Subway

Footlongs here often end up in seat 23A, not at a table

Subway in T1 sits landside on the departures level at Adelaide Airport and ends up as “plane food” for a lot of people. It’s one of the few spots where you can customise a sandwich or wrap instead of grabbing a pre-made box. Think standard Subway line: 6-inch and footlong subs, salads, and wraps at roughly $9–$18, with the usual sauces and extras.

Hours aren’t clearly posted online, but reviewers in 2021 mention grabbing sandwiches for morning and late-afternoon flights, so expect it to track with typical T1 departure peaks. It’s before security, so factor in your screening time; you don’t want to still be choosing bread with 35 minutes to boarding. Because it’s landside, you can also pick something up when meeting or dropping off someone.

The rating hovers around 2.5 stars, but the comments from Luke (2021) and Hannah (2020) read “standard airport Subway” rather than disaster. Staff are described as relatively quick, which matters if your Adelaide–Sydney shuttle boards in 25 minutes. Quality is exactly what you’d see at a suburban Subway, only with airport pricing layered on top.

Watch out for the markups: people call out higher prices than city Subways for the same meatball or chicken teriyaki sub. There are also notes about limited bread or topping choices later in the day when stock runs low, so if your flight is after 20:00, don’t bank on a specific combo. If you care about salads or certain breads, try to hit it earlier in the schedule.

Regulars in reviews order a footlong, have it cut and wrapped separately, then carry both halves onto the plane for a SYD or MEL hop. Ask for extra napkins and double-wrapping so your 30B neighbor doesn’t get sauce on their laptop. Tip: build something without strong onions or extra sauce if you’re planning to eat it at 36,000 feet in row 22.