Potbelly — Restaurant in Overland Park

Great sandwiches, great service. I don’t like the marketing team or the business model but overall my experience was good. I think they would make more profit if they made things more simpler and would save money on inventory. Personally I don’t like the business model because they don’t bring enough original ideas/concepts to the table even though they are in a very competitive market. The new sandwiches were good ideas and did a good job adapting to the local market, however the higher ups failed to put forth any other original ideas and only offered the one seasonal product. I think their marketing needs a lot of work and the development team could stand to be modernized, more specifically a more efficient delivery service could be implicated to compete directly with jimmy johns and other sandwich places. I think the target market should be changed depending on the franchises location as well. Here in kc, the attention should be on athletics and schools considering this area is mostly fmailies. With that being said the abysmal “peace love potbelly” scheme for some reason targets businessmen, which like I said doesn’t apply to some locations. There also needs to be a larger emphasis on catering and special events because Sanwiches make great “event food” and are enjoyable by just about anyone. In today’s market the trend has been healthier and smaller portion sizes which I think potbelly’s should adapt as they really only have 1 or 2 healthy sandwiches. Also the technology in the store is outdated and makes the process slower. The app is an abmonination and is the farthest thing from user friendly. Personally I think apps make things more complicated especially when it comes to food and if your going to waste money on building a website or app might as well invest in computers that can handle credit cards. The advertisements seem on social media are also very misleading and don’t build “potbelly fans” but rather make them view potbelly as greedy and skeevy. The last thing I will say is that the sandwich shop business model would work a lot better in the West rather than the suburban Midwest because of the “corporate feel” potbelly brings to the table. Overall the food was good, the speed was outstanding and the staff...

TL;DR - Potbelly is a mid-tier, overpriced sandwich shop that tries to be a few steps fancier than Jimmy John's

I got a big Italian sandwich with all the free toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard, hot peppers) except pickle on multigrain. Cost was around 13.50 including tax. Here's my takeaways:

Did I like it? Yes. It was a decent sandwich but not life-changing. Ingredients tasted good all together, and the hot peppers added a great level of heat. The bread got over-toasted going through the oven, which made a mess and felt like a cheese grater on the roof of my mouth (we all know that feeling, right?). (1/2 stars)

Did my wallet like it? Absolutely not. It's not a 12 dollar sandwich in my opinion. I might be biased from the almost constant Subway "5 dollar foot long” commercials I saw growing up, but nothing about this sandwich makes the cost worth it. Additionally, nothing about the restaurant experience made up for the cost either. (0/1 star)

Would I choose to eat here again? Probably not. There's plenty of other sandwich shops around that will do an element of Potbelly better than them, or if I have the time I'll make a mid sandwich myself. (0/1 star)

Is there anything that redeems or elevates this place? The hot peppers, wow. I'm about to the "hot" level at a Thai restaurant - these hot peppers had good flavor with heat, but not to the watery eyes & runny nose level. Really surprised at how good they were. Would advise caution to those who don't handle heat...

Potbelly is always solid, and ordering through the app makes it even better. Join their Perks program—after your first order, you get a free sandwich. The app also unlocks the Underground Menu (app-only), which is a fun way to try custom combos without paying extra for special requests.

This time:

Prime Rib Steak (Regular Menu) – White bread, caramelized onions, Swiss, garlic aioli, and their amazing hot peppers. Flavor was great and melty; only wish there was more steak.

Fireball (Underground) – Italian meatballs, chili, cheddar, and hot peppers. Messy but so good, easily one of my favorites.

Combo tip: Skinny Trio (turkey, chicken, or ham + cheese) comes with chips and a drink. But pair a Skinny with soup or salad, and you can choose any Skinny sandwich. Soups are surprisingly good—baked potato and chicken pot pie are musts.

Bread options are just white and multigrain, but toasted to a soft crunch that works perfectly. Zapp’s chips, shakes, cookies, and their $7 jar of hot peppers (best giardiniera mix you’ll find) round out the menu.

Friendly staff, clean store, and a small patio. Pro move: Add hot peppers to everything—they’re free and take every...