Potbelly Secret Menu Items Ranked From Worst To Best
Potbelly Sandwich Shop serves a delicious selection of premade sub sandwiches that goes well beyond the list it primarily advertises. The chain actually has an official Underground Menu that includes a rotating selection of unconventional sandwiches, salads, and shakes. Super fans can access this not-so-secret menu via the Potbelly app, or they can recreate these Underground Menu items using the rich customization options that the restaurant offers. Just know that some of these sandwiches are pretty offbeat and that not all Underground Menu sandwiches are created equally.
So how do you know which secret menu items are worth ordering and which are better kept a secret? Take it from us. We tried some of the most popular sandwiches and salads on the Potbelly Underground Menu in order to rank them for flavor profile, texture, and creativity. So, without further ado, let's dive into our power ranking that counts down to reveal the best Potbelly Underground Menu items.
9. Wrecking Ball
If you can't decide between ordering A Wreck sandwich (one of Potbelly's classic offerings) and a Mama's Meatball sandwich for lunch, we suggest thinking on it a little longer before ordering a Wrecking Ball from the Underground Menu. It's hard to say whether this sandwich emerged because fans desired a marinara-smothered version of A Wreck or because the clever portmanteau was too good to pass up. However, we suspect it is the latter because this sandwich is the worst one we tried.
It includes ham, turkey, Angus roast beef, salami, and meatballs as the base. Its toppings are marinara sauce, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo. Unfortunately, the flavors are simply not cohesive. Our opinion may have changed if we had gotten more than a tablespoon of marinara sauce on our sandwich, but this paltry addition subtracted from the experience. And while we're being picky, provolone feels too mild of a cheese to compete with this many other flavors. The lightly toasted bread helped counterbalance the monotony of the meat pile some, but some crisp greens would have taken the whole sandwich a step further.
Unless you specifically come to Potbelly in search of a massive mouthful of mismatched meats, we suggest you steer clear of this one. The Wrecking Ball gets points for creativity and its entertaining name, but in the end, we absolutely get why this one isn't on the regular menu.
8. Barnyard
Is the selection of four different types of meat on A Wreck simply not enough for you? With just a few modifications to the original, you can concoct an even meatier sandwich: the Barnyard. Add bacon, meatballs, mayo, lettuce, and tomato to A Wreck, and you can recreate this indulgent sandwich from Underground Menus past. (For some ridiculous reason, the Potbelly app doesn't let you add meatballs as an extra topping, so you'll have to order this one in person to try it yourself.)
The Barnyard tastes unsurprisingly similar to the Wrecking Ball, which makes sense since Potbelly uses the same base sandwich. However, this combination of six different meats was less overwhelming since you could more easily taste the individual meats. The bacon was a star addition, as it cut through the chaos a little better than the deli meats. Still, it would have stuck out even more if it were a little crispier.
While we enjoyed it enough to finish the whole sandwich, this isn't one that we would order again soon. The phrase "less is more" crosses our minds anytime we even think about it. After all, we're talking about a sandwich containing almost every meat option on the menu, coming from no fewer than four different animal species. It's worth trying once, but otherwise, it's for hardcore meat lovers only.
7. Clubby
The Clubby sandwich may not be as eclectic as the Potbelly aesthetic or other Underground Menu items, but it is still something a little different for those who tire of the everyday menu options. Its big twist is that it subs the mayonnaise spread you would normally find atop a club sandwich with buttermilk ranch.
The full ingredient list for this oven-toasted sandwich is roasted turkey breast, hickory smoked ham, crispy Applewood smoked bacon, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, and buttermilk ranch. The ingredients taste harmonious together, which should be expected from a sandwich base as tried and true as the club. The turkey is moist and succulent. It nicely balances the smoky sweetness of the bacon. And the tang of the buttermilk ranch brings it all together. However, the ranch dressing is runnier than mayo, so this sandwich will get soggy if you don't eat it quickly.
Once the buttermilk ranch has had time to soak into the bread and lettuce, the sandwich takes a nose dive in quality. Granted, this problem was exacerbated by the fact that we ate nine sandwiches at once, but it is still something to note for slow eaters. Looking past this criticism, it is still a more cohesive sandwich option than either the Wrecking Ball or the Barnyard.
6. Cheeseburger
Have you ever wanted to know what a cheeseburger from a sub sandwich shop would look like? Potbelly has answered that question, and it is surprisingly similar to its Meatball Sub. Since it's not currently on the Underground Menu at the time of this writing, the best way to order it for yourself is to customize the Mama's Meatball. Order one with no marinara, substitute provolone for cheddar cheese, then add lettuce, tomato, and mayo on your bread of choice.
The end result tastes surprisingly close to a cheeseburger, even if it doesn't look like it. The meatballs, made with a blend of beef and pork, make for a more flavorful burger substitute because of their Italian seasoning. The addition of lettuce, tomato, and mayo further sells the illusion. The bread-to-filling ratio is the one thing that throws the equation off, but this is to be expected from a subway sandwich posing as a cheeseburger.
We wouldn't necessarily order this over better secret menu items like the Sicilian, nor would we order this if we were craving a proper cheeseburger, but it is still a fairly satisfying homage to this classic American comfort food.
5. Sicilian
If you thought the pieces of bread were too close together on Potbelly's traditional Italian sandwich, you're in luck. The Sicilian sandwich on Potbelly's Underground Menu transforms this humble sandwich to the next level. It takes the Italian's base of salami, pepperoni, capicola, and mortadella, then adds crumbled meatballs, mushrooms, marinara, and provolone cheese to make one fully loaded sub sandwich.
While we like all the individual ingredients included in this sandwich, we didn't necessarily feel that combining so many of them into one recipe improved the flavor. The overall profile of Italian cured meats, provolone cheese, and marina had a satisfying pizza-adjacent flavor. The pepperoni flavor was by far the strongest and had a lingering effect. The mushrooms, however, got totally lost in the mix. That or the sandwich maker forgot to add them. This sandwich was too loaded for us to confirm one way or another.
If we were to try this sandwich again, we would probably cut some meats from the ingredient list to find a more cohesive flavor profile. But the Sicilian is definitely the most cohesive sandwich yet. We like it even better than the classic Italian, even. Mangia bene!
4. A Wreck Salad
Considering that Potbelly has incorporated some fairly intriguing shakes, soups, and salads into its Underground Menu in the past, we decided to try the one secret menu salad available on the Potbelly app at the time of writing. True to its name, this salad incorporates the key ingredients of A Wreck sandwich into one of the meatiest salads you've ever seen. And unlike the some of the meat-heavy sandwiches we tried, this salad doesn't feel like a chore to eat.
The A Wreck Salad includes turkey breast, hickory smoked ham, salami, Angus roast beef, Swiss cheese, diced hard-boiled egg, cucumbers, and grape tomatoes, all served on a bed of fresh field greens. We tried ours with the recommended buttermilk ranch dressing, but it is also available with balsamic or fat-free vinaigrette. And while this salad may not be particularly healthy, it is certainly delicious.
With four meats and pieces of hard-boiled egg, this hearty salad will easily satisfy most appetites. All the same, these rich ingredients never get too tiring, thanks to the refreshing addition of cucumber and whole grape tomatoes. The Swiss cheese seems like an odd choice, but it pairs nicely with the buttermilk ranch dressing and adds some buttery notes to the overall package. The crisp and fresh field greens rounded out the dish. Even if you don't normally order salads from Potbelly, this one is definitely worth trying. However, it's still not our favorite secret menu item we tried.
3. Lucky 7
Potbelly's Lucky 7 sandwich is another secret menu item with an outrageous variety of meats. It comprises ham, turkey breast, Angus roast beef, salami, pepperoni, capicola, and mortadella. On top of all that, add provolone cheese. Basically, it's A Wreck and an Italian smashed together.
Despite having even more meat varieties than either the Barnyard or Wrecking Ball, this sandwich actually tastes much more flavorful and cohesive. The mix of roasted and cured meats creates a much wider variety of flavors, including salty notes from the salami, smoky notes from the turkey, and peppery notes from the mortadella. A little crunch from some veggies would take this sandwich to the next level, but the lightly toasted bread maintained a crisp texture throughout our eating experience.
While we were harsh on the overly meaty entrées out of the gate in this comparison, the Lucky 7 largely restored our faith in this sandwich style. This one is definitely worth a try as long as you're not a vegetarian.
2. Black and Bleu
Although the Black and Bleu sandwich is not currently on Potbelly's Underground Menu at the time of writing, we recreated this beloved secret menu item by making some modifications to one of Potbelly's staple menu items. To build one for yourself, order the Steakhouse Beef sandwich and remove the provolone cheese and horseradish aioli. Then add lettuce and tomato, and you have a Black and Bleu.
As the name suggests, the core flavor synergy of this sandwich is the Angus roast beef and the blue cheese. The tangy, creamy notes of the cheese perfectly complement the deep, roasted flavor of the beef, creating a well-rounded flavor profile that had us coming back for bite after bite. The lettuce and tomato add some crispness to the dish, as does the lightly toasted multigrain bread we chose.
The Black and Bleu sandwich may not be all that different from the Steakhouse Beef sandwich, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Plus, there is nothing stopping you from leaving the provolone cheese and horseradish aioli in and making an even more flavorful custom creation.
1. Fireball
While the ingredients list for the Fireball sandwich might not be a mile long like those of some other Underground Menu items, it is a thoughtfully crafted sandwich that is more than worthy of the everyday menu (in our opinion). This sandwich consists of meatballs, chili, Potbelly hot peppers, and cheddar cheese, all toasted on your choice of bread. We opted for multigrain.
The briny hot peppers were the perfect complement to this recipe's heavy serving of meatballs. Their zesty kick and pickly crunch had us wondering why they aren't featured in more sandwiches. The chili is a great addition, too. We liked it considerably more than the marinara sauce used in the Sicilian and the Wrecking Ball. The cheddar cheese rounds everything out with a nice melty texture.
We found it odd that a sandwich called Fireball was so devoid of spice, especially since it has both chili and so-called hot peppers in its ingredient list. However, this doesn't prevent it from being our favorite of the Underground Menu items we tried. The balance between its savory meatballs and sweet hot peppers was even more divine than the roast beef and bleu cheese combo of the Black and Bleu. Potbelly fans should definitely make it a point to try this sub sandwich, as there isn't anything else on the menu that quite compares in flavor.
Methodology
Here at Mashed, we know that taste is a highly subjective quality. So, rather than pass off one author's opinion as peer-reviewed facts, we recognize and embrace the personal biases that are present in any food ranking exercise. To that point, we both expect and encourage our readers to disagree with these rankings. Stimulating conversation about our favorite (and least favorite) flavors is what food journalism is all about! That said, we still consider it important to establish the methodology by which we based our rankings.
We tested several of Potbelly Sandwich Shop's most popular secret menu items by either ordering them from the in-app Underground Menu section or recreating past secret menu items by modifying existing sandwiches. We ordered a skinny size of each sandwich with multigrain bread, although they are available in all sizes and bread varieties.
The primary categories by which we judged these sandwiches were flavor profile, texture, and creativity. Flavor profile, though subjective, indicates the quality of the ingredients as well as how they complement one another. Texture refers to whether or not the menu item has a satisfying balance of crusty, creamy, chewy, and juicy elements. Finally, creativity refers to how different the sandwich is from Potbelly's ordinary menu items.