The Panini Republic

I could go on and on about how amazing Panini Republic is… so I will.
I was excited to give it a try as I love Panini’s and they are located at a cute, clean location in Lincoln Park. The store was honestly spotless. I was greeted by the owner and quite possibly one of the friendliest people I’ve met in my life.
He walked me through the menu and also mentioned that you can make your own panini’s. I was already sold on the Bacon Bacon, but literally all of them sounded amazing. He put my sandwich together and explained that everything is fresh and everything not used from the day before is not used. Seriously so awesome of them to do.
The best part is, you can honestly taste how fresh it is. Everything from the bread to the vegetables to the meat. It’s all so fresh and SO delicious. I’ve never had a sandwich this fresh and this tasty made by someone so friendly. I was honestly in awe. I will be coming back here frequently and bringing my friends as well!
Lastly, I’m beyond impressed with the prices. Their food is so good and so fresh they could totally charge way more than they are. I was full for hours and all for $ 10.50. A total steal!
TIP: All of their sauces are HOMEMADE and so, SO good. Their Republic Sauce (off-​menu) is a mixture of three different sauces and is honestly so out of this world I was even dipping my chips in it!

I don’t know what I can say that hasn’t been said about this place but it definitely is fantastic! The ingredients were fresh and flavorful to make this one of the better sandwich shops around. It fits in nicely in lakeview east and I hope they open more places in the city.

Solid fast-​casual place serving fresh panini’s, soups, salads, and smoothies just steps away from Lincoln Park! I recommend stopping here and grabbing a panini to-​go on your way to the park. Try the Little Italy on a pretzel bun– yum!

OMG, chicago fire was so good!!!
I was never a big fan of sanwich, maybe because i am Asian and my stomach can’t handle bread well and usually i think sandwich is just meat and vege in between 2 pieces of dry bread! I went there with my hubby because he was craving something like that, so to act as a good wife i followed him. I have to say, this sandwich completely changed my view of Sandwich, it was so good, so tasty and everything was so fresh!!!
Highly commandeered!

Overall: Good pick for a quick an tasty panini that are a good size.
The good: Great tasting paninis, Good sized, and hot and fresh. The brownies and cookies are good too.
The bad: Slow at times, no bathroom (gotta go to the nasty (but awesome bar) galway bay bathroom). Used to be open late night. Cashier wasn’t good.
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁷⁄₁₀
Food: ⁸⁄₁₀

My BF is fairly new to the neighborhood, so we’ve been trying out all sorts of places. We’d passed on this option for awhile until today. What were we waiting for?!? Delicious! I had the veggie on multigrain, he had the Little Italy. Both were fantastic. They had delicious, fresh ingredients in perfect balance, and the sandwiches were huge. The décor is super cute, also. Will definitely be back, beats standard sandwich places easily – no contest whatsoever.

Super fresh veggies and bread. Veggie panini was delicious. The multigrain bread was perfectly toasted yet still soft. My son loved his El Cubano on pretzel bread.

Ok I’m going to cut to the chase. YES you should eat/​order from here. Why?
1) bomb salads and paninis
2) I’ve had three attractive men deliver to me so far
3) they call you right away if something can’t be done with your order (for example I tried to have an ingredient taken out of a pre made smoothie)
4) did I mention they have attractive delivery boys?
5) super friendly, and fast delivery
6) cute boys

I grabbed food from here the other day and loved the Little Italy panini I ordered. The location is kept very clean and it is set up similar to a subway/​chipotle where you can see them make your food in front of you. Personally, I wasn’t too impressed by the lentil soup, but the panini was awesome. The prices are super reasonable and service was friendly.

Great little sandwich place with really fresh ingredients. We got the meat lover sandwiches on pretzel and multi grain breads. The sandwiches take a few minutes to make on the panini press, but they’re worth the wait and pretty cheap. I really liked the chipotle garlic sauce they used. Normally I prefer pretzel, but the multi grain bread was actually a little better.
Make sure to check in for a free bag of chips/​drink!

This place is decent. The employees are very nice, but they are stingy on toppings. The sandwiches are just ok.

Very good sandwich and great guys behind the table. I stopped in just to grab anything and was very impressed with the panini. I went splits with a buddy and had the Ruben and the Chicago fire. Both were great and they give you this sauce on the side. Reminded me of a schawarma place sauce. Get it

I ordered delivery from Panini Republic last weekend, and I was not impressed at all with what I received.
When putting in my online order, I specifically requested pretzel bread for both of the sandwiches on the order. When it came, I was surprised to see that one sandwich had multigrain bread and the other had regular white bread. It was very disappointing considering that one of the main reasons that I ordered from Panini Republic was due to the fact that you can have your sandwich on pretzel bread.
My order also seemed a little light on meat. My sandwich was supposed to have pastrami and roasted chicken on it, but it seemed like I only got maybe a couple of slices of each on the entire 8−9″ hoagie.
Other than that, the taste was good and the price was reasonable, but I don’t think that I’ll be going out of my way to get food from here anytime soon.

If you’re looking for an upgrade from your typical Potbelly’s sandwich, Panini Republic is a great option.
We tried the Chicago Fire on multi-​grain and the Cubano on white bread. Both sandwiches had great flavors and the bread was toasted nicely. The prices are decent too, at around $ 6.50– $ 7 a sandwich.
Pro tip: get a side of the delicious house sauce (which is a mixture of their garlic, chipotle, and harissa sauces), also check in on Unilocal for a free bag o’ chips or fountain drank.

I actually LOVE this place. The food is delicious and my first experience here was amazing.
I am now here for a fourth time and I could not be more disgusted.
–When I was walking in there was a guy outside the door in a panini republic tshirt smoking. Not only was I annoyed that I had to walk in his smoke cloud but I was really upset that my 21 month old niece had to.
–No one else is in the place, he was inside seconds after but an initial greeting like the first time I had would have been nice.
–He continues to walk behind the counter and not even attempt to wash his hands. He did put plastic gloves on, but I had to bite my tongue just to not say anything to him.
–On top of all of that he was rude, I could have done with out the attitude. At the end of everything his was talking about his horrible slammed day… I didn’t need to know about your slammed day, mine was too and I never complain about it to my guests to explain my horrible customer service.
Needless to say I am now very unexcited to eat my panini. Completely opposite from my drive there. I would have given 5 stars had it not been for this experience. I really love their food. I’ll have to update my post if my food ends up tasting like smoke.

Delicious panini, I tried the veggie and it was definitely fresh and tasty. Good service and they do a great job at maintaining clean. Surprisingly they don’t have a bathroom though :(

I am quite shocked by the 5 star reviews after my experience. I ordered delivery which was about 20 minutes late, no big deal. Had a sandwich, sweet potato soup, and ordered some dessert, brownies and some pastry thing. I got a call back from the restaurant shortly after ordering stating that they were out of the pastry and asked if I wanted another brownie or something, I told them no, just take it off the order. Since I ordered online, the order was already paid for so this item was never refunded. I guess I should have taken the offer of
«something else», but I just wanted the money back, too much to ask for unfortunately. Now I didn’t specifically instruct them to make sure they took it off, but that is something that should be done automatically. If you don’t have something, refund the cost, basic business. On to the food.
The sandwich was ok, nothing outstanding, on the light side as far as meat goes, but good flavor. The soup was ok, decent flavor but nothing to write home about. The real kicker was the gas station brownies they put in the bag with my order. Full of preservatives and whatever else comes in those cellophane wrapped abominations that they sell at convenience stores. I was truly appalled by this. I thought, «well maybe they’re just f-​in awesome, I’ll rip it open and give it a try?» I had to spit it out. Disgusting, chemical laden pile made somewhere in New Jersey, shipped «fresh» to your local restaurant and rushed to your table. What kind of locally owned restaurant offers brownies and then sells preserved trash from New Jersey? Unheard of and embarrassing.
So overall, the food was pretty good despite the small portions of meat, but the non-​refunded item that they were out of and the gas station brownies they serve lose 1 – 2 stars in my book. Based on the food, 3 stars, the experience + brownie brings them down to 1.5 to 2 stars total for me. I won’t be back and suggest that you take heed if your sweet tooth starts talking to you and you’re tempted by the thought of a brownie. Don’t do it!

The Panini Republic located @ 500 W Diversey Ave has been open about 1 year. I went there and tried their Smoke salmon panini. They have a choice of 3 breads, pretzel bread regular bread or multi grain. I chose the multi grain bread w/​smoked salmon, red onions, spinach, pesto & garlic sauce on toasted multi grain bread. They toast this to absolute perfection with just the right crunch. It was absolutely fabulous. Based on this one sandwich it’s easy to see why this place has a 5 STAR rating on Unilocal.Their menu has 10 sandwiches & 6 salads.
Their food is reasonably priced. The smoked salmon panini sandwich I ordered was absolutely delicious. It is very small restaurant that is very clean. When I went in around 12:30 it wasn’t very crowded. The owner greeted me and took my order and I grabbed a seat and waited. Every sandwich is made to order on the spot while the customer waits.
I am very happy that I took the chance to check The Panini Republic out. Their reviews on Unilocal are justified. This was probably one of the best sandwiches I ever had. I will absolutely be back again and try some of their other panini’s & maybe a salad.

Listen. This place has an average 5 star Unilocal review. They aren’t using haxx, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Its worth every star and then some.
When you first walk in you’ll notice how clean and organized the restaurant is, how colorful and well laid out the menu and décor are, and how genuine the owner is. He’s right there behind the counter with a smile on his face, asking you how your day is going and offering you suggestions on what to get. His friendly demeanor is infectious. You’ll see all of his fresh ingredients and sauces that when put together, make a killer panini. All for 10 bucks or less.
My wife and I came in and split the Smoked Salmon. Pesto, garlic sauce, onion, tomato, and spinach on pretzel bread. The owner asked if we liked spicy things and we said duhh, so he gave us this ridiculous sauce that was part aoili, chutney, and siracha mayo (maybe?). Whatever it was it was amazing. You can really taste the freshness of the ingredients (smoked salmon was fresh AF) and more importantly, you can taste the care the owner puts in his craft. He really wants you to love your food, and we did.
So listen up business owners. You want to know how to run a successful restaurant? Do what this guy is doing. Come in, see his enthusiasm, sell a great product for a great price, and let the rest take care of itself.

Very excited to have this place near my house. I tried to the Little Italy and it was amazing! One of the best panini’s I’ve ever had! The bread is great, the ingredients are fresh, and the way they grill the panini is quite special.
The staff is very friendly and they seem to be having a good time, which I like to see.
Just like other people have mentioned: GET THE SPICY SAUCE ON THE SIDE! You’ll be happy you did.
I already can’t wait to go back!