I went to the new and evil Hill Country Galleria just outside of Austin on State Hwy. 71. I was doing some Christmas shopping and wanted to check out this place. Whilst perusing the crappy shops full of crap that were exactly like every other crappy mall shop, I became oddly starved. I remember seeing a Which-Wich sandwich shop on my way in. These things have been popping up all over lately and I like to monitor the enemy. So, I walk in to this joint and it is moderately busy with shoppers like me, sort of. It took me a while to figure out the system here. There is wall with paper bags all over it representing the different sandwiches on their menu. Each bag is a sandwich and then a sub category with boxes one can check to designate what one wants on the sandwich. There are options for sides and drink as well, I believe. I was provided with a sharpie pen of some kind and looked for the vegetarian sandwich option. Upon locating my little bag I filled out my order. I was a bit perturbed about having to fill out the order myself. It seemed oddly like they were saving something on labor costs that was not being passed on to me, the consumer, in regards to pricing. I think it was 10 bucks for a sandwich and drink. A guy took my bag and my money and told me I could get my own cup for the drink. He then clipped my bag to a metal wire with a metal clip, like socks drying on a line. This bag was read by some Latino men in official Which Wich uniforms. They seemed to be preparing the first part of the sandwich and then placing it into a conveyor belt oven. Upon coming out the other side a Latino woman was dressing and finishing them. Her job was also to holler out the customer name when the order was ready to pick up. The problem was she was shy and not very well spoken in her American vowels and consonants. I imagine she was insecure about yelling any name too loud lest she get it wrong and be laughed at by sandwich starved Americans. As well she seemed to be falling behind quickly to her counterparts on the other side of the oven. They were burying her in Sandwiches faster than she could customize them according to each customers checked boxes. If you give people such choice they will take it as far as possible. I can only imagine the confusion she must have been dealing with on the average ticket. I mean, at industrial fast food, everything is the same, restaurants I have witnessed people ordering detailed specific hamburgers. Things like, "light on the ketchup, heavy on the pickles." Wha? Amazing, really, I have seen them return to the counter and complain that it was not Light ketchup and the pickles were too heavy... Wow. Anyway, eventually one of the fellows came over and helped her knock the orders out and he started barking the names loud enough that we all could hear. It took a long while for me to get mine. I think I probably drank about 3 diet cokes waiting. I met a chap there who had been waiting for 20 minutes for his. He was a chef and he said he was fighting every urge to walk back there and take control of the situation. The manager type of guy was really just the cashier, it seemed and did not have much of a stake in getting things moving. His focus was on sales. I will say that the sandwich was really tasty, fresh ingredients and toasty. It was a bit small for a portion. But I am an American and I like to eat. Really, I know it was plenty and I left feeling not over full, but satisfied. They need to speed things up a bit though. I would not go in there if you are really hungry and it is a lunch rush hour at a shopping mall. Off hours are probably better.
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