Delicious Potbelly's, I mean, Pickleman's
July 18, 2008 at 9:29 a.m.
Two years ago my friend introduced me to Pickleman’s. We were back in Columbia after our respective summers at home. She boasted that they had chewy, toasty sandwiches and I was salivating before we got there. I walked up to the large menu board and had a déjà vu moment. I thought I was back in Illinois at Potbelly’s. Except I wasn’t.
Potbelly’s is a sandwich chain that is spreading throughout the Midwest. Like Pickleman’s it serves toasted sandwiches on white or wheat rolls. The sandwiches at Potbelly’s are more basic though. They have meat, cheese, mustard or mayo and the typical sandwich veggies such as tomatoes, lettuce, onions and peppers. They tend to pack on the meat, rather than add fancy sauces or variations.
Pickleman’s operates the same way. The beauty is the simplicity. You order your sandwich at one end of the counter and scoot down as the toasted creation emerges minutes later. You then ask for your personalized additions. I ordered the BBQ chicken and added lettuce and tomato. The chicken wasn’t the frightening processed kind that many sandwich places carry and the provolone cheese was gooey and delicious.
Like Potbelly’s you can order the same classy, bottled sodas from the cooler next to sandwich line and choose from a variety of chips that lay spread out in a shadowbox-like shelving. During my time in Columbia, I’ve gone through sandwich shop phases with W.G. Grinders, Sub Shop and Jimmy Johns. Now that Pickleman’s has their downtown location, there’s yet another option for sandwich eating.
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