Since I just saw a post on this and since I work in food service now:
Guys, being a regular and ordering the same thing every time you come in is absolutely fine.
Literally no one is going to be side-eyeing you. The fact of the matter is we have other stuff going on.
That’s not a put-down or anything. I try to make sure all the customers who interact with me feel like they’re our most important customer. However, we are busy and often people just sort of slip by unnoticed.
When I do think about regulars that come into the store, it’s not usually: “Oh my God, I can’t believe they come to Panera every day. Yikes, so cringe.” It’s usually: “I wonder how John is doing. I hope his coffee was alright. I had to get it in a bit of a rush today because of all the to-go orders.”
And I really want to scream this from the rooftops because I had a guy just a couple of weeks ago say how embarrassed he felt for always ordering the same thing. That he felt ashamed of being so predictable. Meanwhile, I’m just glad he didn’t order something we don’t have (looking at you Panera wraps) and that he’s not yelling at me.
You know what’s cringe? Getting snippy with Panera employees because we don’t have the thing you wanted. You know what’s cringe? Complaining about the prices to me when I can’t afford to eat at this restaurant without the associate’s discount. You know what’s cringe? Yelling at Panera employees because you’ve had a bad day and they made the mistake of working in retail.
That’s cringe. Eating the same sandwich every day? Not a problem. If you get noticed for it at all, it will be: “Oh, thank God, I know what to do with this one and have a low probability of getting yelled at.” Most of the time though, it’ll be the barista trying to remember everything you ordered, double checking the receipt to make sure they got it right, and then handing you the order before moving on to the next one. Because, let’s face it, you’re the twenty-sixth person to order a bagel with plain cream cheese this shift and the orders start blurring together after about the fifth one.
