Illinois: Potbelly Sandwich Shop
Choices, choices, choices.
Illinois has such a plethora of iconic fast food chains that it’s hard to pick which one better represents the Land of Lincoln. So after an intense moment when we flip coins, did rock, paper, scissors, and even engaged in a game of Twister, we decided to pick Potbelly Sandwich Shop as Illinois’ claim to fame.
Illinois is pretty famous when it comes to sandwiches, and this chain latched on to that fame and, like Chicago’s famed deep dish pizza, took the state’s vision of sandwiches nationwide. It all started in 1977 in an old antique shop in the Windy City’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. For the next 19 years, it was Illinois’ best-kept secret. But in 1996, a guy named Bryant Keil decided to take Potbelly Sandwich Shop nationwide, and the rest is fast food sandwich history.
With over 400 locations nationwide serving classics as the Roast Beef and the Chicken Salad, and their most famous sandwich, “A Wreck,” it’s pretty easy to get your hands on a famous Potbelly sandwich.
You can thank the sandwich lovers of Illinois for this charming chain.