The Rotten Truth

Week three on the job, I was 16 years old, slicing some of the reddest tomatoes I had ever seen come into the restaurant. They looked perfect, but mixed in were mushy, brown ones that collapsed under my plastic gloves. Innocently wanting to follow Subway’s “Eat Fresh” motto, I threw the rotten pieces away. Minutes later, I came back from helping a customer to find the same tomatoes I had tossed, pulled from the trash by the owner himself. The contrast of the bad tomatoes against the healthy ones made them glow. When I confronted him, he took the opportunity to teach me about costs. At the time I thought we were discussing tomato prices. What I later discovered is that the real lesson was about how often money outweighs food safety. 

In Waterbury, Middlebury, and Hartford Connecticut, and even in Hawaii, Steve Grimaldi, opened franchised Subway restaurants. Since Subways are privately owned, Grimaldi has more control in how he runs his business. According to employees, that power often meant cutting corners on hygiene, food safety, and workplace conditions. 

Belle Jason, who worked at one of Grimaldi’s Connecticut stores for more than two years, said she repeatedly witnessed unsafe food handling. “He did not wear gloves while prepping and would wipe his nose and stuff,” Jason recalled. “He also never washed his hands.” 

I worked with Grimaldi between 2020 and 2022. During the pandemic, he often removed his mask and made political comments. I remember vividly calling my mother for advice after receiving a phone call mid-shift: I had tested positive for covid and Grimaldi expected me to stay and finish my shift.

Current employee, Jessinya Severino, revealed a recent example of a different unsafe work condition, “The AC was broken for majority of the summer…There were days I’d be working and the inside is 100 [degrees] and I’d be sweating so bad I’d have to stop someone’s sandwich and go wipe my face. There's many different health issues.” 

A common sight for Grimaldi’s employees is his signature tuna making method. Not every employee was a model for cleanliness, however not one person prepped like him. Severino states, “He uses his fingers in the tuna, and then tries some, and puts his finger or hands back in like as if it wasn’t just in his mouth.”

All of these violate a legal boundary, and yet Grimaldi sees more customers than consequences. “Storing was not very hygienic. Refrigerators were never at proper temperature, and Steve [Grimaldi] would write inaccurate numbers on the temperature logs to pass inspections.” says Belle Jason. 

Grimaldi has been slipping out of the view of inspectors and regulators by lying and hiring naive, minimally trained teenagers. The most disturbing aspect of this whole establishment is Grimaldi consciously serving bad food to paying customers. Both Jason, Severino, and myself have been pressured to or have seen Grimaldi take food out of the trash, serve food past expiration, serve food that was clearly discolored, and serve food made weeks before. Just the other day, Severino had to convince Grimaldi not to sell cookies that he accidentally soaked in dish water. 

When asked to comment, Grimaldi did not respond.

Whenever you are eating out, especially in fast food, it’s vital you remain vigilant. Check for bugs, gloves, hairnets, mold or discoloration, staleness, and temperature. Any one of Grimaldi's locations would have failed these simple visual tests.