Einstein Bros Bagels

I was on my way to a meeting when my GPS suddenly cut out, leaving me stranded and looking for a way to get my bearings. I looked up and saw a restaurant called Einstein, and even though the line was stretching out the door, I decided to pull over since I had some time to kill. I honestly only intended to grab a plain bagel and a quick cup of coffee, but once I got inside, I realized I was in for something much bigger. The menu was filled with these massive bagel sandwiches that I had never seen anywhere else. I ended up ordering the one with the biggest picture on the board, though I had to ask them to cut it in half because there was no way I could finish it all myself. To my absolute surprise, it turned out to be the best sandwich I have ever eaten in my entire life. It was served perfectly hot and crunchy, delivering everything you see people bragging about on social media, yet I feel like nobody ever mentions this place. If you are looking for a meal that will actually rock your world, you definitely have to try this. I went in looking for a simple snack and walked out having a total culinary experience that I will never forget.

I have used this app every week for over four years and I appreciate the convenience of ordering ahead. I think the main screen it’s very well laid out and easy to navigate where I struggle is when I have to place an order and scroll, for example if you would like to order a single bag with smear the way it is set up, you have to scroll with your finger to the left. This is very challenging, especially if you are on the go and are using only one hand. It would be a lot easier if the scrolling was set up to go up. In addition, the flavors of the bagels are not in alphabetical order. So I have to search through a long list to find the bagel flavor I want. This might seem like a small thing, but it really makes it more difficult to use the app on the phone with one hand and it has become so annoying that I had to come here and leave a review.

There are some cool things on here, but they really missed key opportunities when creating an online ordering + loyalty app. 1. Nowhere can I find my in-progress order - once I place my order, it says “ready in 10-15”, but once I click away from that screen, I can’t go back to any of find my previous orders. There’s a rewards page, which shows how much I paid, but no order details or say if it’s still in progress or ready 2. No “help” or customer service - When I discovered that I couldn’t look at my in progress order, I tried to find somewhere to give feedback, and apparently the App Store is the only place to do that. FAQs only get you so far. Your app/loyalty management service is doing you a disservice (check out Merkle if you need a loyalty revamp). If you just… don’t take feedback, that’s bad for your brand. My order was also incorrect and didn’t realize til I got home. Where do I go for that? Here is the only place, I guess. Not super happy about that. 3. Incomplete menu = money grab - they conveniently don’t have a side (1 or 2oz) size of shmear. If you want any cream cheese on the side, you have to buy a tub for $4+. The image is also misleading where it looks like a side and the description doesn’t call out that it’s a tub until it’s in your cart. Hoping for improvements soon as I generally enjoy this brand, but these things make it really annoying. Keep up with the times.