2012, when Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital bought the chain. It is presently hovering slightly above 1,000, a source said.
“It’s incredibly hard to make a profit,” the Quiznos owner said. “I’m almost breaking even, but I rarely take a salary for myself and I work 50 to 70 hours a week.”
A Quiznos spokesman did not return calls.