Such a great chain. It nearly matches fast-food pricing and efficiency but with a high-quality product, apparently. I find it almost too good to be true??:dubious:
Whatever the case, I still think it’s a better product than most and hope the trend continues. Other doper thoughts?
As someone who has had St. Louis Bread Company available for as long as I can remember, I agree. However, it is definitely a bit pricier than fast-food (more like 8 bucks for a full lunch rather than 5 or so) but a nicer product. Love a few of their soups, and the Italian sandwich.
The couple of times I went, I found them to be a little expensive for the quantity of food you get, and the quality was decidedly lacking. Plus they were dirty: there was stuff on the floor and most tables needed bussing. And this was when they weren’t particularly busy. Since then, I won’t go into the place.
We have one of these near where I work. It’s alright, but the portions aren’t quite big enough. It fills me up, but I’m definitely not as stuffed as I feel I should be for the $9 or so it will cost me. I only really eat there anymore when I have a craving for a broccoli cheese soup bread bowl.
Also, their coffee is mediocre at best.
I have had poor customer service at Panera. And then when I complained about it using their website my complaint was ignored, no response. So then I sent an email, and the Mrg of that store agreed his store had that problem, but then basically he wasn’t going to do anything for me, it was my problem, not his.
I agree with Turek’s comments also.
Well, that is a shame. In my experience they are quite clean; friendly; great food; I like it well enough. Perhaps you have come across a bad example. Doesn’t really matter, admittedly, since you’ll never go in there again.
I love their focaccia sandwiches and some of their pastries. They have a delicious orange scone.
My wife and I make excuses to go to town in the mornings on weekends so we can stop and get a cinnamon crunch bagel.
I’ll go for the turkey artichoke panini, but the rest of their menu, and the service, is hit-or-miss. The location near me appeared to be incapable of making enough bread bowls so they wouldn’t run out after 45 minutes; the one time I showed up early they weren’t ready yet. They also made the most cringe-worthy version of French onion soup I’ve ever encountered: onion-flavored broth in a shallow styrofoam dish with a small slice of “Swiss cheese” (the kind that comes in individually-wrapped slices) partially melted on top.
I do like that panini, though.
If you like the style and food of Panera you should try Cosi if you have one near you. They have salads, melts, flat breads, etc.
I love that orange scone. With a cup of hot coffee…Mmmmmm.
Yeah… I’ll be right back!
That’s surprising. I went to Panera the other day and got the French Onion soup, and it was amazing. Flavorful and full of onions, with freshly-shaved cheese on top, those little curls of cheese.
It was ambrosia.
After Hurricane Ike, we were without power for nearly two weeks. The Panera Bread nearest us had power and Internet. We spent a lot of time in there until we got power again. Good food, nice folks.
The complaints about quantity are surprising to me. As a total fat ass myself, I can never finish my food there. I usually get a half sandwich, half salad (both halves are huge) and I never finish either and walk away totally full. Weird.
This was years ago, so either they’ve made some improvements or I’m falsely attributing some other bakery megafranchise’s shitty soup to them.
The “we ran out of bread bowls” crap was profoundly irritating, though, and I’m sure that was them.
I think their food is good and their proportions are plentiful. The ones I go to are very clean, and now they’re the sole source of free wifi around here.
I do, suspect, however, that everything is just packed full of butter and other forms of fat, so probably not something that should be part of one’s regular diet.
Oh, and I like Cosi also. In fact, I think Cosi’s flatbread might be a wee bit better on the nutrition facts side.
I’ve enjoyed the food I’ve gotten there, but I tend to avoid the one near my office because of its location. Getting into and out of the lot is a nightmare because of how it sits in sort of a triangular wedge between two busy streets, and there’s never enough parking, so you have to kind of sit there waiting for someone to walk out to their car, meanwhile you’re blocking the cars that want to circle the place… ugh.
Aside from that, I’m satisfied with their menu, but it’s not so good that I’m willing to put up with the rest of the hassle.
Based on the Paneras around me, that must be what they look for in locations. Nearly all of them are in an odd corner or tucked away somewhere and have tiny impossible-to-navigate parking lots.
That is weird. I mostly quit going there because I feel like I’m not getting my money’s worth. I would have to spend about $10 bucks there to get full. The quality is one notch up from fast food, the bakery is good and the atmosphere is very good. But just for grabbing some lunch or dinner for the family it just doesn’t do it for me. Cold cuts on bread (granted, decent bread) doesn’t make a “great” sandwich whatever fancy names they given them.