Panera Bread is so gross, how did this place ever become a "thing"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time I go there for lunch or on weekends, it's MOBBED and you can barely find a seat. So clearly they are doing something right.

Yeah, it’s because people who won’t eat at McDonalds or BK will gladly pay 3x the price for the same garbage food dressed up with some fake French cheese or “fresh” dethawed turkey and some factory-grown kale.

[Anonymous]

Some of you are really dramatic. Panera never marketed itself as gourmet fine dining. Yes it’s fast food. Your fault if you thought it was fancy.

- someone who loves Panera’s green goddess salad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are really dramatic. Panera never marketed itself as gourmet fine dining. Yes it’s fast food. Your fault if you thought it was fancy.

- someone who loves Panera’s green goddess salad

No one in this thread seems to have been tricked into thinking nasty Panera food is “fancy,” except maybe the Panera defenders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Everything, even baked goods, is prepared in regional factories, frozen and shipped. The baked goods are thawed and finished at the store.

Can't do that with salads. Maybe stick to those?

The lettuce comes from a bag, pre-cut, pre-washed according to the girl I asked. I had to ask because I'm allergic to the preservative spray that's used to keep pre-cut produce fresher longer. It's fine if they then wash that pre-cut stuff, but I get pretty sick if they just dump it and start using it. Her exact words were, "everything comes in bags, like, all cut up and washed so we just have to dump them in the bins and put the stuff in the correct salads. Except, like, tomatoes, because they are squishy, so we cut those here."

[Anonymous]

I do remember it being much better years ago. Now it's just not the same. The place feels a little dirtier now, too.

However, I won't completely write it out! The coffee, pastries, and bagels/breads are fine. Great place to grab a breakfast on the go in the morning. It's our go-to after 5K races or the likes. At our particular location, it's a popular spot for high schoolers to meet up to study and work on group projects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every time I go there for lunch or on weekends, it's MOBBED and you can barely find a seat. So clearly they are doing something right.

Yeah, it’s because people who won’t eat at McDonalds or BK will gladly pay 3x the price for the same garbage food dressed up with some fake French cheese or “fresh” dethawed turkey and some factory-grown kale.

Yesssssss!

I was at a soccer tournament once when the kids only had about 45 mins. to eat between games. I usually always bring a cooler and grab Subway, but I was running late that weekend and left the cooler at home. I ran out before his last game was over to get Subway, but the line was insane and time was ticking, so I shot over to McDonald's and got my kid food there.

When I got back, I was talking about the crazy line at Subway with another mom when a third mom chimed in with "you should have called me and I would have gotten him something from Panera so he didn't have to eat junk food." She even offered to let my son have some of her Panera Bread sandwich so he didn't have to eat "that junk food." Her mind was blown when I showed her that the 2 cheeseburgers and small fry he ate were 'healthier' than the Italian sandwich both she and her son had, along with her son's mac & cheese.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of their food has an odd taste to it, to me.

Salt city.

And they’ll give you a pile of chicken on a salad but if you ask for an egg INSTEAD of the entire chicken in a shredded pile they charge you $1.
So, stupid too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All of their food has an odd taste to it, to me.

I AGREE WTF

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Everything, even baked goods, is prepared in regional factories, frozen and shipped. The baked goods are thawed and finished at the store.

Can't do that with salads. Maybe stick to those?

The lettuce comes from a bag, pre-cut, pre-washed according to the girl I asked. I had to ask because I'm allergic to the preservative spray that's used to keep pre-cut produce fresher longer. It's fine if they then wash that pre-cut stuff, but I get pretty sick if they just dump it and start using it. Her exact words were, "everything comes in bags, like, all cut up and washed so we just have to dump them in the bins and put the stuff in the correct salads. Except, like, tomatoes, because they are squishy, so we cut those here."

There’s a preservative spray in bagged salad?? What is it? All salads? I don’t see it listed on the bag?

[Anonymous]

Everything tastes like it was dipped in a malty syrup bath and then baked. I'm not saying it is--that's what it tastes like to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time I go there for lunch or on weekends, it's MOBBED and you can barely find a seat. So clearly they are doing something right.

Do you want to be fat? Because eating a bready sandwich every day will make you fat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you are really dramatic. Panera never marketed itself as gourmet fine dining. Yes it’s fast food. Your fault if you thought it was fancy.

- someone who loves Panera’s green goddess salad

No one in this thread seems to have been tricked into thinking nasty Panera food is “fancy,” except maybe the Panera defenders.

It's absolutely marketed as upscale and healthy. Execs and speculators are on CNBC constantly BOASTING about how they get away with willy nilly price increases because they've suckered their patrons into believing they're getting upscale food/ingredients!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Everything, even baked goods, is prepared in regional factories, frozen and shipped. The baked goods are thawed and finished at the store.

Can't do that with salads. Maybe stick to those?

The lettuce comes from a bag, pre-cut, pre-washed according to the girl I asked. I had to ask because I'm allergic to the preservative spray that's used to keep pre-cut produce fresher longer. It's fine if they then wash that pre-cut stuff, but I get pretty sick if they just dump it and start using it. Her exact words were, "everything comes in bags, like, all cut up and washed so we just have to dump them in the bins and put the stuff in the correct salads. Except, like, tomatoes, because they are squishy, so we cut those here."

There’s a preservative spray in bagged salad?? What is it? All salads? I don’t see it listed on the bag?

When are chemicals listed on the ingredient list? Should they list the soil type and soil additives too? I want to know which kind of tractor tilled the land!

[Anonymous]

All tastes like plastic. So does Subway.

[Anonymous]

Smoking is a better “thing” than Panera.