FREEDOM OF SPEECH

SUB SHOP CHEBA HUT A COOL SPOT FOR QUANTITY AND QUALITY

By Kristen Cook | Arizona Daily Star
Published: May 25th, 2005

Those dudes at Cheba Hut sure are gaga for ganja.

A marijuana mural graces the restaurant walls, and the chain's sandwich and salad names refer to, well, reefer. Which had to be explained to us, because after all, we were journalism nerds in school and not part of that laid-back stoner crowd.

It's all in good fun, says Twila Brewer, who opened the sub shop with husband Jeff in August.

University of Arizona students "walk into my shop and say, 'Oh my God. Is this legal?' " said Brewer.

More than that, it's pretty good. You'd figure that a restaurant celebrating a lifestyle that values food for its quantity might not have the best grub. And we were a tad worried when the dude who took our order repeated "cool" after each item and asked if we wanted "oil and vinegar on that" no matter what was requested.

But the portions and quality were up there. The salads ($4.39 small; $6.69 large) were massive. Ham and provolone cheese were rolled together (naturally), sliced into wheels and tossed on top of a bed of crisp iceberg along with spicy pepperoni. Black olives, pickle spears, thin slices of tomato and a hearty dusting of Parmesan cheese rounded out a hefty meal of a salad. No dressing needed.

While the Northern Lights, a creamy salad featuring faux crab, tasted fresh and well-seasoned, the Pacific Blue tuna number was so bland that it got tossed.

Sandwiches run from 4-inchers ($2.59) to hefty 12-inch "blunts" ($6.99). The East Coastern, a thinly sliced pastrami with snappy pepperoncinis and Monterey Jack, was tucked into a thick, wheat roll worth eating even without the sandwich guts. The White Widow, which sported grilled chicken breast heavily bathed in a creamy ranch dressing, could have used more chicken, but it was a pleasant mix with fresh mushrooms, bacon, Parmesan and provolone.

Capping things off was a perfectly, positively addictive legal hemp brownie ($1.95) that was soft and fudgey with a subtle earthy, nutty flavor thanks to the hemp. Now that's cool.