The Potbelly Perspective

If you're looking to spend your 10 or 20 bucks somewhere else for lunch, rather than your usual spot, do not hesitate to visit a local Potbelly. I was a bit skeptical at first going 20 minutes out of my way just to try a new sandwich shop; especially since I have a bunch of similar such places within a 5 minute reach. Yet, I was feeling an urge in my stomach for something new. Although Potbelly and I had never met before, I had to have faith that my money was going toward a delicious cause the day I decided to go with my friends.

From the outside, there were many windows that surrounded the place which made it appear inviting and well-lit. The layout was typical to this genre of restaurant, with tables and booths to the left and front and a designated area for ordering and receiving food. I immediately noticed the menu, which was huge (in size, not so much options), and how it was strategically placed so that the beginning of the line was facing it, allowing us to carefully consider our choices.

As we made our way to the ordering area, I was startled by an immediate request for my order. Thinking like health inspectors, my friends and I each ordered different items from the menu. The orders consisted of the pizza, Italian, and grilled chicken sandwiches ("bigs" size of course), along with the chili, chicken enchilada soup, and a bag of chips. And I thought personally it would be a sin if we didn't try the shakes, so we each got one of those as well. As we made our way to the cashier, we restated each of our orders and paid, which was a bit of an inconvenience since we ordered a lot of food. My order ended up being $12.13 and I felt like that was correct considering all the large sizes I ordered.

We grabbed a booth next to a window and right before we split up our sandwiches to share, I marveled in the culinary deliciousness that presented itself before me. The sandwich was put together fairly well (considering the place was busy) and the shake even came with mini cookies on top of the lid, which was cute to say the least. The chicken enchilada soup looked great: it was filled to the top and had plenty of chunky pieces in it so I definitely felt like I was getting my money's worth. The soup came with oyster crackers too, which also contributed to the previously stated thought. So even under the stress of serving many, Potbelly presented its food quite nicely, with the exception of the chili. My friends and I thought it looked and tasted sub-par, which was especially disappointing to me, because I am a huge fan of chili.

The first bite of each sandwich was impressive: the bread had the perfect amount of crunch, the ingredients were fresh and blended well, and any of the "bigs" sizes could have pacified any hunger pains too.

To state it simply, they were amazing! For a restaurant to sell sandwiches of this caliber for only about 6 dollars, it really puts other food establishments to shame. Although this wasn't the best sandwich I had ever tasted, it was definitely the best sandwich I had ever tasted for 6 bucks. But before I get carried away here, I must also mention that the soup and shake I ordered were fantastic too.

Chicken enchilada was one of the soups of the day that I ultimately chose to eat, although I really wanted to try their loaded baked potato soup instead (since it's my absolute favorite). Regardless of my wrong daily soup troubles, the chicken enchilada soup was great. Like I stated before, it was chunky and filled to the top. It had a decent kick to it, which was something I particularly enjoyed, since me and spicy foods go together well. My only concern, however, was that the saltiness of the included crackers took away a bit of the flavor from the soup. To avoid this issue in the future, I'd suggest skipping the crackers and going plain since the flavor was better on its own.

To counteract the heat sensation, I'm glad I called in an Oreo shake for backup. There wasn't need for such extensive discussion or debate on this one, the Oreo shake was by far, my favorite item from Potbelly that day. The percentage of Oreo's in that shake was far beyond industry standards, making it taste ridiculously good. And even with all those Oreos in that shake, it still was blended to the perfect amount, which caused a smooth flow during every sip. Even if you hate soup or sandwiches, you definitely have to find time to stop by Potbelly to try this.

Once we were done eating, we began to explore and found out what our meal was missing...music! On the Potbelly website, it promised live entertainment that should have performed at the mic and amp right behind our table. We were there on time, and stayed between the hours of 12 to 2 just to see this guy, but nobody showed up! The employees lacked the necessary info to answer our pleas, so we remained disappointed and confused even after we left. That God-crafted Oreo shake may have been a 

substantial highlight of the visit, but this definitely hurt.

On the ride home, I thought long and hard about whether this restaurant deserved a good evaluation or not. After some deliberation and mild debate, I concurred that this Potbelly was a good restaurant and deserved a recommendation. The "bread and butter" (quite literally) of Potbelly was its sandwiches, and they did do a great job at making them at that time. Also, the shakes (particularly the Oreo) were phenomenal and deserved props. Soup was good too, but the lack of good chili and PROMISED live entertainment was a major bummer that hurt, but didn't destroy, their overall score of a 7.0 out of 10.

Local McDonald's Review

Okay, so I got $10, a big appetite, and little regard for my health. Where am I going to go? Obviously, I’m heading to the local McDonalds. Now I understand McDonalds isn't all that bad, as a matter of fact, I absolutely love the food. But that’s the problem, you can’t love McDonalds, or else 15 years from now you’ll be asking your doctor for a heart transplant and Ronald to pay for it. The other day I had the chance to stop by one my local McDonald’s and I thought to myself, “why not share this experience with the internet?!” So here it is: the evaluation of my local McDonalds.

Walking through the front door (the one that mirrors Rt.59) I immediately inhale the french-fry aroma as well as whatever chemical they use to clean the floors and tables. I decided to walk in because the drive-through line was similar to that of a black Friday sale at Wal-Mart. Inside, however, there is a much shorter line with people moving and sitting down at a decent pace. There is a split atmosphere in the restaurant: the lobby/eating area emits a sort of chillness, and makes you want to hangout while the line/menu area emits a pressure feeling, and almost causes a nervous sweat right as the cashier asks for your order.

Being an experienced McDonald’s enthusiast, I was able to avoid being overcome by the “there’s a long line” pressure and ordered like a champ, “I’ll have 2 McChickens with cheese, a grilled ranch snack wrap, medium fry, and a large drink. Thank you.” My food was ready within minutes of giving my money to the cashier, so I was able to find a nice seat near a mounted flat screen and a window. In other words, even with the charging masses McDonalds was still able to provide me with a decent meal quickly. Also, the crew members were friendly, and even if they were faking their smiles it was still convincing enough during the extent of my visit.

Overall, I’d say that this McDonalds in particular earns at least a B. While eating, it definitely is a chill place to sit and the free Wi-Fi is a great touch as well. The crew members are friendly and usually get your order right, except the drive-through isn't too accurate. If you’re ever strolling through Shorewood (shown in the map on the main page) and are looking for a quick lunch or a few minutes to kill, I recommend you stopping by my local McDonalds.

By the way, here's the link to check out what the restaurant actually looks like! http://www.mcillinois.com/32786


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Description & Purpose

The Meticulous Muncher is a creation of mine, Nicholas Freeze, and serves up the purpose of evaluating what is served on your plate. Although I intend to focus on restaurants as a whole, I will also be commenting on specific dishes and drink that they serve in order to provide my readers with honest recommendations for them to enjoy. My first culinary adventure is going to be at a local Potbelly, where I plan to evaluate everything from service to sandwiches. This will be posted eventually on the blog, but a “test” evaluation will be posted before in order to help familiarize me with the wonderful world of blogging & restaurant critiquing.