More sandwich eating, less line-waiting.

“I used to spend my lunches standing in line to order and standing in line to pay. I thought, ‘all I want is a quick great sandwich and a little time to catch up with my friends’; there’s got to be a better way.” And Split Bread was born. When Andrew Swallow pitched his sandwich concept to his business partner, David Silverglide, David thought a little bigger, “It’s one thing to make a better sandwich, but it’s another to completely hack the lunch experience.”

Cash-free sandwiches = stress-free lunch breaks.

“Removing cash from the equation completely changed our model. It forced us to make some tough choices, but it also removed a lot of barriers and simplified things. For example, without cash, there’s no reconciliation at the end of the day. It’s done. Our staff can go home to their families and not spend an hour counting cash and crunching numbers. Our POS is our IT System.”

What do customers think?

Their clients also love the concept, but for their own reasons:

“Personally, I think cash is gross. I don’t think it should be anywhere near the food environment.”

“You know that annoying guy that gets to the front of the line and doesn’t know what he wants to order? No problem. ‘Cause you’ve already jumped ahead of him on your phone.”

Sounds nice in theory, but does it really work?

Split Bread’s average total lunchtime is 22 minutes, compared to similar spots at 27 minutes. This faster turn time means more tables, more sandwiches and more revenue. Andrew was focused on the menu and not the payment options, but he’s come around. At first he thought mobile QR codes, pre-ordering and a cashless register were risky. Now it’s just the norm.

Get in on the grub.

Split Bread is open daily from 11am to 8pm at 145 4th Street (about a 10-minute walk from One Market Center). Check them out at www.splitbread.com.