If You're looking for a quick, convenient, cheap, delicious place to eat with good company Potbelly's is not the place for you. I was less than impressed with anything to do with my journey to Potbelly's. I picked up a couple of my friends who filled my empty stomach with promises that the food is delicious on the 20 minute drive there. Half way there I had already wished that I had gone to my local Subway that resides only 5 minutes away from my house but that's beside the point.
I pulled into the Potbelly's parking lot and struggled to find a parking spot, which built up my suspense that this place must be good. I walked in and went straight for the menu which was quite limited, but made choosing what to get easy. Here is a link to the Potbelly's menu if your interested in viewing it yourself.
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The menu is vary misleading in this picture it's
a lot more limited then it appears. |
Potbelly's works just like a Subway or Chipotle. You tell the first person what you want and you work your way down the line slowly while your food is being made. Once I finally made my way down to the register the cashier asked me what my order was. I gladly told her my order was a big chicken and cheddar sandwich, a bag or barbecue chips, a cup of chili, and a large strawberry smoothie.
The total for my meal came out to 19.73 which I felt was a little bit over priced for a sandwich lunch. Where they got me was I didn't ask for the side of chili, so instead of getting the meal price, I got charged full price. Also, my smoothie was 6 dollars-6 dollars for a smoothie?! That was more then my sandwich cost. Now the part that really irritated me was the fact I had to remind the cashier about my smoothie twice, while I watched it just sit on the back counter.
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Let me tell you it was not easy for Big Gut
Chuck to fit all that shake in his belly. |
When we finally sat down and prepared to start eating, I took a sip of my so-called smoothie which actually turned out to be a shake. I mean come on, how hard is your job? It wasn't even worth my time to go back and complain. So I sucked it up and drank it, although the shake actually wound up being pretty good.
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I felt like I was looking at
a lunch my mom had packed
for me in the 3rd grade. |
Next came time to start unveiling the sandwich that I had driven 20 minutes for. The sandwich came in a paper wrapping, like your typical
Jimmy Johns or Subway sandwich, and it was also thrown in a brown paper bag.
When I finally opened this sandwich it looked delicious. The bread appeared to be crisped just right so that the cheese was melted on the chicken perfectly. I got some hot peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes to accent the chicken and cheese.
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| Looks good doesn't it? Surprise it wasn't. |
Let me tell you, looks are deceiving: the sandwich was no where near what I expected. I was looking for a "mandwich," something that made me have to unbutton my pants afterwards because I ate so much. Or something that leaves me wishing for more finger-licking deliciousness. I felt like I was eating a sandwich my mom had packed in my lunch for me. I was disappointed to say the least.
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It tastes just about as good
as it looks. |
So next I was on to the chili, which I was hoping this would salvage my experience at Potbelly's. IT DIDN'T. My chili looked like someone threw up in a cup and threw a hunk of cheese on top of it. The chili had no kick what so ever to it. My dad's chili was better than that and that's not saying much.
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The dream bar was a
little more dreamy then
joeys face. |
Now to top off this epic failure of a lunch, my friends and I got some desert and split it. We got the dream bar which in actuality is just at cookie like granola bar. Sadly, this was the best part of the meal besides my shake. Yet, the dream bar still wasn't that good since it tasted under cooked and was vary chewy.
The seating arrangement is like any typical sandwich joint: you have some tables in the front and back as well as booths in between. The theme of this place felt like they were going for an older Americana type of theme by the way the pictures and writing on the walls were done. Also, the chalkboard menu hinted at that as well.
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| The calender lied! |
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As you can see there was
no live entertainment. |
After we were done eating and on our way out, we looked at the calender and it said there was suppose to be live entertainment from 12pm-2pm. So we asked the cashier where the live entertainment was and she said she has no idea. How do you have no idea about things happening in your restaurant if you work here?
I can confidently say that I left Potbelly's feeling disappointed and disgusted. I will be in no hurry to ever return because the food was over priced and mediocre at best, and the service was poor. I would not recommend anyone should go to this eating establishment unless you plan to be disappointed as well.
