A Study in Relative Value: Streeterville Lunch

Jimmy John's #1 Pepe*, a bag of BBQ chips, and pickle, $6.47:



Fox & Obel's 1/2** Signature Club***, house-made chips, and pickle, $6.52:



* "Real applewood smoked ham and provolone cheese garnished with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. (Awesome!)"

** 1/2 sandwich always available though not on menu.

*** "Smoked turkey, Black Forest ham, beefsteak tomato, Muenster cheese, applewood-smoked bacon, red leaf lettuce, basil mayonnaise on whole wheat"

Jimmy John's
339 E. Grand Ave.
312-644-1900

Fox & Obel
401 E. Illinois St.
312-410-7301

So what's you're theory for the mushrooming of Jimmy John's, when they're not only terrible but not even especially cheap?

LAZ wrote:So what's you're theory for the mushrooming of Jimmy John's, when they're not only terrible but not even especially cheap?

Not to answer for Aaron, but doesn't it seem like "convenience" must be the main reason people order from JJ rather than a good place? I was at a meeting in the old Montgomery Ward building a few days ago, and someone ordered out for Jimmy John's, my first in about four years: it was a abysmal, but we were hungry, and it was there.

Hammond

LAZ wrote:So what's you're theory for the mushrooming of Jimmy John's, when they're not only terrible but not even especially cheap?

Clean and safe. I've said this before, but I think a lot of people not only value percieved cleanliness and safety in a place, they seek it out. It's a bit more complicated to explain what is "safe", but the bottom line for now, is that places like Potbelly and Jimmy John's prey on that zone. People eat at these places not for taste but for security.

I don't disagree with DH, who notes that convenience is a major factor in the success of Jimmy Johns and its ilk, nor with VI, who notes that 'security' or reliable cleanliness (likely overrated) is a major factor.

But it remains that there are people, perhaps many of them, who think that the grub served at such places is good. Now, 'good' can and at times should be regarded as a relative term. Perhaps Chimmy Chohn's food is 'good' to them insofar as it stands relatively high on a scale of quality of food that they have experienced. But then, this is tantamount to saying that their favorable opinion of such food is based on ignorance. And that is perhaps the most important factor.

Antonius

HAmmond wrote:Jimmy John's, my first in about four years: it was a abysmal, but we were hungry, and it was there

I had my first and only JJ about 4 months ago. I had remembered reading on another thread how the sandwiches had no taste. I didn't quite believe there would be zero taste. Until I tried it and there was indeed no taste.

Yesterday, I had a quick sandwich at PotBelly with my friend whom I had visited JJ. It's been months and we are still picking over the bones of that experience. It was suggested the fillings to bread ratio to Pot Belly was inverse to what we observed at JJ. If you want all bread sandwich, then JJ seems to be your destination.

Of course, if we just travel up to Highwood to the Italian deli's which make your sandwich fresh to your specification, it blows both away in taste as well as cost. It does require more thought, like you have decided on the meats rather than a predetermined combo.

This all leads back to GAry's often said "There are reasons why there are 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins."

Regards,

HAmmond wrote:Jimmy John's, my first in about four years: it was a abysmal, but we were hungry, and it was there

I had my first and only JJ about 4 months ago. I had remembered reading on another thread how the sandwiches had no taste. I didn't quite believe there would be zero taste. Until I tried it and there was indeed no taste.

How about quantity and familiarity, though? For exa,ple, the sandwiches
listed by the OP - it was comparing a sandwich for 5.xx to a "half sandwich"
at 5.xx. That is a difference in quantity, surely? I dont want just a half-sandwich
for lunch, thanks very much And if the full sandwich is 10 bucks, I
probably dont want it with regularity either.

Secondly, Iam no fan of JJ's - but it is a big college thing. People grow up
eating it incollege, and that surely adds to their enjoymetn of it later in
life. Memories play a part in food after all. Heck, I still like the "Sweet
corn chicken soup" at Chopal, which everyone here thinks completely
stinks I even went there with an uncle, he had it, and said "this is
pretty bad". But not to me it isnt - its a poor rendition of sweet corn
chicken soup, but I ate sweet corn chicken soup of that style
growing up, have great memories of it, and thats the only sweet corn
chicken soup I get to eat at restaurants in Chicago, so I think its pretty
damn ok, thank you

Memories, familiarity and ambience can add to things. Most people
here love Superdawg - Ive tried it more than a few times now, I
thnk for 6 bucks their burger and fries are pretty damn ordinary, can
get better in many places even in the burbs (even if they dont have
cute names like whoopercheesie But Iam sure the ambience, and
the fact that its an old-fashioned drive-in, add to the enjoyment of
many.

Of course, if we just travel up to Highwood to the Italian deli's which make your sandwich fresh to your specification, it blows both away in taste as well as cost. It does require more thought, like you have decided on the meats rather than a predetermined combo.

Yeah, but who wants to go to Highwood to have a sandwich? Actually,
I like Bari a fair bit, I love Da Riv. But Da Riv is bloody inconvenient, its
not near any highway really, you have to drive thru small streets and
fight traffic to get there. Its great for once in a while, but unless you
were lucky enough to be right next to it, you couldnt go there very often.

Was at Paradise Pup a couple weeks ago, on a Saturday - great burger
and fries as usual. But their hours are horribly bad - close by 5pm
every day, closed on Sundays! The only day possible is Saturday -
and that day there was a good 20 mins plus wait to order a burger.
Got chatting with the guy next to me, who had been there before and
really enjoyed their burgers - he said it was the last time he'd be
there, because there was no burger he'd wait a half hour for. This
isnt an uncommon idea - it was a fine burger and fries, but Iam in
no hurry to wait a half hour for my next one either (though I will
definitely be back sometime, when I can).

This all leads back to GAry's often said "There are reasons why there are 31 flavors at Baskin-Robbins."

So they can boast "we got 31 flavours, you dont, na na na"?

c8w


Regards,

Oh man, the sweet corn chicken soup at chopal really is awful.

Caveat: I don't eat at any franchised sub place unless required by my employer.

I've been doing a little research lately on the sandwich category - a category that straddles QSR (quick serve restaurants - McDonalds and its ilk) and Fast Casual (sometimes Panera is thrown in here as long as you call it "fast casual specialty sandwich", along with Corner Bakery etc). In doing a little reading on Quizno's, the fastest growing chain in specialty sandwich (they have been adding increasing numbers of stores by 40% per year), I found out that Quizno's franchisees hate the parent company and urge potential franchisees to open up Jimmy John's instead (which has been growing somewhere around 9% per year in store units and in 2004 had 285 units). They say that Jimmy John's treats its franchisees in a more humane manner, eg not allowing other franchisees to open up stores that could potentially cannibalize sales. Subway still has more units than the two stores combined (around 16,500 in 2004 in the US alone). Compare those numbers to Potbelly: 69 stores, up over 45% in 2004.

Looking at that Jimmy John's sandwich it is obvious that it is a very profitable product - can't imagine the food cost even approaching 30%. Maybe 15-20%? The "bread sandwich" as Cathy2 called it is pretty cheap to produce. So a franchisee could turn a profit pretty quickly if their AUV (annual unit volume) for sandwiches meets some fairly low hurdles. Contrast that with...hmmm...a store that sells real sandwiches for reasonable prices. They would have to sell quite a few more sandwiches to make the same money that a Jimmy John's franchisee would make on a single unit. The assumption is of course that Jimmy John's continues to have customers.

Which may explain some of the JJ mushrooming - potential franchisees see more potential for profitability in owning a store that doesn't directly compete with its sibling across the street and has potential for growth. A single franchisee could own multiple untils of a store and is more likely to be able to do so in a less saturated city.

But I still don't get it. It seems awfully expensive for a bad sandwich. Can someone help me understand consumer behavior? What would motivate someone to buy a sandwich there when there are so many better alternatives within a few blocks? Is nostalgia alone enough of a draw?

c8w wrote:Memories, familiarity and ambience can add to things. Most people
here love Superdawg - Ive tried it more than a few times now, I
thnk for 6 bucks their burger and fries are pretty damn ordinary, can
get better in many places even in the burbs (even if they dont have
cute names like whoopercheesie But Iam sure the ambience, and
the fact that its an old-fashioned drive-in, add to the enjoyment of
many.

Or you can just be wrong...

c8w wrote:How about quantity and familiarity, though? For exa,ple, the sandwiches listed by the OP - it was comparing a sandwich for 5.xx to a "half sandwich" at 5.xx. That is a difference in quantity, surely? I dont want just a half-sandwich for lunch, thanks very much And if the full sandwich is 10 bucks, I probably dont want it with regularity either.

Yes, but based on the photo comparison, the F&O half sandwich was as substantial as the JJ whole sandwich, and not mostly bread, either.

I concur that clean and safe are attributes a lot of people look for in restaurants, but I'd much rather eat at McDonald's than Jimmy John's. I used to get sandwiches at Kmart that were better than JJ's. I have eaten at most of the sandwich chains, and all of the others are far better than JJ. You might as well go to Walgreens for a bag of cotton balls.

It just makes me think that there must be even more people than I'd realized who really don't care what they eat.

c8w,

My we were cranky earlier today.

c8w wrote:Yeah, but who wants to go to Highwood to have a sandwich? Actually, I like Bari a fair bit, I love Da Riv. But Da Riv is bloody inconvenient, its not near any highway really, you have to drive thru small streets and fight traffic to get there. Its great for once in a while, but unless you were lucky enough to be right next to it, you couldnt go there very often.

Everything is relative. If you will note, I live in Highland Park, which wraps around Highwood and very convenient to my home. Whereas Da Riv and Bari are maybe 30 miles. I can go as often as I like to Highwood, while I have been once to Da Riv and never to Bari. I'm just thrilled I can get close to same near my home. Plus my local vendors have been very sweet in making me Will Specials.

Being away from the city center, JJ and Pot Belly sandwiches cost roughly the same at $3.50 each. Bacio's in Highwood has a signature submarine around $3.25, while my Will Specials have ranged from $4.75 to $5.50 for no apparent reason. This variation in price is something Will experiences at Da Riv, also.

Please note the board is Eating Out in Chicagoland, which stretches as far north as the Wisconsin border, so I am within range to comment. If you are not interested in going to Highwood, then you may simply ignore my thoughts and move on.

All the best,

Looking at that Jimmy John's sandwich it is obvious that it is a very profitable product - can't imagine the food cost even approaching 30%. Maybe 15-20%? The "bread sandwich" as Cathy2 called it is pretty cheap to produce.

Which is also the reason for the explosion of bagel chains about 6-8 years back-- a smaller, breadier sandwich for a dollar more! Happily, no one was fooled, and Bruegger's sprouted and died off like dandelions.

That said, I dunno, Jimmy John's doesn't seem that bad to me. I had to eat at Quizno's a few times in the spring because my kids were going to a gym class near one and the other moms took their kids there afterwards; I never found anything that I didn't find fairly repellent, tarted up with too much sugar in whatever gloppy sauce was all over it. At least at Jimmy John's I can have a tolerable ham and cheese sandwich of no distinction whatsoever, but I guess I can see where LAZ's cotton ball comment is coming from even if I don't agree with it.

I think the last time I ate at Subway was on Grand Cayman in 1991. (Curiously, Grand Cayman had every American chain-- EXCEPT McDonald's. Wonder who they ticked off.) On the other hand, I actually don't mind Panera. The meat, at least, seems fresher (there's a real embalmed quality to the beef especially at a lot of these places that puts me off). Also, I hear you can go in and ask for the salami sandwich they used to make and they'll still make it. I read that on the internet, IIRC.

c8w,

My we were cranky earlier today.

Sorry, it wasnt intended that way at all! Actually it was intended as a lame-ish
joke - thats why I had a smiley attached after the first sentence. Obviously
a very poor attempt, for which I apologize.

c8w wrote:Yeah, but who wants to go to Highwood to have a sandwich? Actually, I like Bari a fair bit, I love Da Riv. But Da Riv is bloody inconvenient, its not near any highway really, you have to drive thru small streets and fight traffic to get there. Its great for once in a while, but unless you were lucky enough to be right next to it, you couldnt go there very often.

Everything is relative. If you will note, I live in Highland Park, which wraps around Highwood and very convenient to my home. Whereas Da Riv and Bari are maybe 30 miles. I can go as often as I like to Highwood, while I have been once to Da Riv and never to Bari. I'm just thrilled I can get close to same near my home. Plus my local

Actually, in my poor attempt above, this was sort of the point I was trying
to make - the convenience factor as one of the major reasons JJ does
well. The Highwood-reference was a poor joke attempt - but it was an
attempt to point out, if one isnt near Highwood, who would be able to go that
far for lunch, for example? Thats the same point I was attempting to make in
re Bari and Da Riv - I like Da Riv maybe more, but have been only 2 or 3 times
due to extreme inconvenience (for me only, I hasten to add). Bari, I can
see some more possible convenience, since I once mapped it and think
it was only a couple miles off the 90/94. But convenience surely always
plays a big role in these matters (well, except for us nutcases - Iam in Racine
Wisconsin, and I think it worthwhile to drive to Kopps for icecream, a good
60-mile round-trip, wasnt even a debate in my mind. It was only while talking
to a friend later that evening that I realized it wasnt something people
ordinarily do - realized it mostly because of his telling me I was crazy

Being away from the city center, JJ and Pot Belly sandwiches cost roughly the same at $3.50 each. Bacio's in Highwood has a signature submarine around $3.25, while my Will Specials have ranged from $4.75 to $5.50 for no apparent reason. This variation in price is something Will experiences at Da Riv, also.

Same here BTW - Da Riv has varied from about 3.50 to 4.00 for me in my few
visits. For a very big and good sandwich, well worth it. Would that it were
closer

Please note the board is Eating Out in Chicagoland, which stretches as far north as the Wisconsin border, so I am within range to comment. If you are not interested in going to Highwood, then you may simply ignore my thoughts and move on.

All the best,

Geez C2, not at all - I actually remember your Bacio post very well, for the simple
reason that I noted it as a spot to try when Iam in the area. Heck, I even
wondered for a bit if it was worth going there instead of Da Riv the next
time - but decided it may not be much closer after all (I even mapquested
it, I believe, before deciding the distance wasnt much better). I read your far-North
posts with more interest than anyone, because theyre much more convenient
than far-South posts to me (this is why I had originally ignored the "fish tacos
down south" posts until it was specifically pointed out to me in an email by
Saze - for which he deserves much blame, since Ive now been 5 times in
4 weeks It was your "Captain Porky" post that inspired me to make my
first-ever trip to Zion for instance - a spot Ive returned to several times since.
Your recent Grampy Custard post has been added to my personal list too, if I ever
manage to be in the area.

Your "north burbs" posts are much appreciated in this quarter, even if the poor
joke attempt above may have erroneously given the wrong impression. Heck,
I may be in the Techny Road (Northbrook) area next week, and was about
to do a C2+Northbrook search before I found this post to respond to Was
wondering if Beinlich's would be close, and recalled you had posted on it in
the past. Anyway - aplogies for giving you the diametrically opposite
impression!

c8w

c8w wrote: Thats the same point I was attempting to make in re Bari and Da Riv - I like Da Riv maybe more, but have been only 2 or 3 times due to extreme inconvenience (for me only, I hasten to add). Bari, I can see some more possible convenience, since I once mapped it and think it was only a couple miles off the 90/94.

Riviera is in a relatively inconvenient spot for many of us, since it is roughly equally far from the Kennedy and the Eisenhower. Bari is actually just a stone's throw from the Kennedy -- at least as the crow flies, to mix metaphors -- and in fact it's quite close to the Ogden on and off ramps.

Given the expense of Jimmy Johns, for those in the Loop, I would consider L'Appetito. Much better quality and, while it's expensive in comparison with some places, it's not all that much more than JJ's, in light of what Aaron posted above.

Antonius

c8w wrote:How about quantity and familiarity, though? For exa,ple, the sandwiches listed by the OP - it was comparing a sandwich for 5.xx to a "half sandwich" at 5.xx. That is a difference in quantity, surely? I dont want just a half-sandwich for lunch, thanks very much And if the full sandwich is 10 bucks, I probably dont want it with regularity either.

Yes, but based on the photo comparison, the F&O half sandwich was as substantial as the JJ whole sandwich, and not mostly bread, either.

Note again, BTW, I really have no axe to grind here - I havent eaten JJ in years
(since college maybe), and never had F&O at all I dont think.

However... if the F&O "half sandwich" is really as substantial as JJ's full
sandwich in terms of just size, it is probably a really bad piece of marketing.
I mean, if I walk into F&O for lunch, I wouldnt know how big their half-sandwich
was - and I never order half-sandwiches for lunch myself (thats a girly-man
order, as my pal Ahnald would say Heck, even Subway (a place I disliked
even in college) doesnt call em half-subs - they call them 6 inches or footlongs,
no? And 6-inches is often plenty big enough for most appetites (no, I didnt
mean it like *that*!)

If the F&O half-sandwich is as big as the JJ normal sub.. they oughta rename
it the "sandwich" instead, and call their normal sandwich the "double
sandwich" Seriously, theyd probably do better!

I concur that clean and safe are attributes a lot of people look for in restaurants, but I'd much rather eat at McDonald's than Jimmy John's. I used to get sandwiches at Kmart that were better than JJ's. I have eaten at most of the sandwich chains, and all of the others are far better than JJ. You might as well go to Walgreens for a bag of cotton balls.

It just makes me think that there must be even more people than I'd realized who really don't care what they eat.

I travel sometimes over summer with groups of people - on the way to Milwaukee,
or on the way to Indiana - and most will almost always eat at McDonalds or BK.
Or Subway (the preference for vegetarians). They dont want to try any other
places - these are safe, clean, familiar, and thats all that they want on the
way to someplace. Heck, Ive even had a job convincing people to stop at
Culver's in Wisconsin - they werent NWest-burb-ites and had never seen
one, and didnt believe it would be as good as a BK! Of course, once they
ate there, they were easily convinced - but there was a good deal of
reluctance to overcome before theyd even try as big a chain as Culvers!
(I have now taken to exaggerations spoken with authority to get my point
across - on the last trip to Milwaukee, when we were a mile away from
Kopp's, I told everyone "*The* best ice-cream stand *in the world* is a
mile away". So everyone paid attention and stopped in - and they pretty
much loved it, too. But their original plan had been to stop at a McD as
well, before my exaggeration got their attention - and thank God it did,
I dont think my heart could survive being a mile from Kopps and not
stopping in, it would probably break into a million pieces

c8w

P.S. Have been to West Lafayette 4 times this summer, and have so far
always failed to convince people to stop in at the famous XXX - I wish
these great places would choose better names for themselves, I really
think the name in this case has hurt my arguments (thus resulting in
4 stops at that friendly old Scottish spot MacDonald's instead).

I'm certainly not prepared to defend Jimmy John's either, and the following positive comment may actually serve as the ultimate indictment of their sandwiches. On occasion, and only during Lent, I have had the vegetarian sub and I find it to be more flavorful than any of their meat-based sandwiches. The provolone that forms the basis of it just seems to fill the mouth more satisfyingly than the wan cuts of meat in their other sandwiches. The extra bread in this case helps to compensate for the lack of more substantial fillings. Unfortunately, I detest pepper and egg sandwiches, so my Lenten sandwich options are few. This one satisfies the sandwich jones adequately for me. In addition, the Chicago Avenue location I frequent is close to Holy Name Cathedral. Proximity to potential salvation is always a good thing when eating at a fast food chain.

David Hammond wrote:doesn't it seem like "convenience" must be the main reason people order from JJ rather than a good place?

The two sandwiches were purchased a little more than a very short city block apart. The waits were comparable, though sometimes you must wait for a table at Fox & Obel at lunch, should you choose to eat in. They are, however, expanding the cafe area.

c8w wrote:How about quantity and familiarity, though?

c8w wrote:However... if the F&O "half sandwich" is really as substantial as JJ's full sandwich in terms of just size, it is probably a really bad piece of marketing.

I can't speak to how much of Jimmy John's success is bred by the familiarity of recent college graduates working near this Streeterville location.

While the Jimmy John's sandwich may have had somewhat greater mass, the Fox & Obel offering was far more satisfying. Admittedly, I typically eat a light lunch. The Fox & Obel "1/2 sandwich" is not marketed, or even on the menu, probably because it is of such quality and at such a reasonable price, that it would be less profitable for them to offer explicitly.

I should note, that the meal at Fox & Obel (including chips and pickle) is a package deal, while the Jimmy John's meal was a la carte. On that note, I might also very highly recommend the Fox & Obel chocolate chip cookie, which is perhaps the best commercial chocolate chip cookie I have ever eaten, and even at a hefty $1.98 for the larger version I find to be a very reasonable deal.

Antonius wrote:I would consider L'Appetito. Much better quality and, while it's expensive in comparison with some places, it's not all that much more than JJ's, in light of what Aaron posted above.

Another very good option, though, sadly, even the extra 8-10 blocks can be prohibitively far at lunch time. I have been considerably less enamored of the other neighborhood Italian deli and takeout spot, Tutto Pronto.

Just after WWII (the big one), my Aunt Rosette married an American GI from Lima, Ohio. So along with my aunt, my mother, my grandmother (Memee), and my uncle Ray made the transatlantic voyage from Tunisia.

Ray always claimed that as nice as the people were from Lima on their arrival and stay, living amongst their spongy white bread was an impossibility. Knowing not a soul, he decided to move to Chicago, thinking that his chances of getting decent daily bread would be better near a major city. Bread was obviously a very important part of life for my uncle.

After Trixie and I did a short stint in Vermont, we knew that living near a great baker would be an amenity we could not live without. As far as I was concerned, nobody remotely approached the bread making mastery that exists at Fox & Obel. So, we settled in Streeterville. The apple doesn't always fall...

I guess my point is that this discussion, to me, is largely based around an individual's perspective on the importance of bread. I'm not insinuating that the other components of a sandwich are inconsequential but this type of discussion always seems to come down to well-structured bread.

There's an old (bigoted) adage that seems apropos here: The French live to eat, the English eat to live. Now, I'm not too keen on discussing the obvious prejudice of this idiotic form of nationalism but I do believe that some people are like cars where you fill them up when needed (preferable 87 octane) and then there others where the aesthetic in dining is truly their religion.

Thanks, uncle Ray.

PIGMON wrote:I do believe that some people are like cars where you fill them up when needed (preferable 87 octane) and then there others where the aesthetic in dining is truly their religion.

I agree with you. But I submit that, in the U.S., at least, both groups have historically been minorities and in between there's a majority who like good-tasting food when they can get it at a reasonable cost (in terms of price, health questions, distance, convenience and/or whatever their particular prejudices are). They just aren't willing to go to any trouble to get it nor do they obsess about it.

However, the success of Jimmy John's makes me wonder whether the number of fuelers is growing.

I strongly suspect that much of the mass appeal of places like JJ (or, for that matter, McDonald's) is that for many people, the most important thing in food is predictability. Fast-food places offer a mediocre average quality of food, but with a very small standard deviation; the food is never going to be great, but there's never going to be an "off day" when things are below the usual standard.

Another factor is that the customers at fast-food places and chain restaurants are often groups who have become groups for non-food-related reasons (co-workers, relatives, etc.) and therefore have widely varying tastes. What's great food to some in such a group is likely to be distasteful to others. In such a situation, you really have to go for the lowest common denominator.

It's important to remember that food means a lot of different things to people, and which are considered the most important varies greatly from person to person. We're a self-selected group that has come together because we value certain of those aspects more than others. That's great, but we shouldn't be mystified that other people will make different choices; what matters to us probably doesn't matter much to them, and lots of things that matter to them probably aren't all that important in our scheme. Different strokes for different folks.

Up until about 5 years ago, there was a Taco Bell on Archer in the middle of Brighton Park. At first glance that seems absurd; Brighton Park is almost completely Mexican and there's an authentic taqueria at least every other block. But Archer is a major street and the majority of the traffic is just passing through. The Taco Bell was presumably getting its business from people who were on their way to somewhere else and just wanted a known quantity; they weren't interested in stopping to explore the neighborhood's offerings.

ebohlman wrote:I strongly suspect that much of the mass appeal of places like JJ (or, for that matter, McDonald's) is that for many people, the most important thing in food is predictability. Fast-food places offer a mediocre average quality of food, but with a very small standard deviation; the food is never going to be great, but there's never going to be an "off day" when things are below the usual standard.

I agree with your points in re McDonald's, but when it comes to JJ, which is beyond bland, I can only shake my head in bewilderment. It's one thing to be mediocre. This is taste-free.

ebohlman wrote:

there's never going to be an "off day" when things are below the usual standard.

I submit to you the Hyde Park McDonalds, in both its incarnations (53rd/Kenwood and 52nd/Lake Park) which seems to be having a permanent off day.

However, the Potbelly outlet in my neighborhood isn't terrible, and gets an inordinate amount of my business due to being the closest restaurant to my house (less than one block away) and having ingredients that actually taste like the things they're supposed to be. Would I prefer a Bahn Mi Vinh Phat, a Johnnies, or a Hot Doug's to satisfy my sandwich cravings? Absolutely. But as busy as I am I have to make a lot of eating decisions on sheer convenience these days, and Potbelly's is the least offensive.

And one mustn't forget those chains that are doing business solely based on the fact that people get almost primal urges for their food, like "these couldn't possibly be good in any objective sense" White Castle. And let's not forget the enjoyment derived from eating their food after partaking in various substances...