Why did Panera have to close the Lakewood location instead of this one?!…read more
Well, maybe I should voice my grievance somewhere else instead of here, but with the recent closure of the Lakewood cafe at the end of last month, I might have to make more visits to this cafe at Landmark Square whenever I have rewards to redeem.
Last week, Panera was celebrating National Sandwich Month by offering $2 off a whole sandwich to rewards members. I was originally intent on getting a Bagel Stack, which is their cheapest sandwich at $7.99, but unfortunately, the Bagel Stacks were excluded from this promotion.
Luckily, there was another sandwich that with the $2 off, would be even cheaper: Mediterranean Veggie. Actually, they have the Grilled Cheese Sandwich at the same price, but since I wanted more veggies for lunch, I went with the Mediterranean Veggie.
As with all Panera orders I place online, I recommend adding extra vegetables and sauce to your order since they won't charge you more for doing so; you're allowed up to five. In my case, I requested extras of caramelized onions, arugula, romaine lettuce, and roasted corn to supplement the other vegetables in the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich; I also requested basil pesto spread.
I also had a reward for a free bakery treat, and since Panera allows you to redeem multiple rewards and even a promo code all in the same order, I was able to strike two birds with one stone. Their most expensive bakery treat is the Kitchen Sink Cookie, normally priced at $5.29, so that's what I got.
Knowing that Panera Bread likes to finish online orders well before the scheduled pickup time, I made it a point to actually wait until I parked my car in the parking lot to place my order.
And good thing I did because literally just three minutes later, I got a notification that my order was ready! I was actually on the opposite corner of Landmark Square exploring the other businesses, so I raced back (not via hypotenuse, iykyk) and tried to find my order on the pickup shelves. Actually, I tried to find the pickup shelves, but turns out they kept my order in the kitchen behind the pickup counter, a stark contrast from the Lakewood cafe where they'd leave the bags on the pickup counter for anyone to take.
I asked for a water cup, but they were on the side of the pickup counter where anyone could just grab one. After grabbing a cup and some water, I took my order to a table in the far corner of the cafe.
I was pleased they stuffed my sandwich with virtually all the vegetables in their kitchen, and they also included the signature pickle spear that normally comes with every sandwich. Everything tasted fresh and quite good, though I did find it a little sour for my liking. However, the sticker that kept the wrapping in place around my Mediterranean Veggie sandwich wasn't actually labeled as such, so it's very possible that any two customers who ordered a sandwich could get each other's order.
As for the Kitchen Sink Cookie, it made for a nice treat after a long day of volunteering, but I would not recommend finishing it all in one day unless you're sharing with a friend. That cookie is so thick and inundated with many a sugar that eating it whole at once may give you quite a sugar rush. I had kept the cookie in my car throughout the afternoon, and when I took it out of the bag, it softened up so much that it came close to breaking in half on its own.
I was disappointed they didn't include a sticker to close the bag that held my Kitchen Sink Cookie, but the wrapping around the sandwich was held by a sticker. I simply reused the sticker from the sandwich for the cookie.
With a sandwich, you get a side, which is typically one of French Baguette, Apple, or Chips. If I'm not getting a sandwich or a salad stuffer, the latter of which is a recent addition to Panera's menu, I usually get the French Baguette. Otherwise, I'd get an apple, like in this case.
The $2 off a sandwich reward actually remained on my account after my order, implying that it could have been used more than once that week. The free bakery treat reward did not, understandably.
One thing I do want to mention, if you're driving westbound on South St, make a left on Gridley before turning into Landmark Square because you're not allowed to make a left turn into the entryway by Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ. If you miss the left on Gridley, you may find yourself making multiple left turns since you can't U turn on Studebaker for whatever reason.
Overall, a decent enough lunch that I'll give one additional star to the Cerritos Panera Bread. Also, they recently revamped their rewards program to be on a points system rather than by visit; this eliminates the advantage of getting credit for one visit after making a small purchase, which used to be my strategy to getting rewards while minimizing the amount I spend.