BUSINESS REVIEW: Panera Bread, Greenville, SC (Haywood Mall)

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! I had the very best experience today at Panera Bread at Haywood Mall in Greenville, SC. Managers Marc, Susie, and Keith and the rest of the staff made it very hard for any other Panera to impress me more than they did today!! I am officially #TeamStore654

Panera also has this new "Fast Lane" and "Rapid Pick Up" system that makes the experience super convenient and easy! Who doesn't LOVE easy? With the fast lane, you walk in and order from a Kiosk (read: ipad) and everything is right there in words and pictures for you to select. With the "Rapid Pick Up," everyone with a mobile device essentially becomes a cash register. You order through your phone and when you arrive to the store, your order is waiting for you in the "Rapid Pick Up" section. Easy Breezy!

THE GOOD:

~ Free Cookie for using the Kiosk - This might only be for a limited time but every time I used the kiosk today, they gave me a free cookie! No explanation needed why this is Uber Fabulous!! I mean, who doesn't love FREE PANERA COOKIES?

~ The "No No List" - if you ever have some free time while in Panera, have a manager show you the No No List. It lists all of the ingredients that they have eliminated from the items on their menu. While I had never heard of many of the things on the list, the elimination of High Fructose Corn Syrup is HUGE because it is pretty much in everything! But Panera goes back to basics ad uses plain ole sugar for their sweet treats. Gotta Love It!!

~ My food was delicious, The Bathroom were Clean, The Staff was Friendly, and The Service was Fast - These things go without explaining but must be mentioned because they are severely lacking in many of today's establishments. Walking into this place was like walking into my own personal piece of heaven!

~ Everything was easy....... Do It Yourself system, Lots of Tables, Plenty of Space

~ Everything you need within arms reach at the "Pick Up Bar" - Whatever you need is fully stocked at the pick up bar: Napkins, Butter, Water Cups, Paper Bags (in case you change your mind about your Dine-In order), Water Cups, EVERYTHING!! I can appreciate this! I hate nothing more than to be in a restaurant and having to feel like they are too cheap to give me more than 2.5 napkins. Situations like that make me want to scream, "Why are you hording the napkins when I just gave you $15 dollars for a sandwich and chips!!!" Panera is making the competition look bad, LOL

THE BAD:

I only have 2 suggestions for the "Fast Lane" system but after all, today was the very first day of roll out. When I arrived, it appeared to be between breakfast and lunch because there were a ton of breakfast items still available for me to choose from. (I am not sure when the exact change over is). However, I could no longer find the breakfast item on the kiosk because it had already changed over to lunch. But a staff member swiftly came over to the kiosk and processed my order through his register. It was quicker than I could blink so no complaints here. :-)

The second suggestion is that the kiosk warn me when I am about to buy an item that I can get for free. The very first thing the kiosk did was ask me to swipe my "My Panera" card. I proceeded to order a bagel and then I payed for it. Moments later when I went to the register to order something different, the associate informed me that I had a free bagel as a reward on my "My Panera" card. While I'm appreciative for it, I redeemed it but would have probably just gotten 1 if I had known.

THE UGLY:

There is no "Order Everything" button because when you love Panera as much as I do you just want to ORDER EVERYTHING! LOL