Pros
The sandwiches are good. The customers are decent. And walking away was the only “bonus” I ever actually received.
Cons
In my personal experience, Potbelly is less a workplace and more a long-running reality show where the drama is stale but aggressively served. As a GM, I expected leadership, teamwork, and support. What I got instead was a Training GM who, in my view, seemed more focused on rumor creation than actual training. Throughout my time there, I often felt undermined, bullied, and targeted with accusations that had no basis in my reality. When I reported what I was experiencing to HR, my expectation was that concerns would be taken seriously. Instead, the response I received made me feel dismissed and discredited. It became clear to me that certain individuals were untouchable due to their longevity with the company, regardless of their behavior, that the easiest solution was to doubt the person reporting, not address the conduct. And then there’s the bonus structure, which is advertised like a golden opportunity but (in my experience and from what I saw with other GMs) is basically a mirage. Between lack of support from the District Manager, minimal visibility from the Regional, and constantly being set up to fail, most GMs I knew never saw a single cent of a bonus. The only thing “incentivized” was burnout. It’s difficult to hit targets when the people responsible for supporting you are noticeably absent. The culture itself was equally educational. I personally faced ongoing bullying, rumor-spreading, and character attacks from a long-tenured Training GM who seemed far more invested in destroying my credibility than helping me succeed. When I reported the harassment, HR’s response made me feel brushed off and dismissed rather than heard or supported. HR assured me they would “follow up in a few days.” What I received instead was complete radio silence, which, to be fair, was at least consistent with the rest of my experience. Upon my resignation, that training GM celebrated in a text to an hourly employee. I sent it to leadership. HR responded with impressive consistency: they didn’t. Regional, however, was deeply invested—in discovering who dared show me the message, not in addressing the behavior itself, the behavior itself registered as a distant secondary concern, interesting choice of priority. In short: I expected leadership. What I got was a case study in what happens when accountability becomes optional and tenure replaces talent and the people meant to guide the ship are more concerned with optics than ethics.