One day, when the world is ready, I will unveil my Sandwich-Based Theory of Global Economics. Did you know that the rise and decline of George W. Bush’s impact on the international stage perfectly mirrors the explosive growth and rapid deterioration of the Quiznos chain? It’s true! And, as we will demonstrate here, you’ll never find a starker case study of relative consumer advantage and satisfaction in buying locally than sandwich shops.
Consider Seattle’s newest corporate sandwich restaurant, the downtown branch of Potbelly Sandwich Shop. The unfortunately named chain—promotional materials insist the name was inspired by the stoves, “warm little outposts where folks could share a meal and some conversation,” and not the obesity epidemic—is now in 13 states and the District of Columbia, with Washington at the very edge of its western sandwich frontier. And, like every other multi-state chain sandwich shop, the food is roundly terrible.
Five bucks will get you the Pizza Sandwich—pepperoni, meatballs, mushrooms, cheese, and sauce—and the Pizza Sandwich, I suppose, will get you full. But the bread is awful; it’s the same mushed-together wet-
toilet-paper consistency of Subway’s bread. The tomato sauce may as well be pureed canned stewed tomatoes, the mushrooms are slimy flavorless slugs, and the meat is mushy and gray. If you have another five bucks, you can get “A Wreck®”: salami, roast beef, turkey, and ham, along with cheese that claims to be “Swiss.” It is a disgraceful excuse for a sandwich, a heap of factory-tasting meat heated to lukewarm. The decor at the downtown Potbelly Sandwich Shop is dark and forgettable, with a couple inexplicable photos of Jim Morrison adding a touch of dorm room to the seating area. It’s garbage food—empty calories served artlessly for handfuls of change to weary people who will, or at least should, hate themselves later. Midwesterners are supposedly crazy about Potbelly—which, if true, is too depressing to contemplate.
Compare the soul-crushing Potbelly experience to what you get at Chelsea Deli in Columbia City’s beautiful art deco Weed Building (you’ll know you’re looking at the Weed Building when you see the word “Weed” spelled out in ornate font in a crest at the top). Owner Dave Harris created the Other Coast Cafe in Ballard in 2000 and sold it off in 2005, and the Chelsea could be a sister of the Other Coast. It’s entirely pleasant, clean, and simple, rightfully making the full-stocked deli case the star. Also, like the Other Coast, the sandwiches are fantastic.
Rule of thumb: When you eat at a sandwich joint for the first time, always order the sandwich that’s named after the restaurant. Even in a worst-case scenario, if the restaurant is terrible, the sandwich is probably served a lot more than other items on the menu, so the ingredients are turned over quickly and the sandwich will be fresh. The Chelsea ($6.25 for a four-inch sub, $12.25 for an eight-inch) is a best-case scenario. It’s a thick pile of sliced house-roasted turkey on a dense, fresh hoagie roll from Macrina, topped with tomatoes, pepper jack cheese, and onions, then slathered in a spicy chipotle mayonnaise. Served piping hot—all the hot sandwiches come out of the oven at a punishing temperature, so expect your patience to be tested or the roof of your mouth to be badly burned—it’s a meaty, sloppy delight, sweet and spicy in equal proportions. This is a sandwich you name after your restaurant, because nobody else will ever duplicate the balance of ingredients and flavors that make the Chelsea work.
Not every sandwich at Chelsea Deli is a home run. The VegOut ($4.25/$8.25), for example, is just an unexciting side salad (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, peppers, and Thousand Island dressing) topped with coleslaw and shoved on a bun. There’s no center to this sandwich; it’s an aimless, unsatisfying affair. (Vegetarians should note that any meat on the menu can be replaced with Field Roast; that’s the way to go.) And the Banh Mi Thighs ($5.25/$10.25) is very good—the chicken is fresh and juicy and hearty—but there are other very good banh mi options in Columbia City for far cheaper. Chelsea should allow its neighbors their areas of expertise and add something new and unexpected, more deli-like, to the banh mi experience instead.
But most of Chelsea’s work is truly memorable. The Italian Meat Loaf ($6.25/$12.25) is a euphoric sandwich. The base is a monolithic slab of house-baked meat loaf—somehow, this mixture of ground beef and sausage is spongy and dense without being at all greasy—which, when topped with provolone and a tangy marinara, becomes one of those sandwiches you reminisce about after it’s gone. You’ll find yourself thinking, It couldn’t have been that good, could it? It was.
What economic lessons can we learn, then, from the juxtaposition of Potbelly and Chelsea Deli? We learn that a corporate franchise can spend a small fortune advertising its food, but it can’t make the cookie-cutter experience anywhere near delicious. We learn that quality costs a bit more, but only a little bit. For about a dollar extra, a Chelsea sandwich will fill you up better and provide you with the glow of a meal made with real food, full of nutrients and flavor, instead of the desperate scratch-itching filler that Potbelly dishes out. And we learn that money we spend close to home rewards us on a variety of levels, whereas money we spend in corporate outposts gets sucked up into a continent-sized vacuum, empty and cold. 
$12+ dollars for an 8″ turkey sandwich!? Don’t think so. Thanks for the “economic lesson” though. (insert eyeroll)
Yeah… sounds good, but my eyes kept tripping over those ridiculous prices.
the genius in the wreck isnt the meat, its the peppers and seasoning, and if you skipped those, you missed out on all the magic.
i mean, potbelly is just a fancy subway, but it is a damn good sandwich for under $6.
Let me just say: go to Chelsea Deli and instead of being daunted by the prices, get the six inch. These things are thick.
“And, like every other multi-state chain sandwich shop, the food is roundly terrible.”
Jimmy Johns is pretty f’n good
as a southend resident who frequently rolls his eyes at the prices in and around Columbia City, I’ll say this: Chelsea does deliver the goods. get the smaller version of any sandwich; it’s a lot of food.
It’s nice to hear how ignorant those midwesterners are, especially from yet another Seattle transplant. Must be hard to be so smart.
@7…and @8, good grief.
the Chelsea sounds delicious! i know where i’m going for lunch tomorrow.
Agggh! This is the 2nd article on Columbia City. Then Lottie’s got Best Neighborhood Bar in the Weekly. Stay away! We like it here!
I can’t help but notice that this article tries to gloss over Chelsea’s failings and highlight Potbelly’s, all under a vague umbrella of trying to explain why corporate sandwich shops are bad. This is an admirable position to be starting from… except that this article completely ignores all of the things that Potbelly does really well, while also completly failing to point out how they are hurting the economy of the area.
For example: in a city full of crammed eateries at lunch time, they actually staff enough people to get you out of there in under 10 minutes from getting in line to walking out with food in hand. And their blue cheese potato salad is heavenly. And oh yeah, the mushroom melt sandwich, yum…
Jimmy John’s is also a great quick and easy lunch place. Other Coast is awesome, but it takes forever to get your order and is far more expensive: same for Specialty’s, Baguette Box, and Tat’s (although not all of those are “local” either).
I have to say, I ate that messy 8″ meatloaf sandwich after I took it’s picture. It was so filling, I ate it in 3 different sittings… that makes it a $4 sandwich, really…
And it was deeeelicious. Mmmm, garlicky meatloaf
I figure the kid is holding the name sake sammich and deli meat and old road kill are separated buy George Washington!
None the less all I could hear was Hommer Simpson saying Mmmm Sammich! As I read your description.
Who the he’ll is George Bush? Is there a sammich called George Bush?
hello stranger – please PLEASE get a real food writer. i love paul’s book stuff but this is barely a food article nor is a good read. sammiches? must we go back four years and recall what white people like? no.
I know it is fun to bash on anything corporate but this article was ridiculous. I thought The Stranger hated rich elitists more than it liked hipsters in Columbia City? I am sure Chelsea is fantastic but comparing Potbelly to them is like trying to compare Subway to Tat’s or any drive through burger to one from Red Mill. It isn’t the same league as can be seen by the prices. If you are looking for tasty and inexpensive sandwich that buries actual competitors (JJ’s, Subway, or Quizno’s) then get any sandwich from Potbelly with extra peppers.
If you think about it, $12 for a quality sandwich is fair. On Wednesday I ate at the sh*t hole called Panera Bread and had a chicken almond salad sandwich. The chicken was bland and void of flavor. The portion was fit for a small child or skinny girl. For $10 I got some average iced tea, a tiny bag of chips and a shitty sandwich. I was hungry an hour later and had to eat a bunch of pork short ribs at my mom’s house. I will try this place if I’m in the area.
these two sandwich shops shouldn’t be reviewed in the same article. Of course you’re going to think the lower cost one is inferior. Next time maybe a cage match between the Honey Hole and the Other Coast cafe would be good, since their practically next door to each other.
Potbelly – WTF? Likely the same focus group that thought Fatburger is a good name for a restaurant. Why not call it “Wide Ass” or maybe “I Can No Longer See My Penis I’m So Fucking Fat From Eating This Shit Sandwich Emporium”?
Pickles Deli on Whitbey Island is outstanding and worth a trip just to go there. It’s next to the Red Apple Market in a shitty little strip mall just up the street from the ferry terminal. Don’t let the exterior fool you, fantastic, chewy bread and great meat. Not as expensive as this place but then I’m sure their rent is quite a bit less than the Weed Building. Great sandwich and really nice people running the place.
This place is one of my favorites! Trust me, you only want a half-sandwich. The tuna is always my favorite thing to order here, but I’ve heard the french dip is great too.
The Buffalo Deli on 1st Ave. has the best sandwiches in the city – specifically, they have the best BLT I’ve ever had and the Kimmelwick on Rye is amazing. Really, half the menu is unbelievable and their full-sandwiches are HUGE, a half sandwich on a sub roll is sufficient. It’s $5.50 for half and $8 for the full.
The comments about the prices show that you haven’t actually patronized the deli. My hubby, a fireman and huge eater, and his friends go there once a week and two of them SHARE ONE SANDWICH. Sharing a sandwich is undheard of in the Mount Baker Station! As for me, one half sandwich is good for two meals, and a full for three. Also, there are a few half sandwichs for $4.25 and most of the sandwichs are $6-8 range. Not one is over $12, so I’m not sure where you’re getting your info (or eye rolls) from…
Prices are really ridiculous
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Chelsea sucked. Sandwich was overpriced and I could’ve made a better one myself. At home. Without spending $12. Not sure why they charge so much when you can buy the same ingredients and make 4 sandwiches yourself for the same price as one of theirs…