Bruegger's is Alive and Well!

YumYum

In high school, I was obsessed with Bruegger's. The coffee. The bagels. The bagel sandwiches. Lunch hour was spent at Bruegger's. I even toted a coffee mug bearing its logo. It was that delicious.

Pretty soon after graduation or even slightly before, they closed Bruegger's. I was devastated. Open lunch didn't mean anything anymore; it was better to take a nap. Runs between the high schools lost their allure. If I had to go to South, the reward for freezing my butt off for three hours was a stop at Bruegger's afterwards, now gone forever. There were wannabe substitutions, of course: Panera, Great Harvest, Big Apple, Einstein. None of them came close. I've gone all over to try to find a replacement; so far it hasn't happened. I settled for a different kind of dish entirely...Chipotle.

But I've just recently discovered that Bruegger's isn't dead after all...it's just not in Illinois anymore. I can get Bruegger's in Wisconsin! And in Iowa! Yum. Smoked salmon on a cinnamon sugar bagel, here I come.

Potbelly Sandwich Works...Works for Me

The best thing in America other than shopping, credit cards, and sliced bread...is a good sandwich.

Jimmy John's is my favorite. Chipotle, if you could call it a sandwich place, is pretty high on my list too.

There was an article in the Chicago Tribune today about the growth of Potbelly Sandwich Works. It's a sandwich shop based in Chicago with 78 stores in 8 states. In the nine years that the corporation has been in business, this year they are expected to gross $100 million in sales. Not bad for 78 stores selling sandwiches for about $4.

It's a pretty good sandwich shop, I must admit. Tasty, albeit the sandwich is a bit small. It always leaves room for more, unlike Jimmy John's or better yet, Chipotle.

The most interesting notion in the article is the "networking" that Potbelly is doing with Starbucks. Starbucks is serving as this "mentor" to Potbelly. The CEO of Starbucks firmly believes that Potbelly has the potential to go nationwide. Lots of factors involved from the service-oriented aspect to the generous health benefits they offer to employees to the diverse and different choices of sandwiches they offer. Not to mention the strikingly unique theme they use as their brand.

Hm. A Potbelly around every corner. Could be an interesting prospect. What's more interesting...in Rockford, the Potbelly place is right next to Starbucks already. What a coincidence.