Pot Belly Vs Gilpins - who wants evening/weekend business more?

(Warning: you are about to endure a diatribe on Pot Belly Deli's hours in downtown cincinnati)

If you read this blog, it should be pretty apparent that i LOVE my downtown life. However, there is one major sticking point that if you get me (or my boyfriend) started on, we will get very fired up about and it is this: the Pot Belly Deli on Fountain Square has the WORST hours and the BEST location and we can't understand what the franchise owner is thinking! They are open M-Sat for the lunch rush, but for reasons neither of us understands, they close at 7pm nightly and are entirely closed on Sundays. This includes nights where the square is full of people for Salsa Dancing, Movies on the Square or even during Sunday Bengals games during the fall and evening Reds games in the summer. These are times when large groups of people are wandering aimlessly looking for food from a place that doesn't require ordering from a waiter. I dont know who has told them that there would be no evening/Sunday crowd, but they are totally WRONG. Countless times we have tried to go there for dinner, only to find out (usually along with other people trying to go there) that its closed for the night. WTF? You have a graeters next to you! You are in an urban gathering area with heavy foot traffic most nights! Where is the disconnect?!

I get a weekly newsletter from the Downtown Residents Council, and in it this week, they highlighted that Potbelly would be having night hours. I was so happy to see they finally saw reason! Then I read the info more carefully. The owners, in their infinite wisdom, have only chosen to stay open during the WORK WEEK until 9pm. Its a start, but Saturday nights when they have movies on the square, there are hundreds of people there for a several hour time frame! Why wouldn't you stay open Monday thru a Saturday night to see what the feedback was instead of just during the work week?!

I hate giving these people business b/c their business logic mystifies and pisses me off, but if you are on the square and want a deli sandwich, these fools are open. If you'd rather wait a little longer, Gilpins is a good alternative but they open at 8pm. I personally will go to Gilpins over Pot Belly. Info on both is below.

NEW THINGS POPPING UP AT GILPIN'S BAGEL & DELI - NOW Gilpin's Bagel & Deli located at 37 East Seventh Street has made some big changes this summer. In addition to their steamed sandwiches and bagels, you can now buy beer and wine with delivery until 1:00 a.m. on weekends. There is also an outdoor seating area, catering service for anywhere in Cincinnati, lunch time delivery service, Sunday hours from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and every couple weeks they will have DJ's spinning during the night time hours. For more information, check out their new website Click here

POTBELLY ON FOUNTAIN SQUARE EXTENDED HOURS - JULY 27 - 31Potbelly on Fountain Square will be extending their hours for one week only! Enjoy all that Potbelly has to offer starting Monday, July 27 through Friday, July 31 as they will be open until 9:00 p.m. the entire week! For more information call (513) 381-5572.
Here are the hours posted on their website: Open Monday through Friday 7am to 7pm
Saturday 11am to 4pm - Closed Sunday