Potbelly Midtown

When we lived in Chicago, A and I used to go to Potbelly fairly often. There was more than one branch in our neighborhood. I would grab a sandwich every time I flew out of Midway Airport. Their simple sandwiches were reliably good.

Since we left Chicago, we went to Potbelly once in DC, but after that, have been living without Potbelly (or Jimmy Johns, sigh).

Until now. Recently Potbelly started expanding into NYC, opening up store after store. The lines have been long. Clearly people have been missing Potbelly as much as we have (or have been hearing by word of mouth how it's good (and inexpensive, by NYC standards)). The weather today was absolutely gorgeous, and I thought maybe the line would be shorter since not everyone could make it into the city after the storm.


The line was still out the door. But by the time I got there, I was so set on Potbelly that I actually waited. (I really hate waiting in line.) Despite being out the door, it wasn't so bad. The person in front of me said that last week the staff said that when the line is outside the door it's about 10 minutes and when it curls down the street, it's about 15. That was fairly accurate. Even though the line was long, it moved fairly quickly. The free wifi also helped.

At this Potbelly, they take your order while you're in line and the sandwich is ready by the time you get to the toppings section. It was all very efficient. I think this is one place where I won't mind waiting in line (mostly because it moves and the wifi helps pass the time). I went to the one over on the east side (to take advantage of the nice weather) on 44th between Lexington and 3rd, but their other midtown branch is also open now in Rockefeller Center. Hopefully there will be another one soon, further west, so A can go too.

My go-to sandwiches at Potbelly were always the turkey and the tuna salad. Today I went with the turkey as I always got it before:


Turkey breast, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard and Italian seasoning. It came on white bread even though I ordered it on wheat, but that's fine since I like the texture of their regular bread too. I think next time maybe I'll get it with everything but mayo. Definitely going back!