There are not many folks who would turn their nose up at free food, especially from their favorite restaurant.
A frequent customer of Panera says she has unlocked a secret to getting a whole sandwich instead of a half sandwich. She hacks the fast-casual bakery’s You Pick 2 combo to get a full-size sammie to accompany her side portion of soup, salad, or macaroni and cheese.
In her video posted to TikTok, user Myriam (@myriamestrella8) says she’s been using the trick for over a decade. She reveals that when ordering the You Pick 2 deal, if she upgrades the bread to a bagel instead, she gets a full-size sandwich instead of the usual half that comes with the deal. While the upgrade is not technically free, it does cost less to the customer than ordering the full sandwich and soup she chose separately.
“Here’s what you’re going to do: you’re going to go to Panera, and you’re going to order on the app,” she says in the video. “You’re going to do the ‘You Pick 2,’ so I actually got this and corn chowder soup. But usually with ‘You Pick 2,’ you only get half a sandwich. Why get half a sandwich when you can get a whole sandwich for free?”
As Myriam shows her meal while seated inside the Panera location, she explains that when selecting a sandwich as part of a deal, customers should go to the bread option in the app. There, they select a bagel, which is 50 cents more. However, she says this always results in a full sandwich.
“I get the cheese—asiago—bagel, and then when you do that, they will always give you the full sandwich for free basically, 50 cents,” she says. “That is my ultimate free sandwich Panera hack. I hope not a lot of people watch this, just you, so that way they don’t take this away.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Myriam and to Panera via email regarding the method shown in the video.
People have been hacking restaurant menus for ages and sharing the yields of their exploration online for other customers to replicate. Whether it is an easy recipe for a certain type of beverage not typically available from certain chains, or taking advantage of children’s menu meals that come in large servings, there is always someone on TikTok ready to make viewers aware of their new favorite thing.
And since Panera has been under fire in recent years for it’s increasing prices and less than satisfactory portions, Myriam’s trick is likely to make a lot of Panera fans happy.
The hack presented by the poster is similar to another hack on the platform, in which the user swaps out the regular bread used to make her sandwich in-store. Since she ordered the full sandwich, which is cut in half, she received both halves of the sandwich made on two separate bagels, effectively doubling the amount of food she received for the same price.
Some viewers suggested that the poster does not receive a full sandwich for the purchase of half of one by substituting the bread. Rather, they noted that she received all of the sandwich filling used on a half sandwich inside the packaging of a bagel, making it look like she received a larger sandwich.
“Lol I’m an area director from panera,” one commenter wrote. “We just put the same topping of a half on a bagel lol.”
“Girl that is a half sandwich if it’s a whole they put it on two bagels,” another said.
“I think it’s still half because I ordered a whole sandwich on a bagel and they gave me 2 bagel sandwiches,” a third wrote.
@myriamestrella8 I’ve been using this free sandwich hack at Panera for sooo long!! 😅🥪
♬ original sound – myriam gets healthy 😁
Other viewers remarked that the hack itself didn’t sound as “free” as she initially described it if they were to pay $0.50 for the upgrade.
“So you get a slighter bigger sandwich for .50 cents more,” one commenter wrote.
“Yeah, I don’t understand how it’s free…?” another said. “It sounds like you pay regular price and then and $.50? I feel stupid lol.”
“How is it free though…” a further viewer questioned.
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