dining out

12 Ways to Save Money at Panera Bread

August 28, 2020 By Kathryn Vercillo 5 Comments

Panera Bread is a popular fast food establishment enjoyed by many people across the country. With a wide array of soups, salads, sandwiches, and pastries, it’s no wonder they have a large customer base. While it may be a fan favorite, it’s also known for being a little pricey in comparison with some of its competitors. However, Panera Bread offers several ways to save money at their locations. Plus there are some smart dining out tricks that you can implement to save even further. Here are twelve ways to save money at your local Panera Bread:

1. MyPanera Rewards Card

Like many restaurants or businesses, Panera Bread offers a customer loyalty card. It comes with many rewards that you can earn over the course of your visits to their stores. In fact, you get a free item upon registration. For example, in 2020, if you sign up for the card in the summer then you get unlimited free coffee with no fees through September 2020. (You can get any size, any flavor, once up to every two hours during this promotion.) And, of course, registration for the card is free. You don’t have to pay anything to be a member.

Additionally, the card offers various free items throughout the year, as well as for your birthday. It will also occasionally update you about special deals and promotions happening at your local store. This is one of the best ways to stay on top of your options to save money at Panera Bread.

That said, remember that rewards cards are designed to keep your loyalty. They want you coming back again and again. If you go there to get your free birthday reward, but then you buy other things when you weren’t planning to go there in the first place, then you’re spending money, not saving it. So be smart about taking advantage of the Rewards perks without caving to the pressure to buy more.

2. Tip: MyPanera Rewards Card Hack

You can earn more rewards using your Panera rewards card by separately ordering your purchases. The reward card gives rewards depending on the number of purchases you make, but doesn’t void purchases made on the same day.

So, if you buy five breads all at once, that counts as a single purchase toward your next reward. In contrast, if you buy those five breads separately, then you earn five purchases toward the next reward. Therefore, for those who want to earn faster rewards (and the discounts that come with them), splitting the purchases is a good option.

Of course, be respectful of the people who are working at the store and in the line behind you. Try to choose less-busy hours for such purchase.

3. Follow Panera Bread’s Social Media and App

If you’re an avid social media user, you should consider following, or at least routinely checking, Panera Bread’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. Social media sites are a great way to keep up to date on what businesses are doing, especially when it comes to new menu items, special discounts, or promotions that are happening. You never know what new or useful information you may find.

Make sure that you also sign up for the Panera Bread app. This is especially useful if you’ve signed up as a rewards member. It’s the number one place, other than their actual website, to get information about their latest deals, offers, new products, and more.

4. Gift Cards

In 2020, Panera Bread is offering a 20% discount on their gift cards, including eCards. The sale is only through September 7, 2020, but this is a great reminder that gift cards can be a way to save money at restaurants.

For example, another option would be to use your credit card rewards points to purchase Panera Bread gift cards. Then use those cards to treat yourself to Panera. You’re not spending any money since you used points to get those cards.

If you really love Panera, then you could also ask family members to give you gift cards there as presents rather than purchasing something for you that you might not want.

5. Special Deal Days

Panera does have special deal days on certain items. For example, you can currently get 13 bagels for $8.39 every Tuesday. That’s more than four dollars off the usual cost of a baker’s dozen of Panera Bread bagels.

Note that their deals change regularly. Moreover, they can be different from location to location. Ask the cashiers at your local store what the current deals are.

6. Panera Bread: Know The Menu

One of the best ways to save money at Panera is to know the menu. Sometimes the “double” deals they have are actually more expensive than if you had ordered the two items separately (and sometimes the opposite is true as well).

Also make sure that you know what “secret” menu items you can order, since these can be cheaper than the items stated on the menu. When in doubt, just ask the cashier about the secret menu options.

Most importantly, though, it’s good to know the menu because it will help you choose in advance what you want to buy. If you take the time to thoughtfully plan out your meals, then you’ll be better off. You’ll choose the most cost-effective options that are suitable for your diet. This helps you avoid impulse purchases, and therefore helps you save money.

7. Avoid Desserts

Speaking of planning ahead, make sure that you avoid the desserts. (Unless, of course, you’re going there specifically to purchase a dessert.) Most of the time, people buy them because they’re on display and look so tempting. If it wasn’t in your meal plan to begin with then save yourself the time and calories by skipping them.

8. Get Free Water Instead of Buying a Drink

Similar to avoiding desserts, buying a drink is something to be avoided not only because it’s expensive, but also because you don’t really need to buy a drink. Panera will give you a cup for water free of charge if you ask for it, so there’s really no reason to be spending money on a soda, iced coffee, or smoothie.

Of course, with the 2020 promotion, you can also get free coffee at Panera Bread. Look for the deals like that and splurge (without spending a dime) to get a nice beverage treat.

9. Don’t Order Sides

In most fast food or takeout places, adding sides to your order will only make it more expensive. There’s a cost for cream cheese for your bagel or salad dressing for your salad. Panera has an entire section of their menu devoted to sides, and even though the most expensive may be no more than a few dollars, it’s still smart to avoid ordering sides if you’re looking to save money. Again, knowing the menu and planning in advance will go a long way towards avoiding falling into such a trap.

10. Split Your Meal with Someone

Another great way to save money at Panera is to split your meal with a friend, coworker, or family member. Panera has a lot of deals that let you combine soups, salads, and sandwiches for under $10. If you’re grabbing a quick bite to eat, think about ordering with a friend and splitting the cost.

Alternatively, you can buy the cheap big meal and immediately put half of it in a to go box for later.

11. Panera Bread Coupons

Panera Bread is one of the few businesses in the fast food industry that does not have regularly recurring coupons. Since coupons are so rare, finding some is like hitting a goldmine. That said, it’s not impossible to find Panera Bread coupons. Check sites like Groupon. Do a quick online search before heading out to Panera. It’s always worth it to look.

12. Remember Panera Isn’t Your Only Option

Even if you love Panera Bread and want to go there regularly, don’t limit yourself to that one restaurant. Look for other deals in your area of comparable food options. If the prices are lower, or there’s a great coupon, then try something new.

And, of course, it’s almost always cheaper to make yourself a sandwich at home than to buy one at a restaurant. Ask yourself if you need to dine out at all. That’s truly the way to save money!

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Who Should Pay When Eating Out?

February 13, 2017 By David G. Mitchell 17 Comments

I just enjoyed a delightful lunch with an old friend. I drove to her office and we walked to a nearby seafood restaurant where we were able to relax and catch up. It was quite a pleasure and I had a completely and thoroughly entertaining meal with her.

After we had finished our lunch, the server brought the bill over to our booth and presented it directly and undeniably to me. The server let there be no doubt as to who she expected to pay and it was clearly the male in attendance. On the one hand, I did not mind receiving the bill because I had fully intended to buy lunch since my friend had paid the last time we got together (and I don’t forget these things). On the other hand, I really felt that the server’s implied sexism was a bit out of date.

After my friend and I negotiated for a moment over who would pay — my friend arguing that the employed person should pay and me arguing that the person with custody of the tab should pay — I paid the bill (since possession always wins), and we strolled back to my friend’s office. As I drove home, I recalled a few amusing anecdotes that my friend had shared but my thoughts kept drifting back to the restaurant bill.

As a person who is supposed to be thinking about ways to save money, was I foolish to turn down my friend’s offer to pay? No — I did the right thing, but there are plenty of scenarios in which I would have allowed a friend to buy me lunch. If you have never thought through your strategy of “who pays?” here is how I break down payment obligations when two or more people dine out.

The Business Lunch

This is an easy scenario. Each party should pay his or her own way unless one party expresses otherwise. A service provider trying to court a potential client should certainly offer to pay and can probably justify the cost as a client development expense. A client who wants to reward a service provider for a job well done might also offer to buy lunch (or dinner) as a reward for a job well done. The assumption going into any business meal, however, should be that both parties pay their own way.

The Date

This is another easy one. Whoever asks another person to dine out as part of an established or desired romance should also bear the cost of paying. Personally, I understand that philosophy but I have never lived by it. I am perhaps a bit old-fashioned (and some would say sexist) in that regard but any time I went out on a date, I always insisted on paying. Fortunately, it has been twenty years since I was in the dating world so my attitude in this regard, even if it is old fashioned, can only get me into trouble on these pages.

Friends Getting Together

When friends get together for dinner or drinks or whatever, they need to find the payment model that works best for them. When I was in school, I ate at the same diner every night. My room-mate and I got the same meal every night and we took turns paying. If some nights one of us ordered a little more or a little less (appetizers, drinks or whatever), it did not matter, as we knew it would wash out in the end. At the same time, I had a famously cheap friend who (despite being wealthier than any of my other friends) always found a way to avoid paying when it came time to pay a bill. After about three months of his payment avoidance, I learned that we needed to ask for separate checks or I was going to be feeding him for the rest of his life.

Parents and their Children

Parents should pay for their kids until the kids can support themselves and then they should treat the meal as they would treat it among friends. I love to be able to buy things for my Dad but I know that he also likes to pay my way, too. When we golf — about 8 times per year — we alternate payment. Of course, he would like to pay every time, but at 82 years of age, he can’t beat me up the hill to the pro shop anymore.

What other scenarios do you encounter when you dine out? Have you ever been “stung” by friends and forced to pay for a bill that you had not expected — or wanted — to pay? When do you expect someone else to pick up the tab and when should you pay?

Photo: Martin Cathrae

The Top 5 Prizes You’re Most Likely to Win in McDonald’s Minion Mania Game

July 6, 2015 By Will Lipovsky 10 Comments

FOOD! You’re most likely to win food in the McDonald’s Minion Mania game. It’s just as with the McDonald’s Monopoly game. But there are 5 other prizes which you do have a respectable shot of winning. I’ll get to those in a second.

Telling you about the many different types of food you can win would make an awfully boring post, don’t you think? I think so. However, it is worth mentioning the types of food items you can (and probably will) receive. Your odds of winning are 1 out of 6 according to the official Minions at McDonald’s page. Most (59,980,601) of the 361,295,467 game prizes are for food items. Here’s a quick run down of what types of food items you can hope to win. Then we’ll get onto the better prizes which still have decent odds:

Premium Chicken Sandwich
Quarter Pounder w/Cheese
Chicken Snack Wrap
Small McCafé Smoothie
Fruit ‘N Yogurt Parfait
Large Iced Coffee
Sausage McGriddles
Small Fries
Sundae
Medium Soft Drink

Now I’m hungry. Let’s move on to the bigger prizes:

Minions Movie Ticket – 250,000 available – Odds of Winning: 1 in 1,446

It’s a Fandango movie promo code valid for one showing of Minions (up to $13). Must be redeemed by 9/30/15.

Despicable Me 2 Mini-Movie Download – 100,000 available – Odds of Winning: 1 in 3,613

It’s a special 3 mini-movie collection starring characters from Despicable Me 2 and Minions. It’s a digital download worth $4.99.

Despicable Me 2 Movie Download – 1,000 available – Odds of Winning: 1 in 361,296

This free movie download may be just what your family wants. The movie is 2-years-old by now but animated movies hold up well, don’t you think? This prize is worth $2.99.

$50 Arch Card – 780 available – Odds of Winning: 1 in 463,200

This is a killer prize! Imagine getting $50 worth of food off the dollar menu. That’s a lot of free food.

NBC Sports Experience Trip – 26 available – Odds of Winning: 1 in 13,895,980

If this isn’t enough reason to take your kids to McDonald’s – I don’t know what is. 26 lucky winners will receive a 3-day, 2-night trip for 2 to attend a live-action NBC Sports Experience. This may even be for a playoff game. Date and time restrictions apply, of course. The prize holder gets to decide what sport they would like to attend. The winner will also receive a check for a discretionary $500. This prize is worth $4,200. Age restrictions apply.

Feeling Lucky?

There are other prizes up for grabs for the lucky few. For instance, each week McDonald’s is giving away $250,000 to one lucky winner. This runs from July 7th to August 3rd. Yep – McDonald’s will be giving $1,000,000 as part of their Minion Mania contest.

There are also several trips available to Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. There will be 14 winners for each of the prizes. They are 4-day, 3-night experiences.

The chances of winning these contests is pretty slim. But if you’re going to eat at McDonald’s anyway, you may as well try your luck. Buy any of these participating food items to earn a chance for a prize:

Big Mac
Egg McMuffin
Sausage McMuffin with Egg
Egg White Delight McMuffin
Large McCafé Frozen Beverages
10 or 20-piece Chicken McNuggets
Large or Medium Fries (your best choice if you want lots of chances to win)
Premium Salads

Did I mention you don’t necessarily have to spend a cent to enter this contest? To use a snazzy promo code and submit your name for free, click here.

Note: If you haven’t read this post, What Everyone Should Know about the McDonald’s Minion Mania Instant Win Game, you definitely should before playing.

Check out this post for tons more ways to win but it’s for TODAY ONLY!

Good luck!

Restaurants That Give Senior Discounts

March 9, 2014 By Jeffrey Strain 2 Comments

discounted food at restaurants for seniors

With age comes some perks. There are a large number of restaurants that want to attract older customers to their dining establishment, and one of the best ways to do this is to give a senior discount. The one key element is that these discounts will rarely be automatically given. You’ll need to ask for them, and in some cases, show proof of your age. It’s also important to note that restaurants may be independently owned, so the senior discounts listed below might vary from restaurant to restaurant. The best thing to do is to ask about any discounts available before being seated and served.

Even if the restaurant you frequent is not listed in the below list, it’s still well worth your while to ask if they offer a senior discount. Even many small mom and pop owned restaurants offer discounted meas to seniors, although they will rarely advertise this. It never hurts to ask, and there is a decent chance that by doing so, you’ll get a portion off your dining bill. Discounts will usually range from 10% to 20% off of the dining bill. There are also other ways to save money at restaurants you can use to save even more.

Senior is also a relative term in the eyes of each restaurant chain that ranges from 50 years of age to 65 years of age. It can also be worthwhile signing up with AARP once you reach the age of 50 since some restaurants give discounts to AARP members. Even if you don’t currently qualify for and of the discounts, you probably know someone who does who doesn’t realize that they could be getting these discounts when they frequent these restaurants. Part of taking advantage of these discounts is knowing that they exist in the first place.

Discounts for those 50 Years and Older

Krispy Kreme: 10%
Steak ‘n Shake: 10% (on Mondays & Tuesdays)
Tea Room Cafe: 10%

Discounts for those 55 Years and Older

Arby’s: 10%
Chick-Fil-A: 10% (or the choice of a free small drink or a free coffee)
Chili’s Grill & Bar: 10%
Denny’s: 10% (20% discount for AARP members)
Dunkin’ Donuts: 10% (or a free coffee)
Fuddrucker’s: 10% discount on senior platters
IHOP: 10%
Jack in the Box: 20%
Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC): Free small drink with any purchased meal
Long John Silver’s: Discounts vary depending on location
McDonald’s: Coffee discount
TCBY: 10%
Wendy’s: 10%

Discounts for those 60 Years and Older

Applebee’s: 15% with a Golden Apple Card
Baker’s Square: 10%
Ben & Jerry’s: 10%
Bennigan’s: Discounts vary depending on location
Bob’s Big Boy: Discounts vary depending on location
Burger King: 10%
Carl’s Jr.: 10% (you must ask before ordering)
Carrow’s: Discounted senior menu
CiCi’s Pizza: 10%
Einstein’s Bagels: 10% discount on a baker’s dozen of bagels
Elephant Bar: 20% when signed up for Senior Explorer VIP Card
Gatti’s Pizza: 10%
Golden Corral: 10%
Mrs. Fields: 10%
Shoney’s: 10%
Sonic: 10% (or a free beverage)
Subway: 10%
Village Inn: 10%
Waffle House: 10% discount Mondays

Discounts for those 62 Years and Older

Whataburger: 10%
White Castle: 10%
Sweet Tomatoes: 10%

Discounts for those 65 Years and Older

Boston Market: 10%
Hardee’s: 33 cent beverages everyday
Taco Bell: 5% and a free beverage

This is an ongoing list that we’d like to keep as updated as possible. If you are familiar with any other restaurants that offer senior discounts, we’d love to hear about them so we can add them to our list. Also, if a restaurant on this list has changed the ages or the discount offered, please let us know. Simply leave a comment in this thread and we’ll add it into the main article.

(Photo courtesy of Edward Kimmel)

In Praise Of The Cafeteria

November 23, 2012 By Jennifer Derrick 2 Comments

One of my favorite restaurants in town isn’t the swanky chain restaurant, the fine dining establishment, or the fast food place. It’s the simple cafeteria. You know the drill: You push your tray down the line past the steam tables laden with everything from salad to dessert. Many people think that the cafeteria isn’t good, that it’s boring (no bar or ESPN on twenty screens), that it’s like a school cafeteria, or that it’s only for the older folks. Not true. I find that the cafeteria is a very frugal choice for a meal out and I make it a point to find a cafeteria when we travel. So what’s great about the cafeteria?

It’s Inexpensive

For not much more than the price of a combo meal at a fast food joint, you can get a meat, two sides, and a drink. Dessert won’t set you back $8 like it will at a chain restaurant, either. If you aren’t that hungry, you can just get a couple of sides and a drink for under $5 at most cafeterias. Since there are usually no servers, there’s no need to tip which saves you even more.

The Atmosphere Is Peaceful

Though the price is cheap, the atmosphere is more like a sit-down restaurant and you can spend some quality time with your companions over your meal. While some people find the lack of a bar and TV screens to be a drawback, I find it’s a plus. When I go out, I want to focus on my food and my companions, not have everyone at the table staring slack-jawed at a football game or being yammered at by the talking heads on CNN. Most cafeterias are TV-free and it’s wonderful. The lack of a bar and loud music also means it tends to be quieter and lower key. The lack of servers means that you aren’t being interrupted every five minutes and you don’t feel rushed to turn over the table so the waiter can earn more tips.

There’s Something For Everyone

Most cafeterias have a wide variety of choices on the menu every day, and the options tend to rotate through the week. There’s usually chicken, beef, pasta, fish, and a large selection of vegetables and sides. This means that if one person is craving Italian and another wants fish, you can accommodate both wishes. Cafeterias are often good choices for picky kids, too, since there are usually at least a few things they will eat.

The Food Is Good

Not only is the food good, it’s often as close to homemade as you can get. Many cafeterias make their own food on-site rather than having it shipped in, frozen, from some warehouse. While it may not be truly homemade, it’s often as close as you can get for a meal out and tastes better than chain food.

There Are Healthy Options

Cafeterias aren’t just full of fried foods, mashed potatoes, and mac and cheese. There are salads, vegetables, grilled fish and chicken, and plain water to drink. These are not the cafeterias you remember from high school that served nothing but pizza (aka, “barf on a shingle” at my school), fries, mystery glop, and over-sauced pasta.

There’s People Watching

While you can people watch anywhere, I find the patrons of the cafeteria to be especially fun. This is particularly true on Sundays when people turn up after church in their Sunday best. Around here, it’s a fashion show with people decked to the nines.

Budget Holiday Food

Cafeterias can also be great for budget holiday celebrations. Many offer Thanksgiving or Christmas promotions (such as full course meals) that can be eaten in or taken to go. This can be great if you don’t want to cook or physically can’t cook for whatever reason. If you’re alone at the holidays, it can be a great place to go and get out amongst other people without breaking the bank. It’s also a budget alternative for groups.

Cafeterias aren’t what they used to be and they definitely don’t resemble the cafeterias you remember from school. They are budget-friendly places to go for a good meal out. If you have one near you, give your cafeteria a try. It may surprise you.

(Photo courtesy of Universidad de Navarra)

Are Restaurant Coupon Deals Worth It?

May 23, 2010 By David G. Mitchell 8 Comments

Eating out is often an indulgence, sometimes a necessity, and usually costly. It can also be a lot of fun. Where we choose to dine out is a personal decision but most of us can be helped in our decision making if we can find good food in a good venue that offers good value. For those of us on the lookout for bargains, restaurant coupons can push us to try new restaurants or influence us to return to the restaurants we know that we like. A great coupon can even help us to decide that it is time to try again a restaurant that we already have experienced and not enjoyed as much as we would have liked.

Restaurant coupons come from a lot of sources. Local magazines usually include advertisements that an be clipped for discounts. Every week my mailbox is filled with fliers and mailers from a bunch of local restaurants who want to offer me five dollars off of a thirty dollar purchase or a free appetizer if I visit on a typically slow night. My newspaper sometimes has such coupons on plenty of restaurant websites do, too. I am sure that your experience is the same.

For me, however, five dollars in savings is not enough to influence me. Whether I spend thirty-five or forty dollars is too marginal a savings for me to consider it. My experience with a restaurant will usually be far more important than a five dollar coupon or a free order of wings (which I would not eat, anyway, since I am a vegetarian).

When savings are substantial, however, I am likely to more aggressively pursue them. Two new web services have emerged in the past few months which are giving me just such savings. Groupon and Half-off Depot offer deeply discounted gift certificates to restaurants and services in select cities throughout the USA and Canada. I suspect that there are similar web services in other countries but I have not had occasion to explore them.

Today I will be enjoying dinner with my family at a local pizzeria using gift certificates that I recently purchased at Groupon. Groupon deals are offered for a limited time, typically one per day, and only accepts orders if a minimum number of members (you have to register as a user) agree to purchase the gift certificates.

On the day that I recently visited Groupon, the deal of the day was for our favorite local pizza parlor. I was able to purchase three gift certificates with a twenty-five dollar face value for only ten dollars each. As a result, tonight’s dinner which I expect will cost fifty dollars based on menu prices will only cost me twenty dollars out of pocket — savings that easily justify eating at a restaurant that I know my family enjoys.

Similarly, I recently enjoyed a day of paint ball with my son at a local paint ball facility. Normally a day pass (including equipment, CO2 and paint balls) costs a little more than forty dollars. With the passes that I purchased at Half Off Depot, I paid only thirty six dollars for both of us to play. Not surprisingly given the company’s name, I saved about fifty percent by shopping at Half Off Depot.

What sources have you found for great, deeply discounted deals?