Erbert and Gerbert's — Restaurant in Saint Paul

Before I start: I’m not lost on the fact that writing a sandwich shop review of this length might seem sort of odd. But I think the people who work here deserve some public praise for the great job they do.

This particular Erbs location is the best I have visited in many years. If you’re looking for what a fair-priced franchise sandwich shop lunch spot is supposed to be, walk in here. I feel like I’m transported back to the mid-2000s before complacency and worker shortages hurt quality across the industry.

They absolutely nail their French bread, which has a thin golden outer crust and is fluffy and white inside. This has been consistent over years of lunches here. The sandwiches are always well constructed and balanced, never sloppy or soggy. The staff are really nice and fast too.

These should be basic expectations of a lunch spot, but with how a lot of these shops have slid over the last decade, the quality really shines here. This place is run by...

I never bother to take the time to leave reviews, but I'll make an exception in this case.

I placed an online order. Paid up front via credit card Estimated delivery time of 30 minutes. Great.

30 minutes comes and goes, no delivery. No big deal.

An hour goes by. I'm in no hurry, I'm sure they'll be here soon.

It's getting closer to an hour and a half. I call the store. No answer, just a generic answering machine. A few more attempts, same thing. My kids are getting hungry. I have no idea if my order (already paid for) has even left the store and they're not even picking up the phone.

Called another location Turns out they decided to close early (order was placed around 5pm on a Saturday) and they didn't bother to turn off the online ordering or leave a message on their answering...

Online order fail. On the website, I ordered "Pickup," but they processed as "Delivery." When I was at the counter, the manager initially refused to discount the "Delivery Charge" of $2.50. Only after I complained did they re-run the order (re-keying all items) without the delivery charge. Throughout the too-long (10-minute) transaction, the manager was snarky and unpleasant.

In my only previous order with this location (weeks ago), I website ordered "Pickup," and when I arrived at the location, the manager apparently decided to close early. Lights were off on a Sunday at 5pm. So although the online order "succeeded," no sandwiches.

Moral of the story: don't pay online. I can't trust...