The Potbelly Sandwich We Instantly Regretted Ordering

Even though Subway still dominates the sandwich shop landscape, chains like Jersey Mike's and Firehouse Subs have also carved out a niche for themselves. Likewise, Potbelly Sandwich Shop has been a favorite of many for years. Alongside some excellent milkshakes, the chain makes delicious sandwiches. Many of these can be served hot out of the oven and are jam-packed with fillings. But as with any restaurant, the menu has its highs and lows. If you're unsure of what to order at Potbelly next time you go, here's a quick tip: avoid the chicken salad.

Tasting Table recently tasked a taste tester (and a long-time Potbelly fan) to rank nine of the chain's sandwiches, and the chicken salad came in last. This wasn't a case of someone being finicky, either. Chicken salad is sometimes a controversial food, and not everyone likes the different ingredients some may toss in, from nuts to raisins to everything in between. Our taste tester was open to some of the less popular ones, but that wasn't the problem here. The sandwich just didn't taste like chicken salad, or much of anything really.

The celery and bread add nice texture and structure to the chicken salad, but that's all the sandwich has. The chicken was so lacking in chicken flavor, our tester had to double-check that it hadn't been swapped with tuna. With only a small amount of mayo-based sauce, there was almost no flavor profile to speak of. Not just one note, but no note. If chicken salad leaves you wishing for grapes, almonds, or curry powder, you know it's taken a wrong turn.

Potbelly's chicken salad sandwich still has its fans. One Reddit thread began with a user asking if anyone knew the recipe because they enjoyed it so much. However, the first comment came from someone who found the sandwich very disappointing in recent years. Other Redditors noted that the chicken was chewy and unappealing. Another said it was one of the worst sandwiches they've ever had. Further down, someone claimed they used to love it but believe the recipe changed several years ago, and it's just not as good.

On Wanderlog, a reviewer said, "I had to open up the sandwich to find the chicken salad" because there was so little of it. Plenty of bread, not a lot of filling. Other reviews have focused on what Potbelly calls a secret sauce, which is bland, "offering none of the creaminess or tanginess you need to complement the meat," and has been likened to "diluted mayonnaise." Whatever it is, it's not adding a lot of flavor to the mix.

None of the reviews critical of the chicken salad noted any real discernible flavor in the sauce. In one Reddit thread, someone claiming to be a former employee said that the chicken salad was just chicken, celery, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. That's hardly a recipe for a secret sauce, but it tracks with some of the feedback given that one of the big problems is a lack of flavor. Some copycat recipes suggest adding lemon juice and sour cream, but these also include red onion and parsley, which are clearly not included in the Potbelly recipe.

If you have a real hunger for chicken salad, fear not. We have 33 flavorful chicken salad recipes that won't leave you hanging.