Potbelly opens in Friendship Heights

Potbelly has opened at 4459 Willard Avenue in Friendship Heights. This replaces the Chevy Chase location of Panera Bread. Price points are slipping in this area, which has been slammed by the flight of the rich to lower-tax jurisdictions in the region, who take their money with them. Undeterred by the facts on the ground, the Montgomery County Council is poised to again raise taxes in May. I like that you can get milkshakes at Potbelly; more fast-casual and fast food restaurants should add them.

Friendship Heights construction update: Potbelly (Photos)

Things are moving slowly on the interior construction of Potbelly Sandwich Shop at 4459 Willard Avenue in the Village of Friendship Heights. I say this because the sign went up seven or eight weeks ago, and the inside is still not very far along.

Sign installed at Potbelly in Friendship Heights

The sign is up at Potbelly, the sandwich shop opening soon at 4459 Willard Avenue, in the Friendship Heights area of Chevy Chase. Potbelly replaces former tenant Panera Bread.

Potbelly to open in Chevy Chase

JBG Smith has found a restaurant tenant for the former Panera Bread space at 4459 Willard Avenue in Friendship Heights, which has been vacant for about a year and a half. Potbelly Sandwich Shop will open there later this year. This will probably be welcomed by office workers in the area who have missed Panera for lunchtime sandwiches. It's a solidly middle-class entry for an area whose target demographics have trended downward, with the flight of the ultra-rich from Montgomery County to lower-tax jurisdictions in the region.

CHEAP DATE: DINNER AND A MOVIE AT BETHESDA ROW

Potbelly on Elm Street is offering a special deal:  dine at the sandwich shop, and get movie tickets for only $8.  A pretty good deal, given that 3-D tickets are around $14 these days.

Now, guys, speaking as one bachelor to another, this is not a date that will impress the ladies.

But if you are planning a more casual evening, this cheap date will save you about (taking out calculator) $92!

Sure, it's not Coastal Flats, which had a similar offer in Tyson's Corner, but $92 is more than chump change.