"subway" news and stories

It's Tax Day (well, ok, Tax Weekend, since you have until Monday the 18th to file). Restaurants around the country want you to know they feel your pain as you fill out your 1040. Tax Day and Tax Weekend deals on food, from Cinnabon (free Cinnabon Bites from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday) to RA Sushi (extended "Magic Monday" happy hour), will keep you chewing on more than your fingernails as you cut that check to the IRS. Or give you more ways to spend your refund.

Arby's is declaring today Free FryDay (Curly Fries giveaway after printing a coupon from its Facebook page)

At Hooters, buy 10 wings and get 10 free.

Subway is offering an extended "tax break": buy one Footlong and get one free, through April 29.

Get the whole story at Nation's Restaurant News, where there's a full line-up of the giveaways and deals.

Someone should give Jared a bonus: Thanks in part to the success of his high-profile ad campaign, there are now 33,000 Subway restaurants in the U.S. That's more locations than McDonald's, and Entrepreneur has a list of the smart business moves that helped the sub shop topple the Golden Arches. Are you a sandwich fan, or do you stick with burgers? Spill it in the comments.

Get the whole story at Entrepreneur.com.

That handy GPS system in your car or phone is full of golden information -- and not just for you. Turns out it has some valuable market research data, too -- for big businesses.

Most of us use our GPS for more than directions to our ultimate destinations. We also use it to scout out our pit-stops along the way -- you know, coffee breaks and drive-thrus. That means the company that records all that data can provide exact figures on where people are going, what time of day, and along which routes. Now one GPS service provider, TeleNav, is sharing some of the information that impacts businesses, especially chain restaurants and hotels.

Despite all the hullaballoo over carbon footprints and "green" building design, The DailyGreen recently pointed out that there are only 38 restaurants in the U.S. that have so far received LEED certification (an internationally recognized certification that stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Thirty-eight in the whole country? That's a pretty paltry amount, given that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than a half-million eating and drinking places in the country. Even more surprising is that 40 percent of those LEED-certified establishments are chain restaurants. Who made the list? Sandwich chain Subway currently has one LEED-certified restaurant in Chapel Hill, N.C; and burger-meister Arby's has a green building in Magnolia, Texas.

Once in awhile Subway comes out with a new creation that we're excited to try, like their breakfast sandwiches. The same cannot be said for Subway's two most recent additions -- the Steak & Cheese (pictured in the front) and the Fiery Turkey Jalapeno subs.

The Steak & Cheese has been out since August; the Turkey Jalapeno sandwich is part of Subway's Fiery Footlong Frenzy campaign, which is sponsored by Playstation (and seems to truly motivate gamers to purchase several Subway products at one time for a chance to win Playstation gear).

Subway's motto is "Eat Fresh," and their fiery sandwiches are indeed "fresh"...in the sense that they're down right mean. They truly create a burning hot, can't-taste-anything-else-for-30-minutes sensation.