Is Subway open on Thanksgiving?

A worker prepares a sandwich in a Subway shop in Hannover, Germany, 21 August 2015. The sandwich fast food chain will celebrate its 50th birthday on 28 August 2015. Photo: Julian Stratenschulte/dpa | usage worldwide (Photo by Julian Stratenschulte/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

Finding something to eat on Thanksgiving can be tricky, so if you’re looking for a footlong meatball marinara you’re out of luck because Subway is closed.

Subway is a great fast food alternative for burgers and fries, but when it comes to substituting a Thanksgiving turkey with a footlong turkey sandwich you’re out of luck, because Subway is closed on Thanksgiving Day. You can pick up sandwiches on Wednesday night, or be there at the crack of dawn on Friday for a pre-Black Friday breakfast sandwich, but most locations will be closed on Turkey Day.

The general rule is that Subway is closed on major holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The stores might even have limited hours on holidays like Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. It’s very important to call your local Subway restaurant to check store hours, even on holidays, because there are always exceptions to the rule.

The asterisk to Subway being closed on Thanksgiving is this: Since most restaurants are franchise owned and operated, their hours are determined by the individual franchisee. Those stores located within busy areas like airports or stores like Walmart will have different hours than normal stores, and so you might find a Subway open at your local Walmart or near a busy amusement park where there is high traffic and high demand.