Uncle Sam’s Submarines

Always consistent, always delicious. Love Uncle Sam’s! And the quirks, like cash only and fries come with dine in only, aren’t bothersome compared to how delicious their sandwiches are. And really, it keeps out the bad eggs! Only complaint is that they close super early on Sunday’s. Keep being awesome!

The best subs in the world!
Recommend the steak and cheese or chicken and cheese with lettuce and tomato.
Better than Primantis in my opinion.

As good as it was 20 years ago… cheeseburger sub with mushrooms please… a classic!

My favorite cheesesteak in Pittsburgh. Love the bread, the steak is acceptable and it’s usually pretty fast. To pay with a card is kind of clunky and annoying (it’s an ATM machine thing…) but the food is great. The service is most of the time very good but it’s been pretty bad once or twice (I used to go here a lot…)
You probably won’t like it if you’re from Philly. It’s a way different sandwich. No whiz and it’s a lot more dry (which is my preference).

The mushroom cheesesteak is really good, they add lettuce, tomato and onion which makes for a different flavor experience. The fries are your regular run of the mill fries but their sandwiches make up for it! Staff wasn’t very friendly but we will definitely be because the food was great!

Cash only unless you want a surcharge on your debit card.
The Mushroom Cheesesteak was by far the best sandwich I have had here, albeit greasy. I’ve tried the Ultimate Philly Cheesesteak was like any other cheesesteak I have had. The Italian (hot sausage) was abhorrent, for the flavors just don’t mesh well. Fries are poorly seasoned and soggy as well.
The bright side was that the amount of food you get for your buck was very generous.

I would only come here for the fries.
The chicken cheesesteak (yes, my standards are high since I’m from Philly) was so bland. The bread was porous and too big for the small amount of unseasoned chicken. I probably ate like 300 calories worth of hot sauce of ketchup to make up for it. And I think there was cheese– if it was there, I didn’t taste it.
The regular and sweet potato fries are awesome. Besides that, the subs are not worth your calories. Well, at least the price was right.

i have had sams subs for as long as i remember. consistent in quality. filling. best fries in the world. subs are phenomenal. can’t get enough of it. the grilled portabela subs are FANTASTIC!!! THE steak subs are just amaaazing! can’t believe it’s not a chain. it is reasonable in price. only problem is the space. its tiny and dark. not the best dine in. staff is fast. if ur in Pittsburgh you HAVE TO give it a try.

This is one of those places that I crave. I went to college near by and would use Uncle Sams as a place to treat myself to some good grub and great leftovers. I love the Portabella Mushroom sandwich. Not sure how they perfected the marinade on the mushrooms, but it is perfect. The buns are light and fluffy, and that is a good thing. The fries are of the best out there.
The atmosphere is a dive, but the fact that you can watch someone cook your food, is a big bonus. It looks the exact same as it did 10 – 15 years ago and I like that. Clean? Maybe not, but still rather sit in their establishment than in a McDonalds.
I request to go here on special occasions because the subs are just right and fit that need of something greasy yet especially delicious. A sub shop that should be one of the WQED Pittsburgh Restaurant shows, for sure. Has hometown Pittsburgh written all over it. One of my all time favorites.
If you don’t finish all your sub, take it up to the counter where you ordered and they will wrap it up to take home. The Portabella sandwich is even great cold out of a dorm fridge!

This place has good sandwiches but it never looks super clean to me. The fries are nothing special either. Overall not a huge fan.

Stopped here on a whim, new to the area and had a taste for a sandwich. It was a great choice. Deliciousness and the staff were friendly and funny. Will definitely be coming back. Also make sure to carry cash they do not accept cards other than that they were great all around!

Last night, upon taking off work, I was super-​hungry and was craving a (hot) sandwich, so I decided to head over to Uncle Sam’s. Since most of the menu options appeared to be variations on cheesesteaks, I decided to go with a basic chicken cheesesteak ($ 8.13 w/​tax), given that I don’t eat beef. From reading other Unilocal reviews, I knew the sandwich came with free fries for dine in, so I mentioned that I wanted to do this.
When my sandwich and fries came out after about 10 min., they looked very fresh and tempting, so I was excited to dig in. When I did so, I was underwhelmed, however. The bread was light and fluffy, rather than substantial, as I prefer, the tomatoes were pretty white, and the chicken was on the tough side. The flavors were so muted and bland that I sequestered all of the condiments (hot sauce, cajun spice, brown mustard) and put them to use, which significantly improved the sandwich. As for the fries, they were of the previously frozen shoestring variety (I saw the box) – similar to McD’s fries, but not as crisp – and were utterly forgettable sans condiments.
Interestingly, this place seems to be a haven for single male grad students during the dinner hour. In the 30 min. or so I was there, I was the only female who ate in – all of the other diners were solo men in their mid-​twenties with textbooks in front of them. In contrast, there were plenty of women, couples, groups, etc. dining at Noodles and Co. a block away. Maybe cheesesteaks for dinner are a dude thing?
At the time of my visit, I found the dining area acceptably clean, and the service friendly and fairly efficient. This is likely due to the time of my visit (5:30pm), however, since Uncle Sam’s is probably much more popular at lunch time. Thus, YMMV.
Given that I’m from DE, where Capriotti’s originated, I have exacting sandwich standards, and I have yet to find a place in PGH that satisfies them. While Uncle Sam’s is a cut above Subway, it isn’t quite as good as Peppi’s, which I also found underwhelming, despite its good reputation. Thus, my search for a satiating sandwich continues…

The food is pretty good here, but you’re getting what it looks like you’re getting: a sub with tons of cheese on it and greasy french fries (if you dine in, that is). I get the Roma Veggie, so at least mine has broccoli on it…
I ate here with a coworker and they had two stacks of numbers going at once, but the numbers were the same, so everyone was getting the wrong subs – or no subs – and the whole place was a hot mess, since this was at noon on a Friday and lots of students and UPMC employees go out to lunch at that time.
We saw a lot of people complaining they got the wrong thing, and a lot of people having to bag up their lunch and go since they waited so long. Not a good scene.
However, if you’re in the mood for a real Pittsburgh sandwich and fries – and you’re not in a hurry at all – this is your jam.

Let me start by saying I really love Uncle Sam’s subs and the Oakland shop has the best fries of all their locations. But the place is filthy and really needs some TLC. I don’t understand why this is the only location that has been neglected. Come on, get some hot soapy water and give the place a good cleaning. The bathrooms on the other hand need a lot more attention.

The sandwiches were good but the meat to bread ratio was completely off!
The golden ratio is only achieved by a few restaurants and Uncle Sam’s just didn’t have it right. I ordered the Philadelphia Cheesesteak as an ode to my hometown and it was awful. I should have never gotten a Philly Cheesesteak in Pittsburgh… The meat was okay but there wasn’t enough, they were also really stingy with the cheese.
But what made the meal salvageable were the fries. The fries were perfectly crisp and cut thin (not a big fan of thick fries…)

Don’t expect to be feeling good about yourself after a trip to Uncle Sams. This is the epitome of Pittsburgh fare. A true hole in the wall with questionable hygiene standards. Nevertheless, the food is actually quite good… much better than the Oakland branch of Primanti Bros across the street. They give you a ton of food here with just the right amount of grease. Steak is grilled nicely and the fries are the closest thing to McDonald’s I have ever seen. Overall a good experience, but wouldn’t want to make a habit of coming to this place… unless you have a burning desire to raise your BMI a few points. Make sure to bring cash. They accept debit. for a price.

I think it’d be easier to do a pro/​con; Plus I’ve never done a review this way before
Pros*
–juicy, plump yummy cheesesteaks
–free fries if you dine in
–decent price for the amount of food you get, esp with the free fries deal.
Cons;
–needs a good scrubbing everywhere
–sometimes hard to find a clean table.
–SMILE counter girl. No need to be stuck up
–the card/​atm system. (although it’s better than cash only I suppose)
–my cheesesteak on Sunday had wet, soggy tasetless lettuce; not fresh & crisp

You ever work back of the house at a suburban chain restaurant? Picture that disgusting dish rack. The greasy ass floors. You crawl out like a slug at the end of your slimy shift.
That’s this place.
It might be the setup – kitchen at the front and clogged lunch line blocking the door. It could be the low ceilings and wobbly cafeteria tables. It’s possibly the abundance of grimy college kids taking a study break. No offense college kids, but your grimier activities elsewhere leave you thinking this is a safe haven. It’s not.
The sandwiches are not good enough to justify how dirty you feel when you leave. So order to go? They take away your fries.
Bottom line: avoid this place. Spend an extra 20 minutes and catch the 61C towards the cleaner location in squirrel hill.

I love to stop here before a basketball game! Good, quick food and not nearly as crowded as Primantis. Order at the counter and then they’ll bring your meals to your table. When you eat in, you get free fries with your sub. One meal is huge, so I prefer to share but it’s good enough to eat a whole! And the bread is excellent. I just wish they put hot sauce on every table as I’m usually searching it out in the dining area.
Bring cash!

This place is incredible.
I love everything about Uncle Sam’s — the atmoshphere, the (loud) employees, the free fries when you dine-​in and the cheesesteaks (naturally.)
My go to order is the chicken mushroom cheesesteak with lettuce and tomato. You won’t be disappointed. The chicken is thinly sliced and has a nice char to it from the flat cooktop. To me, provolone is always the way to go on a cheesesteak. But hands down, its the bread that brings it all together. It’s soft and chewy but sturdy enough to support all the other sandwich fillings. Yum!
A few things to note about coming here:
1) It can get insanely crowded. So be prepared to order as soon as you walk in, or stand off to the side if you’re still making up your mind.
2) During the busiest times, there are two lines — one along the cooking line and the other along the side wall. Pick one and stay there.
3) Bring cash — it just makes life easier, trust me.
4) Come on an empty stomach — you’re going to want to eat it all. But in the off chance you don’t, they’ll happily wrap up the remainder for you. Just bring your basket to the line.
Enjoy!