Potbelly to open first Sarasota location

Sandwich shop Potbelly will open its first location in Sarasota this week. The eatery that also sells salads, shakes and cookies is opening May 22 across from Sarasota Memorial Hospital at 1635 S. Tamiami Trail, next to Buffalo Wild Wings in a space that used to house Tijuana Flats.

The new Potbelly will be owned and operated by Randy Pianin, CEO of West Palm Beach-based Royal Restaurant Group, which currently operates five Potbelly shops in central Ohio, according to a statement. It marks the first Potbelly in Florida for the restaurant group, which also runs dozens of Burger King restaurants on the East Coast.

“Having operated multiple Potbelly shops across Central Ohio, we were excited for the opportunity to expand the brand’s presence in Southwest Florida,” Pianin says in a statement. “We believe the new shop on Tamiami Trail will quickly become a cherished mealtime destination.”

The Sarasota Potbelly will be the 14th for the brand in the state. Others in the region are in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Fort Myers.

Potbelly also has more than 80 shops under development agreements statewide, including Tampa, Fort Myers-Naples, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Gainesville, Ocala, Jacksonville and Panama City Beach, according to a statement.

The Sarasota Potbelly will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays. Delivery, order-ahead and catering services will be available.

Potbelly opened its first location in 1977 in Chicago, Illinois, and has grown to more than 425 shops across the United States, including over 80 franchised operations.