Potbelly Sandwich Shop

Had the best sandwich of my life. Italian bigs. The bread was think and crunchy and toasty. They are very generous with their meats. Vegetables fresher than and I’ve ever tasted at a subway. The mayo alone was perfect. This place makes dreams come true.

Great place, clean, good food, friendly people. I’m not really much of a complainer but no complaints.

Pretty good potbelly. Has your standard potbelly food and the service was fast and solid. I got the flatbread mushroom melt and it was delicious. Also got the Dream bar and let me tell you it definitely got me dreaming at work after lunch.

Potbelly is the best! The Italian sandwich on wheat is so good but get ready for the spice to it! Sometimes if I am feeling a little fatter than normal I also order a cup of the chili, it’s that good. When the line is long they work through it pretty quickly which is nice. Lot’s of outside seating which I like eating out there whenever the weather permits.

I have been coming here for years. they used to be 5 stars consistently across the board… now everytime my order isn’t right… their sandwiches and salads are sparse, compared to what they used to be… not sure what happened but they will lose my business entirely if they don’t shape up. I make a point to come off peak times and there is no excuse for not getting my order correct.

Generally okay service but today was very poor. The person who put my sandwich together after it comes out of the oven asked me if I wanted everything on it and I said yes. He did not put anything on it like the lettuce, tomation, mayo and hot peppers. When I got it I asked him to put it on. I’m not sure what this guy heard bc he certainly didn’t add all the toppings I wanted and it ended up making my sandwich very sloppy. So not satisfied with today at all. What a waste of my money

This is a grumpy/​hangry review. Generally speaking, I have no beef with Potbelly’s. Food is decent, they have good chips, the cookies are phenomenal, etc.
But why implement an online ordering system if half the time the food isn’t ready when it’s supposed to be? Between the time I placed the order, the ETA, and my salad being ready today, I waited a total of 45 minutes. That’s a 30 minutes for it to be prepared, and 15 minutes of me standing there.
So I’m taking this time to write this review before eating, because what’s another 5 minutes, right?

Yummmm. Potbelly doesn’t disappoint. Got the big grilled chicken with cheddar and my choice of toppings and an Oreo shake. Tastes fresh and fantastic. My only issue is the location, which can be a little hard to find, and the service that day was a little less than cheerful. But for sure the food is more than worth a visit.

How I heard of this place: I first heard about Potbelly while visiting the greater Washington, DC area. It was the lunch spot of choice for my friend Negar and I a few months ago. Living directly across the courtyard from Potbelly, it was my suggestion when our house guest, and friend, Yosi, wanted to treat us to a quick dinner.
Type of cuisine: A limited selection of handmade, specialty sandwiches. Salads. Soup, Chili. Chips, a whole pickle. Freshly baked cookie, Dream Bar, Ice Cream Sandwich. Shakes, malts & smoothies. Canned, bottled and fountain drinks. Simple.
Ambiance: From the moment you enter Potbelly, a smile immediately forms across your face. Live music plays loudly during the lunch rush, while light, lively and fun music plays overhead at other hours. Floor to ceiling windows give views of the courtyard and extensive patio seating outside; inside, wooden walls and pillars are reminiscent of a 1950s home, complete with porch-​style seating under a fading, pale blue painted wooden awning. Colors, detail — like the colorful submarine overhead, where painted industrial-​sized pipes meet and extend off into another direction — black & white, hand-​drawn and illustrated signage and random, mismatched artwork find their home in Potbelly. Chalkboards with colorful fonts, promote the specials of the day, as well as seasonal favorites.
What I ordered: Making our way to the front of the line, the young man behind the counter made a recommendation Yosi and I could not refuse: the Grilled Chicken & Cheddar sandwich ($ 4.50 each). He suggested adding bacon and topping it with ranch dressing, lettuce, tomato, and I asked for the side of spicy peppers in olive oil. Chris was debating between the Italian and the Pizza Sandwich, and the Italian won over: capicola, mortadella, pepperoni, salmami & Provolone cheese, with marinara sauce, ranch and no vegetables. Exactly the way Chris likes it. At the register, I could not take my eyes, nor my mind off of the Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookie ($ 1.15) I saw, individually wrapped and soft to the touch. We got one to share.
What I loved: I loved that Chris and I split both sandwiches (which were already cut in half) so that I could sample both! The recommended Chicken & Cheddar sandwich satisfied by way of flavor and package. The creamy ranch with the salty bacon and perfectly moist, grilled chicken melted in my mouth. The Italian, also tasty, was just a big bite of meat. The cookie was a perfect, soft, moist, melt-​in-​your-​mouth, sweet treat to end the meal.
Why I loved it: I love the feeling and the atmosphere, as well as the story behind Potbelly. I also enjoyed the friendliness and helpfulness of our sandwich maker and cashier, the speed of service and the price for the delicious food we thoroughly enjoyed!
Cost: Low ($ 4 — $ 5.50 per sandwich)

Potbelly always makes good consistent hot subs. The Wreck is quite good. No matter if Im in VA or Chicago I’ll always grab some Potbelly’s given the chance. The hot pepper topping is pretty tasty. Not the best sub I’ve ever had, but leaps and bounds better than your common Subway or Quiznos.

Nice little sandwich shop with good food and reasonable prices. The girl at the counter was friendly and I was in and out quickly. Would definitely go back.

This Potbelly location is right near my office, so I’ve gone a few times. I think that out of all the times I have gone, my order has actually been fully correct once. I love Potbelly’s sandwiches and cookies but why would I keep going back if they absolutely cannot get my order right?
Today was the final straw — I ordered a «big» vegetarian sandwich with all the extras (except for oil and Italian seasoning). Upon returning to work, I found a small size sandwich in the bag with only cheese and mushrooms on it. And of course I don’t have the time to trek back and forth to Potbelly, so I’m stuck with it.
Seriously disappointing and not to mention gross. I e-​mailed customer service, since as I said, this is not my first poor experience at this location (it was just the worst yet).

This is a cute little sandwich shop by Ballston metro stop. Great for lunch time, quick and delicious. Sandwiches are served warm. Friendly sandwich makers and cashiers.
I’m a fan and would recommend this place to other Unilocalers.

This place is small since it is located in central Arlington. I came here on a Friday afternoon to grab lunch real quick with my boyfriend. I went at 12pm so of course it wasn’t crowded at all, but once we sit down and while we were eating, everyone start coming in more and more for lunch. I figure it is a convenient location for a lot of workers around the areas. The place is small, so there were not a lot of seats for people to sit, but most people just buy and leave. Since this place is literally 2 blocks away from my work, I will definitely come back to grab something quick next time.

Love love love! Noticed at this location that they have «big size» option whereas the one in my hometown on Scottsdale, where they just opened they didn’t. Which is fine because I get regular size anyway but found that odd that the differed.
The Chicken Salad sandwich with peppers is to die for! And they now have sweet potato bbq chips which are healthier than regular chips and taste great.
Check it out! I’m a huge fan!

Sandwiches here are amazing!

I must qualify my rating here and state that 3 stars for a sandwich shop is a fantastic rating. I just have a tough time giving 4 or 5 stars in a scenario where I cannot truly judge waiting service, chef time and preparation, and overall ambiance.
I think Potbelly’s is amazing! Being from the south, I have pretty high expectations for a chicken salad sandwich. Potbelly not only meets, but exceeds these expectations! A great sandwich, served warmed (if preferred), with provolone and your choice of toppings. Add Potbelly’s own hot peppers for a kick if you’d like. I like.
While the chicken salad is definitely my favorite, I’ve also had the veggie, turkey melt, and grilled chicken. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all really good. The chicken salad is just one great flavor that reminds me of home.
While you’re there — try the chocolate brownie cookie, chocolate chip cookie, or heck, any of their cookies or shakes. They’re OH so good.
As a tip, I purchase the Potbelly’s Peppers in a jar to make my own deli fresh creations at home. While my creations are definitely not a Potbelly sandwich, the peppers definitely add a great kick :)

Awesome sandwiches! Thanks Unilocal!My boyfriend got this shake. with literally everything in it. the server mis understood him. but omg.he was like in love with his shake. good thing he didn’t get any stomach pains afterwards! My oreo shake was cute AND tasty… i will definitely hit this sandwich shop up when i visit Arlington again! And service is very nice here. It’s a very country feel… feels very south ahha.

Okay, I am a HUGE fan of Potbelly… in fact, ridiculously so… especially the Fair Oaks location. However, I am not a fan of this one located in Ballston at all which is unfortunate because I live right across from it!
Why?
1. They close at 7pm. This I guess is really not their fault as more so is the entire Ballston community fault — every sandwich/​lunch time type of shop closes sometime between 3pm-​7pm. The one in Fairoaks sometimes opens up til as late as 11pm!
2. We decided to try it out and my boyfriend was excited to get a shake because the weather was perfect… it was out. NO MORE SHAKES?
3. it’s true, they have a very hard time remembering what I order. The lady behind the counter asked me if I wanted provolone on my sandwich at least 3 times… yes, I want a wreck on wheat with provolone. PROVOLONE…PROVOLONE…nottttttt swiss!
4. they just don’t have enough manpower here! The girl that finished making my sandwich (also asking what sandwich I got multiple times) handed it to us… but then she had to move onto the next person and yet she was also man-​ing the register. We waited a good 5 minutes before she rung our order up… awkwardly standing around.waiting.oh, and while we were waiting a manager just walked right past the register — I thought he was going to see us and ring our order up… nope!
5. Pro is that the cookies were still fresh and soft (the miniature ones and the big ones both were). This is going to sound ULTRA picky and crazy, but I don’t care! The mini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were bigger than I normally like them. I buy them because I want them MINI. I guess it was just that batch, but it was much bigger than any of the mini cookies I usually get at other Potbelly locations.
6. Chips here were $ 1 a pack… unless they changed all the prices for all Potbelly locations, the Fairfax Corner location has them for $.80. Not that I even eat chips, but I totally noticed the price difference and pointed that out to my boyfriend. Small Potbelly location for huge Arlington rent prices are affecting our chip prices I guess?
Overall, the sandwich was still tasty (if it wasn’t, I would’ve died. are they using different meats and breads here too?!) and at least they have outside seating so it was nice. but there are plenty of better sandwich shops around the area that are walking distance from me so Potbelly will not be on my list of go-​to sandwich shops in Ballston!
Oh, how I miss you Fairfax :(

I’m surprised that no one has reviewed this Potbelly yet — maybe because it’s slightly hidden. It’s located in rear of the building located at 4250 Fairfax Drive — with a large «Qwest» on the front of the building.
Ordered the regular turkey on wheat with cheese and everything, including hot peppers, and a bottle of water.
We ate outside, nice and cool out today. Sandwich was excellent! Turkey was tender and succulent! Wolfed that down in no time flat!