Palate Pleasers News

Coronavirus Updates

Our Door Is Open Again! – June 7, 2021

Hello Palate Pleasers Customers,

Our door is now open again! Come on in and see us! We're still offering :Curbside Pick-Up and Delivery. We can take your orders a few ways, by walk up at the store, over the phone, or by email. We can meet you out front or put your bag in your trunk or back seat upon request (contactless payment options available).

Delivery Update – May 15, 2021

Hello Palate Pleasers Customers,

Please note our updated delivery policy and fees below. As the State opens up and we have a larger volume of walk-up customers and larger orders to manage, we have updated our delivery policy and pricing back to pre-pandemic standards. This is due to more of our staff needing to be on site at the store (not out on delivery), limited vehicle availability, and rising fuel costs. We appreciate your understanding and continued support as we navigate through these unprecedented times in our lives.

  June 1, 2020

June 1, 2020

Hello Palate Pleasers Customers,

We want to sincerely thank all of our customers that have continued to support our business through this trying time in our history. We appreciate that everyone has been very understanding and patient as we work through logistical issues with our menu options, ordering, curbside pickup, and delivery services. We feel very fortunate that we were able to remain open for business with minimal modifications to our operations since the beginning of the COVID-19 health crisis.

With your continued orders, we have remained busy in our Gourmet To Go department and have been able to retain all of our regular staff without any layoffs. That said, we have lost all catering sales through our spring and now summer seasons, which looks like it will continue into the fall as well.

We are beginning to pick up on small events and have catered several micro weddings, small private gatherings for families, and business luncheons as people get back to work. Fortunately, with our long business history in Annapolis (30 years in Eastport this July!), we will be able to continue to offer our gourmet-to-go and catering services as current laws and social guidelines dictate, and expect a bright future ahead again soon!

We also want to give a shout out to our fantastic staff! We can honestly say that without their ongoing commitment to us and our customers, we would not have been able to continue as we have. Our entire crew has done everything possible to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy through this crisis.

By maintaining healthy lifestyles and social distancing as suggested by health experts, everyone has remained healthy and able to work a demanding schedule. They have all been committed to working extra hard with us, and we commend them for a work ethic second to none – Thank you, Palate Pleasers crew!

Sincerely,
Eric and Amy Daniels, and Sally Kaiser

Hours of Operation Until Further Notice (Effective June 1, 2020)

• Monday through Friday -- 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.
• Saturday -- 9:00 am to 1:00 pm (closed on Sunday)
  

Ordering options and menus

We continue to accept advance orders from our full Gourmet To Go menu, available on our web site at www.palatepleasers.com

• We are posting our menu of daily available items in several ways:
• On our web site at www.palatepleasers.com
• On our facebook page at www.facebook.com/thepalatepleasers
• On our daily e-mail list with a link to subscribe on our web site home page

We can accept day-of orders a few ways

• E-mail to thepalatepleasers@icloud.com (preferred). Include your items with quantity/size/weight and phone number to reach you.
• By phone, please be patient if we don't answer and try us back shortly.
• We do our best to contact you for out-of-stock items (first come, first served).
• Curbside walk-ups are welcomed, We are happy to fill your orders at our storefront.
  

Order Pick-Up and Payment Options

• We will continue with our curbside pickup until further notice
• We can meet you at our tables out front and pass your bag to you
• We are happy to place your bag in your car (call us upon arrival)
• We can accept cash, check, or credit cards in person or your card number over the phone. We can also e-mail an invoice to pay online from home.
• Please note that we request that all face-to-face customers wear a mask for our health and safety as well as yours.
  

Updated Delivery Policies

• We are still happy to offer our delivery services, now with the following adjustments:
• Zip codes 21401 and 21403 will be $10.00 per order
• Zip codes 21409, 21012, and 21037 will be $15.00 per order
• Additional delivery time slots and locations quoted upon request
• Delivery hours are generally: Monday - Friday 2:00 - 4:00 pm and Saturday 1:00 - 3:00 pm.
  

Delivery Notes

• For our discounted fees above, please be available during our delivery window to receive your order. (We prefer not to leave bags unattended.)
• For specific delivery times and extended range deliveries, we can quote availability and associated fees by request.
• For multiple deliveries to one location (such as Acton's Landing customers), we can divide our fee by the number of orders delivered at one time.

Please feel free to call or e-mail with any questions!
(410) 263-6941 or thepalatepleasers@icloud.com

  Printable Version (PDF)

 March 2020 Update – New Hours and Policies

March 25, 2020

Hello Palate Pleasers' Customers,

Here is today's daily menu for our store. As we navigate these strange times, we are going to implement a few new ways of doing business for the short term until we emerge from this current public health crisis. This comes from requests from both our staff and our customers as well as safe guidelines adopted from respected health officials such as Dr. Gupta & Dr. Fauci.

Here's what we are implementing beginning Thursday, March 26.

Temporary Store Hours:

• Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
• Saturday 9:00 am - 1:00 pm
• Delivery available Monday-Saturday
  

Curbside Pick-Up or Delivery Only:

• We can take your orders in advance or walk up ordering (on the sidewalk) is still available
• We can put your bag in your trunk or back seat (contactless payment options below)
• Delivery is available, we ask for a minimum order of $25 if possible, no delivery fee for Annapolis area orders
  

Food Options:

• We'll have our daily list available via e-mail or on our Facebook page at "thepalatepleasers"
• Menu items will still include fresh items, soups, salads, casseroles, take & bake gf pizzas, and bakery items (cookies, cakes, pies, bread, etc.)
• We are moving our display case to the window so you can see our fresh items
• We will keep at least one storefront staff person inside only for all food handling and packaging
• We will have new items throughout the day, so please ask for any special requests or to see what may not be on the daily list yet
• As always, we welcome advanced orders for any items from our gourmet-to-go menu on our web site (or we can email a copy upon request)
  

Contactless Credit Card Payments:

• No cash payments please, see payment options below
• We can take your card number to put on file for repeat customers
• We can send an email invoice for you to pay online from home
• We now have a portable chip scanner to use curbside (you can insert and remove card yourself with receipts available by text or email)
  

Belly Points: We are keeping the Belly iPad tucked away for now, but will gladly add any points that you feel are owed once we resume normal business

We thank everyone for their support during this unusual time in our history, our best wishes to all to remain safe, healthy, and happy!

Sincerely,

Eric and Amy Daniels, and Sally Kaiser

 March 2020 – Palate Pleasers Delivery Options

March 16, 2020

Hello Palate Pleasers' Customers,

Needless to say, this is an uncertain time in our country and the world. We want to assure all of our customers that we are following the CDC's guidelines for dealing with the Coronavirus crisis. We've implemented additional cleaning and sanitizing practices and we've discussed health safety practices with our employees.

At this point, we plan on staying open as long as possible based on the health of our staff and government guidelines.

That said, for a limited time until at least the end of April, we are offering a delivery service option to our customers in the Annapolis area (21401, 21403, and 21409 area codes). With our delivery option, we are charging a $15 flat rate delivery fee for any size order and would have orders out between 1-4p.m. As an additional courtesy to our customers 65 and older, we are waiving the delivery fee for food orders of $30 or more.

We are also offering a new option for packaging shown in the photo below. We can vacuum seal most savory foods including entree items, vegetables, and starches. We are planning on offering 8oz or 16oz sized packages. All items that are packaged fresh would have an extended refrigerated life of at least 7 days and many items for longer, with an indefinite shelf life if frozen.

Our kitchen is hard at work currently producing as much as they can, including casseroles, soups, and fresh foods. Please call, e-mail, or stop by for our daily options, or to place an order for future pickup or delivery.

We wish everyone good health and hope that we can continue to offer high quality fresh foods to our customers through the Coronavirus crisis.

Sincerely,

Eric and Amy Daniels, and Sally Kaiser

March 14, 2020

Hello Palate Pleasers Customers,

We want to update everyone of our status here as we all deal with the CoVid-19 Virus (aka Coronavirus} outbreak that is now confirmed in Maryland. As this is an unprecedented event in our country and the world, we are working diligently to follow CDC guidelines for hand washing and sanitizing.

At Palate Pleasers, we've always been careful with our food preparation, and are taking additional steps to ensure the safety of our product and your experience in our store. We will continue to monitor the health of our employees and ask that they do not come to work if they feel or show any symptoms of illness. Our staff, as well as most people in the food service industry, are on an hourly pay basis. That said, while not required by law, we have and will continue to offer a personal time off (PTO) policy that encourages our employees to take the necessary time needed to recover from an illness without incurring personal financial hardships.

Based on the current status of the health of our staff, we will continue to be open. (Our business hours may change as the situation changes.) We will be focusing on preparing items that can have extended shelf life if needed such as casseroles, soups, individually sealed proteins, and any items that can be frozen if needed. We will continue to offer our fresh items to go that have a several day shelf life in the refrigerator as well as our homemade fresh bakery items. As always, we welcome any orders that you would like to place with our gourmet-to-go, bakery, and full-service catering departments.

As a courtesy to our customers, we would like to offer a few options for obtaining food from our store.

1. Traditional pickup at our store
2. Curbside service to your car in our parking lot
3. No-contact doorstep delivery to your home*

*Home delivery is offered for the Annapolis area and include the 21401, 21403, and 21409 area codes for a flat rate of $15.00 per order. We will be offering deliveries between 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and other times upon request with availability at our discretion.

As a small family owned business coming up on our 30th Anniversary at our Eastport shop, we appreciate our relationships with our customers and thank you for your continued patronage! Please feel free to call or email with any questions or concerns that you may have (or to place an order}. Our best wishes for good health!

Sincerely,

Eric & Amy Daniels and Sally Kaiser

Printable Version

For more information, call Palate Pleasers at 410-263-6941