The first Subway restaurant was opened in 1965, originally as Pete’s Super Submarines.
Fred DeLuca opened the sandwich shop in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with financing from family friend Peter Buck. The original name referred to submarine sandwiches and to Buck, whose first name was Pete. The business later adopted the shorter name Subway as it expanded.
The first store was not initially part of a large international chain. DeLuca’s strategy was to grow through franchising, allowing the brand to add restaurants rapidly while individual operators invested in and managed locations. That model eventually made Subway one of the world’s largest restaurant chains by location count.
The date can be confused with 1974, when the company began franchising. The 1965 date marks the opening of the original sandwich shop; franchising came later, after the business had established its basic operating model.