Potbelly Sandwich Works (Kalamazoo)
4608 Stadium DriveLast week was not a typical week for me. I had an all day doctor’s appointment and a sick kid the next day so I missed a couple of days of work. I’m pretty sure that’s the first two sick days I used all year.
I was done with my appointment on Wednesday early enough to relax for a while then pick L up from school to take her to Wings Event Center for figure skating. I do this a lot on Monday’s now because she has to be there early and I go in to work for a night shift that starts at 3:00 PM.
Most days we hit the Jimmy John’s right next to Wings Event Center for lunch. It’s quick and both kids like it. Best of all, it’s not greasy fast food.
I did that last Monday and since I was picking her up again two days later, I wanted to do something different. I still didn’t want to get her fast food but there’s another sandwich place along the way.
Potbelly Sandwich Works is on Stadium Drive in Kalamazoo’s Knollwood Neighborhood to the east of Drake Road. It’s part of one of the out building shopping plazas in the University Commons center. The Potbelly shares a building with Starbucks in the space that used to be a Jimmy John’s.
This is Kalamazoo’s first Potbelly but I’ve been familiar with the chain for several years. It’s a sandwich shop out of Chicago that got it’s start in the Loop back in the 1970’s. I used to eat at locations around downtown Chicago quite often when I worked at Fox Sports Net Chicago while I was in College. My first Michigan Potbelly experience was back in 2010 when I was in East Lansing for work one night. We’ve also eaten at one of the Ann Arbor locations which is my kids’ only experience with the chain.
I put an order in online as I was getting ready to leave the house. I got each of us a sandwich, chips and a drink because I was going to be staying at the rink to do some work and get her to the next thing she had to get to that night. The cost was about $28.
I don’t know that I had ever been in this store when it was a Jimmy John’s. We always go to the one on 9th Street when we order while at home. The space is pretty big with the order counter along the west wall. I bypassed this area because I had ordered online but the way it works is that you order on one end. They make the sandwich, run it through the oven then you pick it up and pay at the other end.
The space also has a big dining room for a fast casual sub shop like this. Nothing super fancy but the tables and chairs are higher quality, solid wood furniture that gives the space more of an upscale feel over some of the other sub chains.
I don’t really have a usual order at Potbelly because I eat there only sporadically. I ordered an Italian which comes with salami, capicola, pepperoni, mortadella, and Provolone. I also added on lettuce, Italian seasoning, oil, red wine vinegar, and hot peppers. It’s the hot peppers for me that make Potbelly stand out. This is true Chicago hot giardiniera. There was quite a bit on there which made the sandwich a lot spicy but that’s what I wanted. I probably shouldn’t have gotten the additional oil and vinegar because there was enough vinegar with the peppers. It made the sandwich kind of sloppy. It was a really delicious sandwich. I got the “Original” size which is standard. It’s kind of small for a big appetite but I didn’t want to spend any more money. I polished this thing of quickly and was left wanting more.
I didn’t realize this but last time we ate at Potbelly, L got the PB&J sandwich which is served warm. She had just said something to J about wanting that sandwich again. I didn’t know that so I ordered her the Grilled Cheese and added bacon to it. She did that a few weeks ago when we went to Five Guys so I figured she’d like it here. The default bread here is the Multi-grain. Had I been paying attention, I probably would have switched it to white but that didn’t seem to be a problem for L. The sandwich is simple with cheddar cheese and the bacon for an additional $2.79. She seemed excited when I got in the car and told her what I had for lunch. She took the sandwich downstairs when we got to the rink so I didn’t see her again until later that evening when she told me the sandwich was really good and she wouldn’t be mad if I picked Potbelly up for lunch again when I pick her up from school.
I was pretty excited when I saw Potbelly was moving in to this space on Stadium Drive. Like I said earlier, it’s been years since I’ve eaten it regularly but my eyes always light up when I see one on our travels. There are so many sandwich shops in town. Potbelly adds another layer and another flavor to the scene. I’m sure we’ll be ordering it a little more often now.
SW Michigan Dining 
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