7 Publix Deli Mistakes That Cost South Carolina Shoppers

Think you’ve mastered your Publix deli after years of Pub Subs?

The order screen and the weekly ad disagree, and many South Carolinians pay the gap almost every visit.

These are the Publix deli habits customers would fix in a heartbeat if they knew about them.

1. Skipping the Weekly Sub Special

Your Publix deli puts a different sub on special every week, and many South Carolinians order right past it.

You save about two dollars on the featured Pub Sub.

So, a $10.99 Boar’s Head turkey sub can ring up closer to $8.99.

The sub still comes built your way, with your bread, your cheese, and your toppings.

One caveat is timing: The featured sub changes weekly, so the Pub Sub you love isn’t always the sub that’s on special.

Check the Publix weekly ad or the app before you order, and grab the special when it lands on a favorite.

Order on the wrong week, and you pay full price for the exact same sandwich.

2. Waiting in the Deli Line

Publix lets South Carolinians order a Pub Sub ahead through the app, yet the deli line still stretches past the bread on a Saturday.

Wisdom pays here.

Order through the Publix app before you shop, and the deli has your sub ready after you shop.

You pick the store, the pickup time, and every topping right on your phone.

No paper ticket, no standing behind a family ordering six subs one at a time.

Customers who order ahead walk up to the Publix deli, grab the bag, and go.

3. Taking the Sub Home Uncut

Your Publix deli will cut a Pub Sub however you want it, and South Carolinians almost never ask.

Order a whole sub, and the staff will slice it into halves, thirds, or quarters at no charge.

The trick outsiders miss: Ask for the sub on sandwich bread instead of the long roll.

Publix will build two separate sandwiches from that single whole-sub order, so two lunches cost the price of one.

That splits a Pub Sub between two people, or between lunch today and dinner tomorrow.

One order, two meals, and South Carolinians who don’t ask pay twice for the same food.

4. Walking Past the Mojo Chicken

Your Publix deli sells a hot Mojo rotisserie chicken that many South Carolinians stroll past.

Mojo is a citrus-style marinade, and Publix roasts the whole chicken and keeps it hot in the deli case.

A whole Mojo chicken feeds a family for less than many sit-down dinners in Columbia or Greenville.

Grab it on the way out, and supper’s done before you reach the parking lot.

South Carolinians who only think “subs” at the Publix deli walk past the easiest hot meal in the store.

5. Paying Full Price for Tenders

Those fried chicken tenders tucked inside every Chicken Tender Sub are also sold on their own at the Publix deli.

You can buy them hot by the pound, or order a tender meal that feeds four.

Publix even sells a fried chicken tender meal built for a crowd of two dozen.

For a Gamecocks or Clemson tailgate, that beats standing over a grill in the parking lot all morning.

South Carolinians who buy tenders one sub at a time spend more than the shoppers who order the meal.

6. Overlooking the Deli-Meat BOGO

Publix runs buy-one-get-one deals on packaged deli meat and cheese, and the rule works differently for South Carolinians than the Florida version some newcomers expect.

In South Carolina, you can take home a single BOGO package at half price.

You don't have to buy two items to get the discount.

So, a tub of Boar's Head or a stack of Publix sliced turkey drops to half price on its own.

Watch the Publix weekly ad for the BOGO deli meat, then build your own subs and lunches at home for less.

Half price on a single package, and no second package required.

7. Ordering Your Sub Plain

Your Publix deli offers South Carolinians a long list of free upgrades, and hardly anyone asks for a single one.

Have the staff toss your chicken tenders in your favorite dressing before they hit the bread, at no charge.

Want it lighter?

Skip the roll, and get the whole Pub Sub made in a bowl instead.

Prefer less bread on a regular sub? Ask them to hollow out the roll before they build it.

On a veggie sub, request the salt, oil, and vinegar on the vegetables instead of the bread, so it doesn't turn as soggy.

South Carolinians who order the same plain Pub Sub every time leave all of that on the counter.

Order-Ahead Covers More Than Subs

The Publix order-ahead system South Carolinians rely on for Pub Subs also covers the rest of the deli.

You can reserve party platters, sliced deli meat by the pound, and those big tender meals for in-store pickup, straight from the app or the website.

A bakery cake rides along on the very same order.