Potbelly Sandwich Works, Wicker Park, Chicago
I’ve been to the Potbelly on Michigan Ave. and on State St. about 1,000 times each, but I’d never been to the one in my neighborhood that opened on Damen Ave. Why would I ever want to go there, since there are so many other sandwich shops to choose from and I always went to the Potbelly downtown on my lunch break? But now, since I’ve been spending so much time at home, I decided to check out the store on Damen for a cheap lunch.
The interior is pretty much the same kind of feel as the one on State. The one on Michigan is in the Nordstrom mall’s food court so they can’t really control the feel as much. The biggest difference with the store on Damen is that they had a guy sitting up in a little balcony playing music live. He was pretty good, it could have been worse. I kept thinking he should play some Jack Johnson, that he’d be good at it, but he didn’t. I thought it was kind of odd that he didn’t have a sign or anything saying his name, and since he was 8 feet up in the air there was no way for you to tip him or talk to him. I wondered if this individual restaurant made a deal with the him or if Potbelly, as a franchise, supports local musicians this way.
On a side note, this is how you know you’re spending too much time at home: Oprah becomes a part of your daily routine. And not only that, but when Kanye West, whose latest album you love, is on the show and sings “Hey Mama,” a song that you were obsessed with and played 1,000 times in a row on repeat, to his mother.. right to her face.. and makes her dance with him. .. it makes you cry! Step away from the Oprah, Rachelle.
