Jamba Juice vs. Potbelly: A Battle For Steel Cut Oat Supremacy
It’s not all that uncommon that I run out the door without something to eat in the morning so I was pretty excited to see that Potbelly in Rock Center is now serving breakfast. And even more excited to see that they had steel cut oats. I’m a big steel cut oatmeal fan and I usually splurge for the oatmeal at Jamba Juice, so I had to see how Potbelly stacked up.
Let’s just say it was a big disappointment. I’m guessing that someone at Potbelly must have misread the recipe because instead of a pinch of salt these oats were crazy salty. How salty? Let’s just say I’ve had cheap ramen with less sodium. If I had tasted this on the premise I would have demanded a refund on the spot, but I was already back at my desk and soon too wrapped up in work to return my oatmeal. Aside from the saltiness issue, I found that the Potbelly oats were just generally overcooked and lacked the toothsomeness that I’ve come to expect from steel cut oats.
While I’m not the biggest Jamba Juice fan, I do think if you like steel cut oats they do a great job. The oatmeal is available all day (a plus for if you’re looking for a cheap afternoon snack or if you’re like me and enjoy breakfast for lunch) and the staff at the Rock Center does a good job cooking it so that it’s never been gloppy, runny or dry in my experience (and the oatmeal texture doesn’t seem to vary as much based on time of day at the Rock Center branch). And it’s never ever tasted like a salt lick.
Has anyone else tried the oatmeal at Potbelly? Was my experience isolated? Should I give them another shot?
Posted by Brownie at 8:30 am, November 23rd, 2011 under Breakfast, jamba juice, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Uncategorized.
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Since there are a ton of them in Midtown, Pret is serving steel cut oatmeal now as well. It’s more along the lines of the Jamba variety.