Fish Out of Water

Musings and observations about life from an East Coast native now living on the Left Coast in the California State Capitol since 2004. This fish has made her home in Madison, WI (7 years); Portland, OR (2 years); Las Vegas, NV (7 months); Middlebury, VT (3 summers); Marne-la-Vallee, a small town east of Paris, France (6 months); Middletown, CT (3 years); and Marshfield, MA, the fish's coastal hometown 40 miles south of Boston (17 years).

Name:
Location: Sacramento, California, United States

9.30.2014

Day 185: Panera Rapid Pick-Up

Mr. E and I have been patronizing Panera Bread on a more regular basis for the past year or so, especially once we discovered the very yummy three-seed demi baguette:


Our new Panera habit was also influenced by the timing of the Social Dance class we took through the Learning Exchange last year.  The class was on Monday evenings from 7:15-8pm, and we passed by a Panera Bread on our way home from the dance studio, so Panera was a convenient place to pick up some dinner, especially since we didn't want to spend time making something once we got home.

We have always been quite pleased by the friendly service at Panera and the ease of customizing an order and being willing to swap or omit ingredients without any problem.  This even applies to the smoothies, which I'm able to order with no dairy and with an extra banana instead:


Panera has made some changes in its operations to help decrease the wait time and the "mosh pit" of having folks linger by the order counter waiting to pick up their items. One of the new options for to-go orders is Rapid Pick-Up, which allows you to place an order online, pay for it, and choose the time you'd like to pick it up. Your order is then ready and waiting on a special shelf unit near the counter, so you get to skip the line entirely.

We tried Rapid Pick-Up for the first time this evening, and our order was perfectly made and ready and waiting when I arrived at the store. Sweet! The online system allows you to customize each item just as you would when placing an order in person, which is incredibly useful for Mr. E and me, since both of us tend to need some modifications to the standard menu items.

We'll definitely take advantage of this option again in the future!

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