So a coyote walks into a Quiznos . . .

Sounds like the start of a joke

It's not -- although dozens of downtown folks got a good laugh out of it Tuesday.

A male coyote really did wander into the Quiznos sandwich shop at Wabash and Adams -- in the Loop! -- just before 2 p.m. Tuesday. Workers had propped open the front door for the warm afternoon, and in sauntered the roughly 30-pound, 18-month-old wild animal.

"He probably smelled our prime rib," observed Bina Patel, 23, the shop's manager.

The coyote tried to nose his way past a small, swinging door that leads behind the counter, but worker Raymundo Zavala, 21, held his leg against the door.

Fellow worker Ronneshia Mukes, 19, screamed at the unwelcome guest and climbed onto the counter. The coyote then tried to jump over the counter, but he didn't make it.

The coyote found a seat on top of a stack of Diet Pepsi in an open cooler and settled in until an Animal Control worker arrived about 45 minutes later and safely removed him.

No one was hurt, although the coyote appeared to be bleeding slightly when he first walked in, workers said.