Quiznos was started by Terrell Braly in 1978.  He had help from a group of investors when he converted a closed Sinclair gas station in Denver, Colorado into the first sandwich shop.  The name of this shop was Sandwich World and Hussain Jaffarie, the manager, started to toast the subs in a pizza oven given to the company by Tombstone Pizza.  In 1979, a competing restaurant opened across the street and the owners Jimmy Lambatos and Todd Disner offered to buy the shop.  The takeover was accepted in 1980 and the new owners changed the name to Quiznos. This is also when they began to franchise the business.  The rights to franchise Quiznos in Australia were bought by Wendy’s in 2002, but this move was unsuccessful.  Rick Schaden and his family currently control the company and there are over 4,000 locations in the United States with 300 in Canada, and 100 others across the world.

Quiznos serves hot and cold subs with signature favorites, torpedoes, bullets, and classic subs.  Some of these are toasted and others are not.  They also serve fresh salads, flatbreads, and soups.  They make the sandwiches right in front of the customers and they send it through a pizza oven to toast it if the customer prefers.  Quiznos also offers an under 500 calorie menu, a kids menu, and catering for those that would like Quiznos at their event.

Quiznos offers the opportunity for a group or individual to open a franchise.  The total investment ranges from $186,835 to $316,485 not including the real estate costs.  The franchise fee for the first unit is $5,000 and there is a price break when you become a multi-unit owner.  The royalties are between 7% and 8% of the gross sales after all discounts and coupons.  These are paid weekly along with 4% of the gross sales going towards the Quiznos advertising fund.