Potbelly Catering Guide: Boxed Lunches, Sandwich Trays & How to Order

Potbelly is the warm-toasted-sandwich specialist of the national chains. Every sandwich runs through the brand’s signature oven on the way out the door, including the ones inside the Boxed Lunches and the Box O’ Sandwiches tray, while peer national sandwich chains (Jersey Mike’s, Jason’s Deli, McAlister’s, Subway) all ship cold for catering.

The catering program runs across five formats: per-guest Boxed Lunches, the ten-piece Box O’ Sandwiches tray (with a Skinny-roll variant), the Small Bundle for 6 and Large Bundle for 10, The Potbelly Bundle (an all-in lunch-for-ten with a Group Salad and a Gallon Iced Tea or Lemonade), and Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches for the morning meeting. Group Salads, Mac & Soups, Hand-Dipped Shakes and a Premium Topping Bar add-on round out the catalog. This guide walks every format, where the Skinny tier fits, how to pair the Box O’ Sandwiches with the Mac & Cheese group tureen, what to do for the vegan and gluten-sensitive guest, and which order to place for a meeting of fifteen, fifty or one hundred.

Founded in 1977 in Chicago by Peter Hastings, the original Potbelly opened as a single sandwich counter inside a Lincoln Park antique store called the Hindsdale Antique Mall, where the owners installed a literal pot-bellied stove to keep the small back-room shop warm and started running sandwiches through an oven that ran off the stove’s heat. The chain was acquired by Bryant Keil in 1996, which is when it began its national rollout out of the original Chicago footprint, and went public on the NYSE under the ticker PBPB in October 2013. The brand’s headquarters is at 111 N Canal in downtown Chicago. The catering footprint covers more than four hundred seventy Potbelly Sandwich Shop locations across thirty-three US states, with the densest concentration in Illinois (where the company is headquartered and where roughly a quarter of all US Potbelly stores sit) and growing footprints across Texas, Virginia, Maryland, the DC metro, and the Sun Belt under the company’s expansion model.

Potbelly menu, pricing and availability vary by location and change over time. Confirm current offerings and live quotes directly through the catering portal at potbelly.com/catering or the participating Potbelly Sandwich Shop nearest your office before ordering.

Potbelly’s Catering Menu

Potbelly structures its catering menu around four formats: Boxed Lunches for the per-person individual meal, Box O’ Sandwiches (and the lower-carb Skinny Box O’ Sandwiches) for the ten-piece sandwich tray, the Small and Large Sandwich Bundles for the bundled tray-plus-chips-and-cookies pack, and The Potbelly Bundle for the all-in lunch-for-ten that ships with a Group Salad and a gallon beverage. Every catering format ships from the same catering portal at potbelly.com/catering, which routes to the participating Potbelly Sandwich Shop nearest your delivery address; orders also flow through ezCater and DoorDash for Business at most stores. Every sandwich, including the ones inside the Boxed Lunches, the Box O’ Sandwiches and the Bundles, is built warm and toasted in the store’s signature oven before it is packed for delivery; the Boxed Lunch format is the one Potbelly differentiator that most peer national sandwich chains do not match.

The four catering formats at a glance

Why the Box O’ Sandwiches is the workhorse: the box ships ten toasted Originals (or Skinnys) halved across a self-serve tray, the cost per guest lands lower than ordering individual boxed lunches for the same headcount, and the Premium Topping Bar add-on turns the same base order into a customizable sandwich bar without paying for a Bundle. For an office that runs a recurring weekly lunch, the Box O’ Sandwiches plus a Group Salad plus the Mac & Cheese tureen is the standing order; for a one-off lunch where the office wants a single line item, The Potbelly Bundle for 10 is the all-in pack.

The Warm-Toasted Sandwich Difference

The single differentiator that defines Potbelly catering against every other national sandwich chain is the warm-toasted sandwich. Every Original, Skinny and Big sandwich in the catering lineup runs through the store’s signature wall-mounted oven on its way out the door, including the ones that go into Boxed Lunches and Box O’ Sandwiches trays. The bread (the brand’s signature long roll, baked daily in store) comes out warm and crisp on the outside and soft on the inside; the cheese melts; the meats heat through; the toppings keep their crunch because they are added after the toast. The oven is the brand’s most-replicated piece of equipment and the reason Potbelly’s catering reads different from a Jersey Mike’s Box-Pack or a Jason’s Deli Sandwich Tray, both of which ship cold.

For an office where the warm-versus-cold sandwich question is the deciding factor (cold sandwiches travel without losing crunch but read as deli; warm-toasted sandwiches read as a real meal but lose some heat in the half-hour delivery window), Potbelly is the only national operator that ships warm in every catering format. Firehouse Subs is the only peer that toasts every sub for catering, but the Firehouse catering minimum runs higher in most markets and the menu is shorter; Potbelly’s warm-toasted lineup is the broadest in the national sandwich-catering category. For a deeper comparison of the warm-versus-cold trade-off and which format fits which occasion, see our boxed lunch versus buffet catering guide and the boxed lunch versus buffet versus family-style decision guide.

Sandwich Lineup: Originals, Skinnys & Bigs

Potbelly’s catering sandwich lineup is built around the Originals (the brand’s full-size warm-toasted sandwich on the standard roll), the Skinnys (the same sandwich on a thinner roll for a lower-calorie pour), and the Bigs (the upsized sandwich with extra meat and cheese; the Bigs ship through catering as an upgrade rather than the default). The brand’s all-time top-selling sandwich is the A Wreck, a five-meat plus cheese stack of turkey, ham, roast beef, salami and Swiss with the standard toppings; the Italian is the second-most-ordered. The Mediterranean Veggie and Mediterranean Vegan boxed lunches are the two vegetarian and vegan options.

Sandwich sizes: Skinny, Original or Big

Potbelly is the only national sandwich-chain catering operator that ships three sandwich sizes off the same lineup. The Original is the standard size (a half-pound stack on the brand’s regular roll, the default in every catering format). The Skinny is the lower-calorie size (about two-thirds the meat and cheese count on a thinner roll, the catering pick for the macro-conscious table); the Skinny Box O’ Sandwiches tray runs the Skinny across the same Original lineup. The Big is the upsized pour (about one and a half times the protein count on the standard roll) that ships through catering as an upgrade on the individual Boxed Lunch and Bundle line items. For an office with a mixed-appetite table (some macro-conscious eaters, some heavy lunchers), running a Box O’ Sandwiches with half Originals and half Skinnys reads better than ordering across two separate trays.

Boxed Lunches and Individual Boxes

Potbelly’s Boxed Lunch format is the per-person, per-box catering line item: a single warm-toasted Original sandwich, a single-serve bag of chips, and a Potbelly cookie in a labeled cardboard box that ships ready for stack-and-distribute. Every Boxed Lunch is labeled with the sandwich variety on the outside of the box so the gluten-free or vegetarian or vegan guest can read the right box without rummaging. The brand’s warm-toasted Boxed Lunch is the only one of its kind in the national sandwich-catering tier; peer chains like Jersey Mike’s, Jason’s Deli, McAlister’s and Subway all ship boxed lunches cold.

The Boxed Lunch lineup runs the full Original sandwich roster (every sandwich in the table above is available as a labeled box), so the dietary breadth is the same as the Box O’ Sandwiches tray. The most-ordered Boxed Lunches by far are A Wreck (the meat-eater default), Italian (the deli-classic), Turkey Breast & Swiss (the picky-eater hedge), Mediterranean Veggie (the vegetarian pick), Mediterranean Vegan (the fully-vegan pick that distinguishes Potbelly from peer chains), and Grilled Chicken & Cheddar (the macro-leaning lunch).

For an office where the dietary mix runs across vegan, vegetarian, gluten-sensitive and standard eaters, the Boxed Lunch format is the cleanest path: order one box per guest in the variety they want, get every box labeled, and let the guests pick up the box that matches their name. The Mediterranean Vegan box (which most peer national sandwich chains do not ship as a fully-vegan option) is what separates Potbelly catering from the rest of the tier when the dietary brief includes a vegan guest. For more on the per-person boxed format versus shared trays, see our boxed lunch versus buffet decision guide and the cluster posts on boxed lunches for hybrid and distributed teams, boxed lunch catering for conferences and all-day training, allergy-safe individually packaged boxed lunches, and the best boxed lunch catering companies roundup.

Box O’ Sandwiches, Bundles & The Potbelly Bundle

Potbelly’s tray formats are built around three line items: the Box O’ Sandwiches (a ten-piece sandwich tray of toasted Originals halved for self-serve), the Skinny Box O’ Sandwiches (the same tray on the lower-calorie Skinny roll), and the Bundles, which pair a sandwich tray with chips and cookies in one pre-priced pack. The Small Bundle for 6 ships six toasted sandwiches halved with six chips bags and six cookies; the Large Bundle for 10 ships ten of each. The Potbelly Bundle is the all-in lunch-for-ten that adds a Group Salad and a Gallon Iced Tea or Lemonade on top of the Large Bundle.

How to size the tray: for a ten-person office lunch, the Large Bundle for 10 is the right line item; for a fifteen-to-twenty-person lunch, run two Box O’ Sandwiches trays plus two Group Salads plus a Mac & Cheese tureen; for a thirty-person lunch, run three Box O’ Sandwiches trays plus three Group Salads plus two Mac & Cheese tureens and the Premium Topping Bar. For an executive table where the brief is sandwich-bar-style customization, run one Box O’ Sandwiches plus the Premium Topping Bar at the front of the table so each guest can build to taste before sitting down.

Breakfast Catering: Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches

Potbelly’s breakfast catering ships through a single primary format: the Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches, a ten-piece tray of warm-toasted breakfast sammies with egg, cheese and a choice of meat (bacon, ham, sausage or no-meat) on the brand’s signature toasted bread, with condiments packed on the side and the box’s heat-retaining inner sleeve keeping the sandwiches warm through the half-hour service window after delivery. The Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches is the smaller of the national breakfast-catering tier (Einstein Bros. and Panera Bread ship a deeper breakfast catalog with bagels, Nosh Boxes, breakfast pastries and dedicated Egg Sandwich tiers), but the Potbelly breakfast box has one structural advantage: every breakfast sandwich is warm-toasted out of the same oven that runs the lunch sandwiches, so the morning meeting that wants a hot sandwich without bagels lands here.

For a morning meeting under twelve guests, the Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches plus a Coffee For The Group gallon plus a Group Fruit option (sourced from a peer caterer or the Potbelly cookie tray as the sweet course) covers the table. For a larger all-hands breakfast or a multi-format breakfast spread, the Potbelly Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches pairs with the deeper bagel-and-Shmear program at Einstein Bros. or the bakery-plus-soup at Panera, both of which ship a wider breakfast catering catalog. For the broader morning-meeting catering structure, see our boxed breakfast catering for morning meetings playbook.

Group Salads, Mac & Soups, Sides

Potbelly catering ships salads and warm sides in the same Group format as the sandwich trays. Group Salads come in four standing recipes: the Farmhouse (mixed greens, grape tomatoes, cucumber, croutons, vinaigrette), the Apple Walnut (mixed greens with apple slices, dried cranberries, candied walnuts and crumbled blue cheese, the sweeter pick), the Powerhouse (chopped chicken, quinoa, edamame, the macro-leaning pick), and the Chicken Salad (mixed greens topped with house chicken salad). Each Group Salad lands as a large bowl with the dressing packed on the side, sized to a ten-person side or a five-person main.

The Mac & Soups line is the warm-side complement to the sandwich tray. Mac & Cheese is the most-ordered side at the Potbelly catering table; the Chicken Pot Pie Soup is a Chicago-leaning Midwest sleeper hit; the Chili is a heavier cold-weather pick; the Broccoli Cheddar, the Garden Vegetable, and the Loaded Baked Potato fill out the rotation.

For a sandwich-plus-salad-plus-warm-side combination, the standard pairing rule is: pick one of the Group Salads (Farmhouse for the neutral table, Apple Walnut for the sweet-leaning table, Powerhouse for the macro-leaning table), pick one of the Mac & Soups (Mac & Cheese for the comfort-food default, Chicken Pot Pie Soup for the cold-weather table, Garden Vegetable for the lighter and vegan-friendly table), and pick the 10 Pack Chips on the side. For a board-meeting lunch where the brief is “lunch but make it executive,” skip the chips and run one Group Salad plus a Mac & Cheese tureen alongside the Box O’ Sandwiches.

Cookies, Mini Cookies & Hand-Dipped Shakes

Potbelly’s catering dessert program is built around two formats: the dozen cookie box and the hand-dipped shake. The cookies ship as a Dozen Cookies box (twelve full-size cookies) or a Bag of Mini Cookies (a snack-format pack of bite-size cookies). The flavor rotation covers the brand’s standing cookie program: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Sugar, Chocolate Brownie Cookie, and the seasonal French Toast Cookie (the rotating limited-time entry). The Bag of Mini Cookies is the snack-table line item; the Dozen Cookies is the post-lunch dessert anchor.

The hand-dipped Shakes are the Potbelly catering Easter egg most office buyers do not know about. Every Shake is hand-dipped in store with real ice cream, blended with milk and the flavor base, and ships in single-serve cups. The standing flavors are Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, OREO® Cookie, Cold Brew (coffee-and-chocolate ice cream blend), and the brand’s signature Banana Pudding (a banana-pudding flavor that runs as the year-round signature dessert). For a working lunch where the team wants a dessert that reads as a treat rather than a cookie, ordering Shakes for the table is one of the few national sandwich-catering picks that lands.

For a recurring weekly lunch program where the team wants dessert without paying for a Shake every week, the Bag of Mini Cookies on the side of the Box O’ Sandwiches is the right standing order. For a one-off office party or an executive lunch where the dessert is the showcase, order Shakes for the table (one per guest) plus the Dozen Cookies as the take-home option.

Iced Tea, Lemonade & Drinks

Potbelly catering ships beverages in two formats: the Group Gallon (a dispenser of fresh-brewed iced tea or lemonade, sized for ten to twelve guests), and the Individual Bottled (single bottles and cans, dropped in a separate beverage bin). The Gallon Iced Tea and Gallon Lemonade are the two standing flavors; some markets also carry a fresh-brewed Hot Coffee For The Group gallon when the order includes the Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches.

For a ten-person Bundle or Box O’ Sandwiches lunch, one Gallon Iced Tea plus one Gallon Lemonade is the right beverage pour; above twenty guests, double both gallons rather than running a single flavor doubled (the variety reads better at the table). For an off-site or a sealed-beverage event, run Individual Bottled Water plus the Gallon Iced Tea as the in-room option.

Vegetarian, Vegan & Dietary Considerations

Potbelly does not publish a gluten-free catering bread or a gluten-free sandwich, but the brand is one of the few national sandwich-catering operators that ships a fully vegan boxed lunch (the Mediterranean Vegan: hummus, roasted red peppers, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, onion on toasted bread, no cheese). For a mixed-dietary office, the path is the per-person Boxed Lunch format: one labeled box per guest, vegan and vegetarian variants on the same order, gluten-sensitive guests on a separate plate built from the Group Salad, the Garden Vegetable Soup and the chips bag from the Boxed Lunch.

For an office where the dietary mix is wide enough that the Mediterranean Vegan box plus a vegetarian Veggie Melt plus a sealed Group Salad does not cover the table, the cleaner path is to add a side caterer for the gluten-free and halal/kosher guests rather than stretching the Potbelly menu to fit. For the deeper guide to mixed-dietary catering across formats and brands, see our mixed dietary needs catering guide, the vegan office catering playbook, the gluten-free office catering guide, and the allergy-safe individually-packaged boxed-lunch guide.

How to Order Potbelly Catering

1. Pick the format. Boxed Lunch per guest, Box O’ Sandwiches tray, Small or Large Bundle, The Potbelly Bundle, or Box O’ Breakfast Sandwiches.
2. Pick the sandwich lineup. A Wreck and Italian as the two anchor picks, Turkey & Swiss as the picky-eater default, Mediterranean Vegan as the vegan, Mediterranean Veggie or Veggie Melt as the vegetarian, Skinny on the macro-leaning table.
3. Add a side. One Group Salad (Farmhouse for neutral, Apple Walnut for sweet, Powerhouse for macro-conscious) plus one Mac & Soup (Mac & Cheese for default, Chicken Pot Pie Soup for cold weather, Garden Vegetable Soup for vegan and lighter tables) plus the 10 Pack Chips.
4. Decide on dessert. Bag of Mini Cookies as the standing side, Dozen Cookies as the take-home, Hand-Dipped Shakes as the showcase.
5. Pour beverages. One Gallon Iced Tea plus one Gallon Lemonade for a ten-person table; double for twenty or more, add Individual Bottled Water for an off-site or sealed-beverage event.
6. Place the order. Through potbelly.com/catering, ezCater, DoorDash for Business, or by calling the participating Potbelly Sandwich Shop nearest your office.

Delivery, Pickup & Lead Times

The order minimum runs around the fifty-dollar mark in most markets (delivery fee varies and is displayed at checkout). Lead time on a small bundle through the catering portal can be as short as an hour at slow times of day; for any order of twenty guests or more, give a full business day; for any order of fifty or more guests, give two to three days and call the participating store directly to confirm bake volume and delivery vehicles. The catering box’s heat-retaining inner sleeve holds the sandwiches warm for about thirty minutes after delivery; for larger all-hands where service runs longer, stagger two smaller delivery windows rather than ordering one large drop.

Pros and Cons of Potbelly Catering

What Customers Say

Who Is Potbelly Catering Best For?

Potbelly vs. Jersey Mike’s, Jason’s Deli, Firehouse & Subway

Potbelly sits at the warm-toasted-sandwich corner of the national sandwich-catering tier. The relevant peers are the cold-shipped chains (Jersey Mike’s, Jason’s Deli, McAlister’s, Subway) and the one warm-toasted peer (Firehouse Subs).

For an office buyer choosing between Potbelly and the cold-sub chains, the rule is the warm-versus-cold sandwich question: pick Potbelly when the team values the toasted bread (and Pizza Melt, Veggie Melt and Italian melts read as a real warm meal) and pick Jersey Mike’s or Jason’s Deli when the team values the cold deli-style sub with the deli-counter Mike’s Way build or the salad bar. For the warm-toasted peer comparison, Potbelly versus Firehouse comes down to menu breadth (Potbelly has more sandwiches, soups and the Shake program; Firehouse has the Hook & Ladder and the charitable mission). For per-brand catering deep dives, see our guides to Jersey Mike’s catering, Jason’s Deli catering, Firehouse Subs catering, Subway catering, McAlister’s Deli catering, and the sibling bagel-catering brand Einstein Bros. Bagels. For the closest alternative when the office wants the cold-sub format, see the Firehouse Subs catering alternatives and McAlister’s Deli catering alternatives roundups.

A Better Option for Office Catering

Potbelly is the right call for the recurring sandwich-tray lunch, the warm-toasted Boxed Lunch where the team values the bread out of the oven, and the executive-lunch event where the brief includes the Shake course. For everything else (a wider breakfast catering catalog, a gluten-free guest, a halal- or kosher-certified table, a metro outside the Midwest-and-Sun-Belt-heavy Potbelly footprint, a multi-cuisine catering program where the same office wants Italian on Tuesday and Mediterranean on Thursday), the office buyer needs a wider catering bench than a single national sandwich chain can deliver.

Zerocater’s catering platform pulls from more than one thousand local restaurants and partner caterers across twelve metros (San Francisco, New York, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia). The bench includes local deli operators like Arturo’s Deli and Bonbon Sandwiches in Chicago, Al’s Delicatessen and Five Points Pastrami in NYC, and the broader sandwich-and-sub bench across the rest of the metros, plus full Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Japanese, Korean and barbecue programs. CaterAi, Zerocater’s AI menu-planning tool, builds a catering plan from your guest count, dietary mix and budget and ships the order through the same vendor-network operating model that Potbelly uses at the single-brand level.

For an office that wants a warm-toasted-sandwich lunch one week, a Mediterranean mezze the next, and a Korean office picnic the week after, the Zerocater bench delivers all three through one ordering platform. For more on how the Zerocater model compares to single-chain catering across recurring office programs, see our office manager’s guide to ordering catering.

Build Your Catering Menu with CaterAi →

Which Potbelly Order for How Many People?

The most-asked question on every brand-catering page is “what should I actually order for X guests?” Here is the cheat sheet for the most-ordered Potbelly catering combinations by headcount band.

For an office in a specific metro, layer in the local context: a Chicago event leans into the home-market story (Potbelly was founded in Lincoln Park) and pairs naturally into the BBQ and Italian beef catering scene; a DC-metro event lands at the densest Potbelly cluster outside Illinois; a Texas event (Dallas, Houston, Austin) gets the strongest Sun Belt coverage; a coastal metro (San Francisco, New York, Boston, Seattle) may need to confirm the nearest participating store before planning around a same-day delivery. For city-specific catering picks beyond Potbelly, see our listicles for Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, and Philadelphia. For cost benchmarks by metro, see our cost guides for Chicago, New York, San Francisco, LA, and Boston. For occasion-anchored catering planning beyond a single chain, see our guides to board meeting catering, the office manager’s guide, corporate catering for tech companies, holiday party catering planning, and the company picnic and outdoor catering guide. For the cuisine-page link to Italian sandwich and deli vendors, see the Italian catering directory.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Potbelly catering priced?

By format and serving count. Boxed Lunches price per box (sandwich + chips + cookie). Box O’ Sandwiches and Skinny Box O’ Sandwiches price per ten-piece tray. Small and Large Sandwich Bundles price per bundle (six- or ten-person). The Potbelly Bundle prices as a single line item for ten guests including the Group Salad and gallon beverage. Group Salads, Mac & Soups and Premium Topping Bar add-ons each price as their own group line item. Beverages price by the gallon (iced tea, lemonade, coffee where available) or as individual bottles. Specific pricing varies by location; confirm with the catering portal at potbelly.com/catering before ordering.

What is the lead time for a Potbelly catering order?

As short as one hour for small bundles in slow times, one business day for a standard tray or bundle of ten or more, and two to three business days plus a direct store call for events of fifty or more guests. The participating Potbelly Sandwich Shop’s catering team is the source of truth on lead time in your specific market.

What is the minimum order?

Around fifty dollars at most participating stores, with delivery fees varying by market and displayed at checkout. The smallest catering serving size is the Small Bundle for 6 (six toasted sandwiches plus chips plus cookies). Individual Boxed Lunches can be ordered piece-by-piece on top of the bundle minimum.

What is a Box O’ Sandwiches?

Box O’ Sandwiches is Potbelly’s catering name for a ten-piece tray of toasted Originals cut in halves and laid out on a self-serve tray. The Skinny Box O’ Sandwiches is the same tray on the lower-calorie Skinny roll. Box O’ Sandwiches is the workhorse sandwich-tray format for office lunches of eight to fifteen guests and pairs into the Premium Topping Bar add-on for build-your-own-style events.

What is The Potbelly Bundle?

The Potbelly Bundle is the all-in lunch-for-ten line item: ten toasted Originals halved, a Group Salad of choice (Farmhouse, Apple Walnut, Powerhouse or Chicken Salad), ten chips, ten cookies, and a Gallon Iced Tea or Lemonade in one combined pack. It ships through the same channel as the Large Bundle and is the cleanest single-line-item order for a recurring weekly ten-person lunch program.

Does Potbelly have vegan or gluten-free catering options?

The Mediterranean Vegan Boxed Lunch (hummus, roasted red peppers, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, onion on toasted bread, no cheese) is the only fully-vegan catering box, and it is one of the rare clean vegan options across the national sandwich-catering tier. Gluten-free bread is not on the catering menu; the gluten-sensitive guest builds a plate from the Group Salad without croutons, the Garden Vegetable Soup, and a sealed chips bag. For a fully gluten-free table, order through a certified gluten-free caterer rather than Potbelly.

Is Potbelly catering warm-toasted?

Yes. Every sandwich in the Potbelly catering lineup runs through the store’s signature oven on its way out the door, including the boxed-lunch format that peer national sandwich chains (Jersey Mike’s, Jason’s Deli, McAlister’s, Subway) ship cold. The catering box’s heat-retaining inner sleeve holds working temperature for roughly the first thirty minutes after delivery; for longer service windows, stagger two smaller drops rather than ordering one large delivery.

How does Potbelly compare to Jersey Mike’s, Jason’s Deli, Firehouse and Subway?

Potbelly is the only national sandwich-catering operator that ships every boxed lunch warm-toasted. Jersey Mike’s ships cold deli-style subs at every scale with the Mike’s Way build and the broadest US footprint among the sub specialists. Jason’s Deli ships wraps, salad-bar buffets and free organic ice cream and is the natural pick when the brief includes the salad bar. Firehouse Subs is the one peer warm-toasted brand (steamed and toasted), with a shorter menu and a charitable mission via the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation. Subway is the cheapest national pick with the broadest US coverage but ships cold and reads as quick-service catering rather than catering-catering. McAlister’s Deli is the Southeast deli alternative with the signature Famous Sweet Tea Gallon and the Spud as the warm-side hero.

Where can I order Potbelly catering?

Catering orders go through potbelly.com/catering, which routes the order to the participating Potbelly Sandwich Shop nearest your delivery address. ezCater and DoorDash for Business carry the menu at most stores and are useful when the office buyer wants the spend on an existing catering platform. For large events of fifty or more guests, call the participating store directly to coordinate bake volume and delivery vehicles.

What makes Potbelly a good fit for office catering?

The warm-toasted Boxed Lunch is the Potbelly differentiator no peer national sandwich chain matches at scale; the Skinny tier covers the macro-conscious table; the Mediterranean Vegan box covers the vegan guest; the Premium Topping Bar turns a base tray into a sandwich bar; the Mac & Cheese tureen and the soup roster deliver the warm-side complement; and the Hand-Dipped Shakes ship as a real dessert course, which is rare at peer national sandwich-catering operators. With Chicago-rooted brand heritage and more than four hundred seventy Potbelly Sandwich Shop locations across thirty-three states, Potbelly is the warm-toasted-sandwich pick for an office where the bread out of the oven is the deciding factor.

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