Potbelly Sandwich Shop — Restaurant in Houston

The service and systems at this place are trash. I lost my faith in Potbelly for life. After ordering a half Italian i was informed that i needed to order a side with it so I ordered a mac and cheese, the sandwich gentleman shouted out the mac order and I proceeded down the line. Once i had my sandwich dressed just how i wanted it i reached the cash register and the first of my disapointments. I was told i wasnt allowed to order a milshake because they are not serving them right now. This is the reason i got in line in the first place. Then when i told the cashier that i had a half sandwich and a mac that they decided to tell me they were out of mac. They told me to order a soup which i absolutly didnt want becuase im about to get on a plane and i dont desire it. The real clincher is when upon denying to order a soup which I didnt want I was told that I would be unable to ring up my sandwich becuase i wouldnt order something i didnt want. Shocked, i clairfied further and in fact couldnt purchase the food i desperately needed before my flight which boards in 10 minutes. Disgusted by the precious minutes i wasted in this line only to be extremely disapointed i threw my sandwich on the counter got my credit and proceeded to leave completely unsatisfied. In my private consulting business there is 1 key factor that contributes an average 85% of the time to the cause if the issue being investigated. The word is communication. Ok so lets review. When I first got in line I told sandwich maker I was ordering mac. When he shouted out "mac cup" to his other colleagues they could have listened, given him feedback and he could have communicated this relevant informantion to me, the customer. Lets take it a step further and implement a system where the key guy in line is informed when stock is depleted or milkshakes arent being made and he incorporates this into his customer interaction. If I was informed that i couldnt get a milkshake or mac n cheese I would have 100% left the line immediately and moved to another vendor. Instead I didnt recieve this information until the 3rd person interacted with and had in fact repeated the same information to every staff member due to the cinfusing nature of the franchise operations. So guys, theres 4 people in a booth. Is it really that hard to use your words and update eachother with extremely relevant information? In conclusion, since my precious few minutes between flights were wasted on a 0 transaction I was forced to find something quick and less healthy on the way, and in no way satisfied my needs. Big fat zero for Fatbellys operations, supply chain management, communication, customer service, and consistency. I feel so strongly with how I was decieved by incompetence, and my time was wasted that I will continue to boycott this chain for good. I would be doing myself a disservice if I stood in their line ever again. I fly multiple times a month and will not hesistate to send a screenshot of this review to anyone colleauges considering this franchise. Dear Fatbelly, since your system is so badly broken ill consult for free on this one. "Create a product sku # that does allow the small sandwich to be rang up independently when a customer desires sides which are out of stock (I imagine this happens a lot)". If that small failsafe was in place you could have secured a customer for life, as aposed to breeding a lifelong franchise...

My food was good, but this was my first Potbelly experience that left a bad taste in my mouth.

I love potbelly, and I visit one at least once a month, including other airports and even this location numerous times before. This location falls short because they do not accept the Potbelly gift card as a form of payment, they do not honor the Potbelly perks rewards, and they do not offer the free items earned through Potbelly perks (like a cookie, etc)... all that topped off with charging higher prices than other Potbelly locations and being out of stock of a large number of ingredients and greatly reducing their menu options (at 6pm on a Saturday night). Not honoring Potbelly perks and gift cards at this location is an option chosen by the owner of this particular franchise location. Therefore, in my opinion, the owner of this location cares about nothing more than earning money rather than serving customers… certainly not providing the full potbelly experience that the brand is known for.

Will I come back? Probably. I love Potbelly and I pass through this airport quite often. But it will no longer be my go-to and I certainly won’t navigate beyond my gate areas to seek it out again.

The staff here: friendly. Today’s menu selection: severely limited due to shortages (many sandwiches, most salads and a lot of add-ons were not available). My chicken walnut salad (the only salad option available): excellent/fresh/delicious. The franchise owner: Really? I highly doubt you’re sharing your inflated profits with your hardworking staff. You certainly aren’t valuing loyal Perks members.

My food was good, but this was my first Potbelly experience that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Until next time… maybe....

Line was 15-20 people deep only 3 workers total one was taking orders by yelling to people in line asking what they wanted then making it and putting on toaster then there was only ONE person putting on the condiments slicing and wrapping sandwich and putting in bag. When ready to finish my sandwich I saw the toaster was about 8 sandwiches deep waiting to be finished cut and bagged it took almost 20 minutes to get my sandwich. Common sense would have been for the person taking the orders and putting sandwiches on toaster to stop taking 10 orders at a time and help putting condiments on and slice and bagging I’m sure sandwiches were cold by time they were bagged. The 3rd worker was ringing up the food and she was going in the back often for 5-10 minutes at a time so after waiting to get sandwich then had to wait 5 minutes for a cashier to ring it up. This establishment is at the airport and customers have limited time I would think a bit more common sense and a sense of more urgency should Be taken Last I ordered the BLTA no avocado available and it is advertised as applewood bacon but it was definetely peppered bacon and I did not eat the sandwich after my first bite as I do not like pepperd bacon at all Worst experience at a Potbelly sandwich...