Is there a special achievement award we can handout to the takeout counter at Venice? Every lunchtime visit to grab lunch, from greetings to doggy-baged goodbyes, within 4:00 flat (unofficial time). If you ever thought to yourself "I'm in a rush, Olive and Gourmando sounds like a great idea for lunch", I'll pause here so you can climb back up onto your chair.
There is a special dedication to eradicating wait times at work here that'll have you rethinking that stereotypical laid-back approach to life we associate with the West Coast. Venice weekdays at 12:05pm is a traffic control nightmare of hungry young professional who've navigated the poorly organized labyrinth of walkways and rubble attractions that is Saint-François-Xavier (shoutout to the city workers posted at either ends of Notre-Dame and Saint-Paul cosplaying as ushers for the restaurant). There is no reasonable expectation of being given anything resembling priority attention, and yet each time I feel what I imagine are the feelings of those people whom's magical "member's status" that lets them board airplanes before the rest of us.
What a beautiful sensation.
PS: San Diego Salad no add-ons. Skip the pokes. You're welcome.