Potbelly's Coming to Hyde Park

DId a search so I hope no one else posted this.

Was over near the old Cocorico spot in the mall at 55th St and a sign in the window said Potbelly's is "coming soon".

That is all.

Is this a good thing? I mean I know Hyde Park doesn't have many dining choices, but...

I work a floor above a Potbelly Sandwich Works. The last time I had one of their sandwiches was probably 9 months ago. That's how piss poor I consider their food to be.

That being said, they do a good job with ice cream, shakes, and cookies. So I will have an oreo malt from time to time.

FYI, Potbelly's is practically a national chain now, with locations in Texas, Minnesota, and from here to DC.

In somewhat more promising news, something calling itself Margie's Candies seems to be opening in the former Fannie May spot near the Brown Line stop at Montrose (just W of Ravenswood).

Honey 1 has some signs in the window now, too.

Mike G wrote:In somewhat more promising news, something calling itself Margie's Candies seems to be opening in the former Fannie May spot near the Brown Line stop at Montrose (just W of Ravenswood).

Honey 1 has some signs in the window now, too.

It is indeed another branch of the Margie's at Armitage and Western.

And I'd be more excited about Honey 1's signs if they listed an opening date

eatchicago wrote:FYI, Potbelly's is practically a national chain now, with locations in Texas, Minnesota, and from here to DC.

Nothing practically about it. They got some VC financing and have plans to roll out (eventually) nationwide. There was a big article about it in Crain's 3 - 4 months ago. BTW, even though they can't hold a candle to a sub from Bari, Riviera, Tony's or any other Italian deli, you could do far worse in terms of ordering a chain sandwich. Potbelly is head and shoulders above, for example, a Quiznos or Subway. If we didn't live in such a sub-rich area, I'd be damn glad to have a Potbelly's nearby.

Where is Honey 1 opening in Hyde Park? I havent seen the signs

Sorry, they're opening on the 2100 N. block of Western I think (close to that anyway). I was just talking about stuff that was opening, not in Hyde Park.

Kind of an odd place for a Potbelly's, since they attract more foot traffic than people actually driving there...53rd would've been a better choice.. And I miss Cocorico--I stopped in at the 55th St shopping center a couple months back hoping that they were there, but no longer.

Not to hijack the thread, but does anyone know if Cocorico re-opened elsewhere? Or perhaps another place I can get a top-quality rotisserie chicken on the North Side?

gleam wrote:I mean I know Hyde Park doesn't have many dining choices, but...

Dear Sir, I simply don’t know what you’re talking about. Hyde Park is home to no fewer than five Subways and was blessed with the opening of its second Quiznos earlier this year. Not many dining choices? Hrrmph.

Subway
5040 S Cottage Grove
1363 E 53rd
1644 E 55th
5706 S University
1449 E 57th

Quiznos
1519 E 55th
1375 E 53rd

Funny. *I* was thinking it was odd because they get more car traffic!

But I defer.

chrislrob wrote:Funny. *I* was thinking it was odd because they get more car traffic!

Maybe wishful thinking on my part. Potbelly's is an extremely cheap and reasonable edible option when trapped at work/school in the Loop, but I can't imagine people actually driving to a non-downtown location.

And hey, Hyde Park has the marvellous plaintain nachos at Calypso's in Harper Court (52nd South and Harper). About as authentically Caribbean as I am, but tasty and a great way to pretend that you're in the tropics when you're actually trapped in Hyde Park during a frozen February.

stevez wrote:

eatchicago wrote:FYI, Potbelly's is practically a national chain now, with locations in Texas, Minnesota, and from here to DC.

Nothing practically about it. They got some VC financing and have plans to roll out (eventually) nationwide. There was a big article about it in Crain's 3 - 4 months ago. BTW, even though they can't hold a candle to a sub from Bari, Riviera, Tony's or any other Italian deli, you could do far worse in terms of ordering a chain sandwich. Potbelly is head and shoulders above, for example, a Quiznos or Subway. If we didn't live in such a sub-rich area, I'd be damn glad to have a Potbelly's nearby.

Potbelly's has a lot of heavy hitters on their management team and Board of Directors. Howard Schultz's (Starbucks) is one of the VC investors, William Blair (the investment bank) is an investor, Sam Zell (Real Estate mogul) is on the Board of Directors. They recently hired heavy hitters from Whole Foods and Wendy's.

VC and Investment Bankers don't invest in companies because they're good operations -- they invest in them so they can make mad bank and cash out (by going public).

That being said, I don't consider Potbelly's to be a national chain -- they're still in the experimenting stage of their business. They recently introduced breakfast at some locations.

What they REALLY need to do is speed up the line. If they had a second toaster (or maybe even a double stacked toaster), it would speed up the line by a huge margin.

I remember going to Potbelly's in 2001/2002 at State/Lake and the line was so long that people would turn away. As an investor, I'd cry over that . It wasn't too long thereafter that Potbelly's got some investors and they started expanding like crazy in the loop.

ChiTownAbs wrote:That being said, I don't consider Potbelly's to be a national chain -- they're still in the experimenting stage of their business.

So, what are your qualifications for calling a place a "national chain" if not having locations in nine states and DC?

In the interest of bringing this discussion back to food, I'd just like to say that I wouldn't stand in line for a Potbelly's sub if they were giving 'em away.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:So, what are your qualifications for calling a place a "national chain" if not having locations in nine states and DC?

All 50 perhaps? I'll settle for calling PB a regional chain since they are in IL, WI, and MI.

But I digress, I won't talk about regional vs. local vs. national anymore

Picky, picky, picky. So what if it's a local, regional or national chain? Many people like PB sandwiches, including myself - and that doesn't make us morons. When you work Downtown and don't always bring your lunch it doesn't take long to run out of places to eat. Potbelly is the best of the lot, IMO. We can all wax nostalgic for the days of olde when there was just one PB, on Lincoln Ave. at Belden - I would go out of my way 25 years ago to sit there and eat one of the sandwiches. But the world turns. PB's about to go global, ala Starbucks . . . and those of us who still like the sandwiches probably won't go near a PB in 5 years or less. Bari's good, but not great - at least not all of their sandwiches, and it's not the easiest place for many of us to get to. Downtown, I like Perry's on Franklin (not quite a sub sandwich, though). "Good" and "Great" is in the eye of the person eating. Sometimes, people get a little full of themselves (me included!). So there! Take that! Bam! Pow!

Bill wrote:Picky, picky, picky. So what if it's a local, regional or national chain? Many people like PB sandwiches, including myself - and that doesn't make us morons. When you work Downtown and don't always bring your lunch it doesn't take long to run out of places to eat. Potbelly is the best of the lot, IMO.

I pointed out that Potbelly's is a national chain since this was a thread about a Potbelly's opening. Many people are not aware that they have branched from Texas to the East Coast.

I'm not sure that anyone called you a moron, we simply expressed our own tastes. Some people like certain foods, some people don't. As a wise man once told me, "That's why Baskin-Robbins makes 31 flavors."

Best,
Micahel

Potbelly's has a lot of heavy hitters on their management team and Board of Directors. Howard Schultz's (Starbucks) is one of the VC investors, William Blair (the investment bank) is an investor, Sam Zell (Real Estate mogul) is on the Board of Directors. They recently hired heavy hitters from Whole Foods and Wendy's.

Impressive as it is, I am having a hard time finding any information in this paragraph that would make me want to eat there. I'll eat there when the other choices are more dire, which given the kinds of food court locations Potbelly's is in, is fairly often; but the enthusiasm for it, which even some members of my family have, escapes me....

when there were just a few potbelly's, i think people liked it because they had cheap sandwiches (i think they were 3.49 but now 3.79...could be wrong about that price increase) that were also tasty. There are a lot more now than there used to be, but I don't think that much has changed as far as value and quality goes...?

i really like quiznos, and hate subway... but quiznos is expensive. when is the last time you went to quiznos and was able to spend only $4 on a sandwich that will actually fill you up? Its very hard to do... you can probably do it at subway (with one of their daily specials), but I personally think subway is pretty nasty...

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Bill wrote:Picky, picky, picky. So what if it's a local, regional or national chain? Many people like PB sandwiches, including myself - and that doesn't make us morons. When you work Downtown and don't always bring your lunch it doesn't take long to run out of places to eat. Potbelly is the best of the lot, IMO.

I definitely eat my share of PB down here in the loop. In fact, I'll admit to enjoying their roast beef w/ giardinera for a quick, cheap bite.

I do have to throw in Mangino's (29 N Wacker) among the handful of places around here that are far superior to Pot Belly...

I am a potbelly's addict. To me a wreck or italian with marinara, toasted twice with everything, extra gard, is a great sandwich. They use good (gonella, I believe) rolls, and are a good value. Maybe it is due to my suburban myopia, and they may not be authentic, but I am an addict. My wife is a starbucks addict, which I dont understand. To each his own.
-Will

Do they actually use non-homemade rolls? I swear every time I go into our server room here (remember I'm a floor above a Potbelly) it smells like baking bread. That could just be the toaster going full blast.

WillG wrote:I am a potbelly's addict. To me a wreck or italian with marinara, toasted twice with everything, extra gard, is a great sandwich. They use good (gonella, I believe) rolls, and are a good value. Maybe it is due to my suburban myopia, and they may not be authentic, but I am an addict. My wife is a starbucks addict, which I dont understand. To each his own.
-Will

I think of the national chains that toast subs, Potbelly's has the best. I've never been a big fan of Quiznos, and Subway's toasted sub is downright pathetic.

As for fresh subs from national franchises, I'm a fan of Jimmy John's. Subway is marginal. Mr. Sub's is the asbolute worst.

Of course, it'd be a trip to Bari's every day in a perfect world, but sometimes we gotta compromise.

Apparently it's good enough for Grant Achatz: "They have the best sandwiches in the world. I like the Wreck, a sub with everything on it."

From a 2002 Food and Wine profile:
http://tinyurl.com/b9ncf

-Chuck

Chuckles wrote:Apparently it's good enough for Grant Achatz: "They have the best sandwiches in the world. I like the Wreck, a sub with everything on it."

You know, that, combined with ChefGEB's recommendation of Cafe Salamera, makes me a whole lot more likely to visit Avenues soon than Alinea.

I'm not saying someone who likes potbelly is necessarily a bad cook, but it makes me wary of their judgment

You know, now that the science of Kremlinology has faded into history, those of us trained in it (Chernenko is standing closer to Andropov than last May Day! This could be the beginning of the Moscow Spring!) scrutinize the pronouncements of chefs when asked where they eat when away from their restaurant.

Of course, what no chef ever does is say "I go to Trotter's, man, Charlie can cook rings around my sorry ass." You have to pick some dive (which is not in any way in competition with you), partly to show you're one of the folks and just craaaazy about something regular folks eat. A late-night sushi place is good, a late-night diner is even better. Potbelly's is a more commercial answer, but well within the realm of unpretentious food-- especially in that he picked the most obviously hedonistic thing on the menu (the Wreck, with everything). Rock on!

Interestingly, I was at the Diner Grill and asked the guy behind the counter where he likes to go when he's off work. He said Les Nomades.

MikeG,

Yes, the comment by Achatz reminded me of Cantu's comment that he loves some of the items at Los Comales. He just might, but I think you're right-on in the suggestion that big name chefs are not going to name big name chefs as their favs...and it doesn't hurt to show an intimate regard for items loved by jes folks.

David "I'm Lovin' it" Hammond

Well, of course they won't name other big name chefs. The striking difference for me was what Chef Bowles mentioned (Salamera) and what Achatz in that interview mentioned (Potbelly).

Even if you're picking a dive, your choice still, I think, says something

And anyway, props to GEB for pointing us all towards Cafe Salamera.