Potbelly Sandwich Shop Sandwiches Ranked From Worst To Best

Potbelly might seem like an unusual name for a sandwich shop — or actually for any type of business selling food. Why remind us of one of the unfortunate consequences of chowing down on high-calorie offerings? As it turns out, the chain's namesake refers to an old-fashioned potbelly stove that was used to make the first toasted sandwiches sold to customers of an antique store that was owned by the chain's founder. When he found that the real money was in food rather than old furniture, he switched his focus from sideboards to subs. Although Potbelly now makes its food with up-to-date kitchen equipment, it still keeps an old-style stove in each store as a kind of inanimate mascot.

As sandwich chains go, Potbelly isn't one of the larger ones. Although nine of its larger competitors cracked the QSR 50 (a list of quick-service sandwich restaurants with the highest sales figures), Potbelly was not among them. Nor did Potbelly earn a spot on Mashed's own best sandwich shop survey, so we can't say how it stacks up against Subway, Panera, and other such chains in terms of popularity. Here, however, we're not comparing Potbelly to other chains, but rather, exploring its sandwich menu from the "meh" to the "mmm." Before we begin, however, one note on our findings: We are rating the sandwiches as is, meaning without any of the numerous tweaks, swaps, and customization options that are available should you order either online or in-person.

We'll admit upfront, ranking Potbelly's Veggie Melt sandwich at the bottom is a pretty subjective pick — if you are a non-meat eater, this sandwich would most likely be one of your top (and only) picks, while everything containing meat would be in a tie for last place. According to the Alliance for Science, about 10% of the population identifies as vegetarian, but those of us in the other 90% are probably not going to choose a fast food sandwich where vegetables are the star players rather than the supporting cast.

As vegetable subs go, this one is so-so. Mushrooms plus avocados make for a fairly bland pairing, and to make things even worse, the mushrooms are listed as "where available," so you may get a sub that's nothing but avocados and cheese, although at least you get three types of the latter: Swiss, cheddar, and provolone. Still, as one Yelper points out, with such a limited ingredient list, a single omission can make a big difference. They placed an online order for the Veggie Melt and said of the sandwich they received, "It is supposed to come with avocado slices and there were none." For their sake, we hope mushrooms were available at that location.

Not too long ago, Mashed conducted a survey of readers – more than 500 of them responded. The subject of our inquiry was to determine which sandwich on Potbelly's menu is the least popular. While the Veggie Melt came in a very close second (see, it's not just us!), the top spot on our survey of least favorite sandwiches went to the Tuna Salad. Unfair though it may be, we believe there's a possibility that all the Subway fake tuna drama may have spilled over to taint the reputation of other fast food tuna subs as well.

That being said, Potbelly's tuna sub is not terrible as chain tuna subs go, nor do we have any reason to disbelieve the menu's assertion that it's made from 100% albacore tuna. It's just that it's not particularly good, either. As one GrubHub user describes it, it has "no flavor [and is] very bland," while another says "the tuna was salty." A Yelper had somewhat higher praise, calling the sandwich "just ok," but still found it inferior to Jersey Mike's. As for us, we're not big fans of the Swiss cheese that comes as a standard topping. Cheddar, we've always felt, makes for a superior tuna melt.

Before ordering Potbelly's Grilled Cheese sandwich, you need to understand that the standard grilled cheese sandwich is made with the same white or multigrain sub rolls as the rest of the sandwiches on the menu, and temper your expectations accordingly. While the rolls are an unorthodox choice for this style of sandwich, Potbelly's pita-like flatbread is just as unusual of a choice, although it might improve the sandwich's lopsided bread-to-cheese ratio just a little.

I defaulted to the multigrain roll option when ordering this sandwich, and while the color of the bread is not the most appealing — cardboard brown next to the orange glow of the melted cheddar — I was surprisingly happy with the overall flavor of the roll. Additionally, the Potbelly sandwich rolls are easy to squish, making the Grilled Cheese more like a cheese panini.

On its own, the Grilled Cheese isn't a very interesting sandwich, especially for the $7.99-$9.99 price tag before any additions, depending on the size of the sandwich you order. The melted cheddar cheese tastes good, but there should absolutely be more of it (which is an option, if you're willing to pay an additional $2.29 for it). Aside from ordering this for a child, the only reasonable justification for ordering this Grilled Cheese would be as part of Potbelly's Skinny Sandwich and Soup Combo, which is a go-to comfort food pairing I can get behind, even if you do have to pay more for the appropriate amount of cheese.

We're finally getting to a sub with some meat to it, but Potbelly's Turkey Breast sub is one of the plainer options. All you get, per the menu, is a sub roll with sliced turkey breast and Swiss cheese. As we may have already hinted a time or three, Swiss is not our favorite cheese, so that's a strike against it, even though Potbelly allows you to swap it out for cheddar, provolone, or even blue cheese or feta cheese. Or, if you're willing to sacrifice flavor for calorie saving, you could forego the cheese altogether.

That's pretty much how this sub presents itself: the dieter's choice. If you're eating at Potbelly because it's close to work, it's lunchtime, and you need something to fill your belly without putting too big a dent in your daily calorie budget, then this turkey sub is ... well, an okay pick. As per YouTube channel The Southern Snack, it's "better than your typical deli turkey," although the review does note that the sandwich itself is basically "a mound of bread ... as for the meat, I'm not getting a ton of it." We'd like to point out, however, that the channel was originally intending to review the Avo Turkey (see below), but the local Potbelly Sandwich Shop was out of avocado so what The Southern Snack got was plain old turkey. Disappointing? Perhaps, but then, the avocado-embellished sub really isn't all that much of an upgrade.

We'd rate this sub slightly above Potbelly's plain turkey, but not by a lot. The addition of avocado isn't all that much of an improvement over a standard turkey sub since the avocado itself is kind of bland, and the texture is a bit weird as well. This is supposed to be sliced avocado, but it's actually squishy like guacamole but without any of the additional seasonings that give this condiment its flavor. Squishy avocado, whether seasoned or otherwise, works best in conjunction with something that's got a bit of crunch to it. Something like bacon might help, but according to the Potbelly menu, that particular upgrade will run you a few bucks more. One other thing that comes standard with this sub that you don't get with plain turkey is sliced cucumbers, something that adds exactly nothing to this or any sandwich. Just as well, as cukes are, oddly enough, unavailable as an add-on to Potbelly subs that don't list them as a featured ingredient.

The Avo Turkey does have its fans, but it has its detractors as well (apart from us, that is). One GrubHub user thought that it "Could use a little more meat on the sandwich for the price," but added "otherwise ... tastes good." Another person who ordered this sandwich, however, concluded that "The food was bland ... no flavor."

Potbelly's Smoked Ham sub is another offering that's on the plain side, although this one does benefit from the fact that smoked ham is the best kind of ham; it's way better than honey-glazed. Ham also does pair pretty well with Swiss, to give that cheese its due. (See, we're capable of overcoming our anti-Swiss cheese bias upon occasion!) Also, unlike turkey, ham has sufficient flavor to stand up to all that bread.

The thing about the good old ham and Swiss sub, though, is that something about it just screams "workplace function with rock-bottom catering budget." It seems like something you'd be handed in a white paper bag to induce you to stay for the second half of an all-day workshop on best practices in widget marketing or whatever. Unless the sandwich comes with free chips, cookie, and bottled water, plus a few continued learning credits or brown-nose brownie points, it's just not the kind of thing we'd ever order for ourselves.

The Mediterranean, like A Wreck, is a pretty busy sandwich. It's made with grilled chicken, feta cheese, roasted red peppers, zesty hummus, cucumbers, and artichoke hearts, although you can only get this last-named ingredient "where available." Surprisingly, everything in this sandwich works quite well together ... well, maybe with one exception. While hummus is fine as a dip for baby carrots or pita chips, we're not entirely on board with using it as a sandwich spread. We're not hating it, just kind of on the fence, although it's not really what you'd call intrusive in this sandwich. Still, one of the great things about Potbelly's Mediterranean sub is if you leave out the chicken, it's by far the best vegetarian option offered, and in this case the hummus would provide some much-needed protein.

A YouTuber named Dave Hughes reviewed Potbelly's Mediterranean and found it "kind of gooey, gloppy, but I liked it." He did note, though, that it "could have been a little spicier." His main complaint was that he'd ordered the big size and said it "didn't seem all that big ... seemed like a regular size." The review concluded with a sideswipe at a Potbelly competitor, saying the Mediterranean was "definitely a step above Subway, but that's not saying much." 

The BLT is a superior sandwich, to be sure — in fact, it's safe to say that it's one of the all-time sandwich greats. A BLT with added avocado is also good, although we're still not sold on it being a major upgrade (see Avo Turkey above). We do, however, have a minor quibble with Potbelly choosing to call its avocado-enhanced BLT a BLTA rather than the far more memorable acronym BLAT. A BLAT would be fun to order, whereas BLTA sounds like a metropolitan transit system.

The thing about a BLT, with or without the A, is that it, like the grilled cheese, is a sandwich that benefits from a high filling-to-bread ratio, and it takes a whole lot of bacon (way more than you're going to get from any fast food chain) to stand up to a big fat sub roll. The Southern Snack, last seen reviewing an avocado-free Potbelly turkey sub, has also reviewed the BLTA, and did say it had a "decent amount of bacon," but the sub still seemed to have more lettuce (and a lot more bread) than that key ingredient. Having finally obtained some avocado, the reviewer wasn't too thrilled by it, saying it "does taste a little weird," while the tomato and lettuce were "not the freshest." Overall, the reviewer found the sub to be "not bad, nothing crazy," although he did say it's "a little bit pricey."

Chicken salad, while it's similar to tuna salad in many ways, doesn't suffer from the same poor reputation. It's generally a pretty solid, if not always exciting, pick as a sandwich filling, and we've yet to hear about any big restaurant scandals involving chicken that isn't really chicken. After all, most things said to "taste like chicken" (quail? rabbit? alligator?) tend to be quite a bit pricier than the original product. 

While chicken salad on its own can be a bit bland, Potbelly does two things that really level up its sandwich. For one thing, you can get it toasted (as is the case for all of its sandwiches). For another, though, you can get it toasted with cheese! Potbelly even pairs its Chicken Salad with provolone, which makes for a surprisingly good, if somewhat uncommon, combination. We can't say as we've ever had a provolone chicken salad melt before, but we'll definitely do so again, as we concur with the Tripadvisor users who had nothing but praise for Potbelly's Chicken Salad sandwiches. One describes it as "fantastic," while another opts for "delicious." We're a pretty tough sell and wouldn't get quite so gushy, but we would say the chicken salad is pretty darn good. This is definitely one of Potbelly's Top 10 sandwiches.

The Prime Rib Steak is the newest sandwich to the Potbelly permanent menu's lineup. Given how delicious the previous Steakhouse Beef sandwich was, my expectations were high for this particular offering. Released in April 2025, the Prime Rib Steak sandwich comes with sliced prime rib steak, Swiss cheese, house-made caramelized onions, and garlic aioli. But aside from the steak, the newest sandwich couldn't be more different than the previous Steakhouse Beef sandwich. The latter was made with sliced steak, horseradish, blue cheese, and provolone, which is understandably not for everyone, but an absolute delight for those who enjoy many of those stronger sandwich flavors.

Unfortunately, the new Prime Rib Steak sandwich just doesn't hit the same mark. The steak itself is well seasoned and flavorful, but the pile of stringy onions included on the sandwich I tasted were a far cry from caramelized. The Swiss cheese and garlic aioli were nice touches to the sandwich as a whole, but couldn't magically make a mediocre sandwich more amazing all on their own.

There's a good chance that the poorly caramelized onions, which I got on my particular sandwich, were a one-off, and they might be prepared to more exacting standards at other restaurants, but it's not really a chance I'm willing to take. Although if I were really in the mood for a steak sandwich, I'd consider ordering the Prime Rib Steak, and modifying the order to include different toppings to complement the admittedly delicious steak.

I'm far from a purist when it comes to sandwiches — give me your creative combos, garnished with unexpected pickled veggies, funky cheeses, and creative condiments. But generally speaking, I'd like there to be some sort of intentionality to the sandwich. Potbelly's A Wreck sandwich is made with sliced turkey breast, hickory-smoked ham, Angus roast beef, salami, and Swiss cheese, which are all fabulous sandwich components when leveraged with the slightest bit of a plan. But altogether, they make for a meat mashup where none of the individual flavors shine through, apart from meat and salt.

Of course, you have the option of adding veggies and condiments to help break up some of the ubiquitous meat flavor, and you absolutely should. Potbelly recommends adding its Hot Pepper Ranch dressing to the sandwich, although I'm not sure that piling on more random creamy flavors is going to help the situation here. Definitely consider adding some lettuce, onions, and maybe even some pickles or mustard for a hit of acid to liven up this meat-heavy sandwich.

It doesn't escape me that this chaotic mashup of meats is entirely the point of this sandwich. It's the kind of sandwich that someone would make when they're using up all of the spare sandwich meats in the fridge before their next shopping trip, and christen with a grammatically confusing name, like "A Wreck." And for what it's worth, the A Wreck might not make sense, but it's not boring, either.

Of all the standard thin-sliced deli-style sandwich meats, roast beef is the king, so a roast beef sandwich automatically ranks well above turkey or ham. Potbelly's Roast Beef sandwich is fairly typical, although we appreciate that the shop chose to partner it with provolone as the cheese. Its website shows the sub all dressed up with onions, lettuce, and tomatoes, but to experience this sub at its best, we'd recommend getting it toasted and then adding in the vegetables (or at least the latter two) after it's cooked since otherwise they'll get all wilty and gross. 

The real reason why Potbelly's Roast Beef sub is a cut above most chain fare is the meat itself, though. However the shop is cooking it, it has definitely nailed the technique. One Tripadvisor reviewer declares Potbelly's creation to be the "Best Roast Beef Sandwich EVER." While they spared a few kind words for the "fresh-baked, perfectly toasted" bread, the star attraction is "roast beef [that] melted in your mouth!"

Potbelly has four subs that basically consist of a single meat plus a single cheese, but there are two reasons why the Grilled Chicken ranks above the rest. For one thing, rather than being thin-sliced deli meat, the chicken here presents itself in thick(ish) slabs. For another, it's been given the best cheese pairing of the four. While we've already mentioned that we find Potbelly's cheddar to be a bit too mild for our liking, it still provides a slight tang that complements the grilled chicken.

While chicken itself isn't the most flavorful of meats, Potbelly does use some seasonings during the cooking process. Exactly what, the shop does not disclose, as the nutrition calculator only tells us that the chicken itself contains no known allergens (unless you're allergic to chicken, of course). Still, whatever the seasonings are, they give the chicken quite a nice flavor of its own. As one Tripadvisor review puts it, "The chicken was very good. Perfect amount of seasonings." It's even better with melted cheddar, making for a sandwich that's simple but very enjoyable.

I've never met an Italian sandwich that I didn't enjoy, and Potbelly's rendition is no exception. There are certainly more artisanal versions of the classic Italian deli sandwich, but this no-frills version is straightforward and easy to like. The basic preparation of this sandwich is made with salami, old-world capicola, pepperoni, mortadella, and provolone, which is satisfying on its own, but made all the more appetizing with a host of additional (and luckily, free) toppings.

Potbelly recommends adding oil and red wine vinegar to the Italian sandwich, which is a great suggestion. While you're at it, don't hesitate to add lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and maybe even roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts. The hot Italian sandwich lovers out there would also do well to add Potbelly's mixed hot peppers to the sandwich. If you're especially hungry and not overly concerned with cholesterol content, adding extra meat to the Italian sandwich is an additional charge that I'd gladly indulge in, too. This probably won't become my Holy Grail go-to Italian sandwich, but it's a solid choice if you find yourself in a Potbelly and want something familiar that can't fail.

Another sub that's rarely a bad choice no matter where you go is the meatball sub, as it's hard to go wrong with meat, marinara, and cheese. Potbelly, however, adds a little something that makes its Mama's Meatball sub even better — the meatballs themselves are extra-flavorful as they are made with both beef and pork, and instead of the standard mozzarella, the shop tops its sandwich with melted provolone. Mama must have taught them pretty well!

Potbelly's meatball sub, in fact, is so good that it's even won over a few converts such as the Tripadvisor user who admits "I'm not usually a fan of meatball subs (Subway, for example)," but says Potbelly's version was a pleasant surprise due to the "really good flavor" of the meatballs themselves. As they summed up their review, "I'm sure I've had another [Potbelly] sub or two that was probably good, but not memorable. The meatball sub is memorable!"

Back in November of 2024, Potbelly released two slow-cooked pulled-pork sandwiches, ushering in a new era of pork sandwiches on the permanent menu. The two new offerings included a Cubano sandwich and the Sweet Heat Pork BBQ sandwich, both of which are worth ordering. The Sweet Heat Pork BBQ sandwich is made with slow-cooked pulled pork, cheddar cheese, pickles, and sweet heat BBQ sauce. The BBQ sauce itself is made with Potbelly's signature hot peppers, which you can also order as an additional topping if you're looking for even more heat.

For those who enjoy a pulled pork sandwich, this one is easily approachable and made to appeal to a wide variety of BBQ lovers. The sauce is true to its word, bringing both sweetness and heat to the sandwich, but not so much of either that it's unbalanced or overwhelming. I like the addition of cheddar cheese and pickles, and while the sandwich is great as-is, it could easily handle customization for someone who wants more toppings.

Just one month prior to the release of the Sweet Heat Pork BBQ sandwich, Potbelly released a similar sandwich made with pulled pork, smoky BBQ sauce, and the shop's popular creamy three-cheese mac and cheese. Unfortunately, that rendition of the sandwich was only available as a limited-time offering, but for those who loved it, the new Pork BBQ would be easy enough to adapt with a side order of mac and cheese.

While quoters of old proverbs are fond of telling us that we shouldn't gild lilies or over-egg puddings, there are times when simplicity isn't a virtue, or at least not the highest one. This is a roundabout way of saying that, while we are quite fond of Potbelly's simple chicken + cheddar sub, there is one thing that makes it so much better: bacon, of course. Bacon makes many things better: cookies, cupcakes, beer, perfume ... okay, we're still a bit dubious about this last one, but bacon on just about any kind of sandwich is kind of a no-brainer.

Hence the Potbelly Chicken Club, a sandwich that consists of its own holy trinity: chicken, cheddar, and bacon. A Tripadvisor review calls it "delicious," and says it compares favorably with Panera's similar sandwich but comes at a much lower price. They also remarked on how substantial it is, saying they could not finish the half sandwich they ordered, but they didn't get to save the rest for later as their spouse was unable to refrain from finishing it off right then and there. Who could blame them? In the case of such temptation, resistance is futile.

Whether you're a fan of Potbelly's Italian sandwich or its Mama's Meatball sandwich (but especially if you're a fan of both), I'm willing to bet that you're going to like what the Pizza Melt sandwich has to offer. Built with pepperoni, old-world capicola, and crumbled meatballs, the Pizza Melt is then finished with marinara sauce, provolone, Italian seasoning, and mushrooms. It's essentially everything you love about the Italian and Mama's Meatball sandwiches rolled into one.

Something about this sandwich beckons me to order it on a Sunday afternoon during football season, or a Friday night when we'd rather stay in and watch a movie marathon than go out. It's hearty, it's saucy, it's comforting, and it's got the perfect amount of tangy tomato sauce, salty cured meat, and spicy meatballs to send you into the happiest little food coma you've had all week. If I could change anything about this sandwich, I wouldn't — but maybe I'd add a little extra provolone if I was feeling especially indulgent.

While the Pizza Melt name is catchy and will certainly attract a few people, I also think that it sells this particular sandwich a little short. Sure, the marinara sauce, pepperoni, and meatballs have a certain pizza shop quality to them, but the additions of capicola and provolone make this slightly more complex than your typical pizza delivery order. I'd also wholeheartedly encourage adding all of the toppings you love on an Italian or meatball sandwich, for the ultimate comfort sandwich.

The Cubano is also one of the more recent additions to the permanent Potbelly menu, having been released alongside the Sweet Heat Pork BBQ sandwich at the end of 2024. After tasting it, my biggest question is: why did it take so long for this sandwich to become a permanent part of the menu? And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Apparently, the Cubano was the most popular limited-time offering in the entire history of the brand when it was previously offered, and it's really not that hard to see why.

This Cubano is stacked with slow-cooked pulled pork, hickory-smoked ham, Swiss cheese, deli mustard, and pickles, and hits all of the essential Cubano notes just right. For those who prefer mayonnaise on their Cuban sandwiches, that's an easy addition as well. I like that the pork on this sandwich is pulled instead of sliced, which makes for a little textural variation alongside the deli-sliced hickory-smoked ham, and makes for nice little pockets of melted cheese along the way. This is also one of those sandwiches that I might splurge on the extra meat and cheese addition on a day when my appetite is especially large, or order with a side soup or salad to really make a whole meal out of it. Luckily, we won't have to rush out to grab a bite of this sandwich before it's gone, and hopefully, we'll never have to say goodbye to it again.

There are currently 19 sandwiches on the permanent Potbelly menu, which includes three new additions and 16 returning sandwiches. One sandwich that was previously on the menu and in this review (the Steakhouse Beef sandwich) has since been retired. The first ranking for Potbelly's lineup of sandwiches back in 2022 was based on the original author's meticulous research of ingredients, first-hand reviews, personal tastes, and the popularity of each sandwich.

With the recent expansion of the menu, we chose to taste the three new offerings on the permanent menu for ourselves, along with a selection of classic popular sandwiches, to offer our own first-hand opinions of the sandwiches. In most cases, the original ranking stood up to the current taste test, and the new sandwiches offered additional opportunities to adjust the rankings to suit our ever-changing tastes and expectations.

Each of the seven sandwiches chosen for this review's update was tasted side-by-side, so they could be compared to each other as well as the original review. The new sandwiches were tasted at the same time by three people who all reported back with their unique and sometimes varying opinions. The final choices for the updated rankings were based on those opinions, as well as the opinions expressed in the initial review.