Even University Market is not immune to the lure of national food chains. Subway opened a counter there two weeks ago.

Kurleigh Henry, 22, is the manager of the Subway and said the counter is bringing more and new customers to University Market.

“We’ve seen lots more people coming in—people we have never seen before,” he said.

However, Subway has not been allowed to advertise its presence because of the overwhelming opposition to the national chains’ presence in the Square, Henry said.

The owner of University Market has a food vendors license and was therefore allowed to open the franchise in his store without obtaining a new license, according to Henry.

Officials at Cambridge’s Licensing Association were unaware of the chain’s opening last week.

The owner of the building that houses University Market has been opposed to the chain for a while, because other vendors in the buildings have also protested, Henry said.

“The building owners don’t like the Subway here,” he said.

“But they can’t stop” University Market’s owner from opening the counter.

—Please send Harvard Square news to staff writer Shifra B. Mincer at smincer@fas.harvard.edu.