Potbelly Sandwich Shop

Potbelly Sandwich Shop, also known as Potbelly Sandwich Works, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain with over 400 locations that focuses on submarine sandwiches and milkshakes. It is owned by RaceTrac.

Potbelly was founded in 1977 in Chicago, and its name refers to the potbelly stove. Potbelly offers sandwiches, many served hot, and soup, shakes, smoothies, potato chips, and cookies. Some locations formerly presented live music from local musicians during the lunch hours.

Potbelly carries Zapp's potato chips and previously had an exclusive Zapp's brand of dill pickle chips that had the flavor of a Potbelly pickle.

In 1971, Peter Hastings started an antique store, Hindsight, at 2264 North Lincoln Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. The store had an old potbelly stove, which Hastings began using to make toasted sandwiches to serve to shoppers. In 1977, the Hindsight store was retooled into a restaurant, Potbelly Sandwich Works.

Since 1977, Potbelly has partnered with Turano in Chicago for bread products.

In 1996, Bryant Keil purchased the original store and converted it into a full-scale restaurant. The second Potbelly store opened in 1997, and he expanded Potbelly to over 250 stores in several states and the District of Columbia by 2008.

In 2001, Maveron, founded by former Starbucks chairman and executive Howard Schultz and Dan Levitan, invested in the company and became its largest shareholder. It sold most of its stake by 2016.

In November 2007, a new Potbelly store in Glen Ellyn, Illinois became the first to feature a drive-through. A second drive-through store was added shortly thereafter in Waukegan, Illinois.