
Potbelly's makes the best sammiches. Period. I think it's got something to do with the spicy brown mustard they use, although the oven that they run the sammich through may hold a special secret, too.
The first time I ever went to a Potbelly's was in downtown Chicago. The line would be out the door and down half the block on an average weekday. But the thing is that they run that place like the gestapo and it's
fast- You order the basic sandwich in one place, toppings after the oven, and drinks you get at the cash register. And it's all to thumping techno beat to keep everyone moving. NO SCREW UPS ARE TOLERATED. If you dare to tell the sandwich guy that you want no mayo on your wreck, you will be publicly scorned. The first time you go to that Potbelly's, you'd better go with a friend to show you the ropes. It's an institution.
They recently opened a chain out here in Ashburn, Virgina. Yesterday I was in line behind an old man who kept changing his order and ordering tomatoes from the sandwich guy, and they were sooooooooooo nice about it. In Chicago, he would have been killed immediately.