A look inside La Madeleine's new prototypeA look inside La Madeleine's new prototype

Ron Ruggless

DALLAS La Madeleine Country French Café is looking to compete more with fast-casual powerhouses Panera Bread Co. and Corner Bakery Café as it debuts a new prototype in North Dallas.

La Madeleine has done away with its cafeteria-like ordering line and replaced it with six flat-screen menu boards and an ordering and payment point at the entrance, rather than at the end of a short ordering line as in the past.

Click here to see photos from the new prototype.

“We set out to enrich the ordering process by eliminating the confusion factor while placing the spotlight squarely on the artisan nature of our food, and we’ve done just that,” said Phil Costner, chief operating officer of the 60-unit La Madeleine.

Bruce Saring, director of operations for the Dallas-area La Madeleine units, said the renovation made the 5,800-square-foot restaurant easier for customers to use. The unit was also refurbished with new, single-pole tables, which allow for more seating.

All orders are now delivered to the tables, for which customers take a lettered wooden spoon in a block of wood after their order. In the past, certain dishes were picked up in the cafeteria-like line by the patron and other prepared meals were delivered.

The designated to-go area has also been updated with flat-screen menu boards and stocked with prepared items such as the restaurant’s bottled tomato-basil soup and salad dressings.

Staff uniforms were also updated.

Susan Dederen, senior director of culinary operations for La Madeleine, described the remodeled restaurant as "a nod to our future and a wink to our past.”

La Madeleine has 60 cafes in Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and the District of Columbia.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].