Roaming the streets in their diminutive school bus, Short Bus Subs has grown quite a following in a relatively short amount of time (enough to rev up a second bus). Offering a variety of sub sandwiches on their fresh baked bread has filled a big hole in the Austin food truck scene. I didn’t realize how much I was missing a warm, toasty sandwich until Short Bus Subs brought it to my attention.

It’s been awhile since I’ve taken a bite of a sandwich and thought “whoa, where did that come from?”. After browsing the menu full of educational value, like the Teacher’s Pet and the Lunch Lady, I settled on the Mascot Marinara. Like all sandwiches on the menu it’s built upon their fresh-baked whole-grain white/wheat bread. The chicken is carefully set on the bread and layered with marinara sauce, provolone, mushrooms, crushed red pepper, and parmesan.

From the first bite through the last the bread is soft and toasty. I think this is really where all the magic happens. Everything is enhanced by that bread. The chicken is thin and, I don’t know, chopped? which makes it extra delicious, like a kindergartener eating paste*. The sauce was nice and spicy with the addition of the crushed red pepper, and the cheese was melty and held everything together (kind of like paste…). All paste talk aside, this was a delicious, made-with-love sandwich. With a huge selection, including five different chicken options (Mascots), it will be hard to pick something the next time I visit.

If there were a downside to their delicious offerings, I’d have to say it’s the price. For me, the 6″ (small) wasn’t quite big enough for lunch. At $5.49 it doesn’t seem too pricey, but

the jump up to the large is a lot of lunch money at $9.49. Logically, the price is right, adding on $4 to double the size. But with tax, over $10 for a sandwich comes off as a bit steep. Maybe it would be easier to swallow (food pun) if it were under that $10 mark. What I have realized, however, is that you get what you pay for, and you are getting a high-quality sandwich.

Go there when you can, and don’t worry about the overwhelming menu. Though I’ve only tried one sandwich** from the vast selection, if it’s anything like the one I had, it’ll be great. So don’t be tardy and get yourself over to the Short Bus pronto.

*yes, this is a school-related good thing, particularly for students who may actually ride the short bus…

**Since beginning this post I checked out the breakfast sandwich with ham, egg, onions, peppers, and cheese. Not surprising, it was outstanding.