Sub Station bids its final farewell

After 54 years of feeding UC Riverside students and employees with its signature Big Dude and other deli sandwiches, the Sub Station, which was located in Brannockburn Village on campus, has bid farewell to its customers.

Owner Richard Munio and his employees held a going away bash Friday, June 19 to kick off its last few days of business.

In the weeks leading up to it, Munio received heartfelt letters from alumni, former employees, and other community members about what the Sub Station has meant to them. Others have shared their memories on the Sub Station's Instagram feed.

His business doubled as many have flocked to the sandwich shop to order a final meal, take photos with Munio, or buy a commemorative Sub Station t-shirt.

Munio said he felt lucky to have been able to do a job he loved for 54 years.

"It's been a great run," he said. "What a blessing to be with everybody."

Chancellor S. Jack Hu joined Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson and other community leaders in celebrating the Sub Station's legacy at the farewell party which included a DJ and free ice cream.

Hu presented Munio with a certificate and a letter thanking Munio and his employees for his dedication and contributions to the campus community.

"Not only have you provided consistently delicious sandwiches, but you have provided valuable hospitality that has nourished our community," the letter stated. "Important friendships and collaborations have formed around your tables. Athletic teams have celebrated, colleagues have encouraged each other, and those who come hungry or lonely have been filled."

Munio estimated that he hired around 800 students over the course of the shop's run, typically freshmen and sophomores who would remain until they graduated. The shop is decorated with photos of the employees, who he calls "Subbers" and would take on group activities like camping, skiing, or bowling.

"I tell them Sub Station doesn't serve food, we serve service," he said of the lessons he imparted to his employees.

Raised in a small town in New Jersey, Munio and a college friend decided after graduation to bring an East Coast style deli sandwich shop out West near a college campus. They searched in New Mexico, Arizona, and California for six months until finding a strip mall in Riverside on Watkins Avenue that would lease a space to them for $150 a month. They opened in 1972 and a year later found their home at Bannockburn Village.

Riverside resident Mary Stenger, who worked in a hair salon at the Watkins Avenue strip mall at the time, remembers being glad to see a dining venue open there. Stenger was among the first in line for the farewell celebration on Friday.

"The day they opened up we all went down there," she said. "We've eaten there regularly ever since. The friendliness, the family-ness, the cleanliness - there's no place like Sub Station."

UCR announced in February that Bannockburn Village will be closed and demolished this summer due to its age and costly renovation and maintenance costs for the housing complex. The university is exploring future uses of the property such as a larger student housing complex.