Anonymous wrote:You sound insufferable OP. If you think you're too good for Panera...don't go. It's that simple. Cook at home + stay home. There are too many negative people out in the world as is...we don't need more.

OP here.

Excuse me? Who do you think you are saying that? I ought to slap you upside the head.

Anonymous wrote:(Ugh, at the risk of stirring up feelings from that other recent thread) I left Chipotle the other night having paid more than that and feeling a little discombobulated by it. With double steak and adding guac, well, things got expensive.

A Chipotle bowl is 10-12 depending on the meat. It can easily be 1600 calories with free extra sour cream, extra rice, beans (all free). Adding extra steak and guac is expensive, no kidding.

Last time we were in Panera there were fruit flies all over the uncovered bakery section. If front of house was that nasty, imagine how bad the back must be. We noped the hell out of there.

Anonymous wrote:Panera and restaurants like Panera are all at least $20 per person now.

Yep. The 25 dollar gift card is basically a takeout lunch or dinner there for one person.

When my kids were younger and had soccer tournaments, we'd go to Panera in between games and sit there for hours if the weather wasn't great. It seemed like Panera was OK with it for some reason. I never felt like it was an intrusion or a bother. It would be packed with soccer families.

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Anonymous wrote:Panera grosses me out. Especially all the creepy leeches who “work” on their laptops and drink their subscription soda and coffee all day. Doesn’t help that it looks like their long standing cafes haven’t been renovated in 20 years. Everything is so dingy and depressing.

This does seem to be particularly bad at Panera for some reason.

I think it is the bottomless drinks membership and it is also much bigger than a Starbucks while still having the coffeehouse vibe.

Paneras always had creeps sitting in there all day long before the relatively recent subscription drink thing. But the subscription has probably made it worse. I can’t imagine how unwell you’d have to be to have that routine every day.

+1 Those remote workers are repulsive. Can’t understand why companies have permitted so many employees not come into the office.

Oh, that's easy.

1) They don't have the space for them.
2) They probably don't have teams together in the same location anyway; and
3) Remote workers are more productive than in-house employees.

I really doubt shameless people camped in Panera all day are actually working.

Unless you’re camped in Panera all day, how do you know they are camped in Panera all day?

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Anonymous wrote:Panera grosses me out. Especially all the creepy leeches who “work” on their laptops and drink their subscription soda and coffee all day. Doesn’t help that it looks like their long standing cafes haven’t been renovated in 20 years. Everything is so dingy and depressing.

This does seem to be particularly bad at Panera for some reason.

I think it is the bottomless drinks membership and it is also much bigger than a Starbucks while still having the coffeehouse vibe.

Paneras always had creeps sitting in there all day long before the relatively recent subscription drink thing. But the subscription has probably made it worse. I can’t imagine how unwell you’d have to be to have that routine every day.

+1 Those remote workers are repulsive. Can’t understand why companies have permitted so many employees not come into the office.

Oh, that's easy.

1) They don't have the space for them.
2) They probably don't have teams together in the same location anyway; and
3) Remote workers are more productive than in-house employees.

I really doubt shameless people camped in Panera all day are actually working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Panera grosses me out. Especially all the creepy leeches who “work” on their laptops and drink their subscription soda and coffee all day. Doesn’t help that it looks like their long standing cafes haven’t been renovated in 20 years. Everything is so dingy and depressing.

This does seem to be particularly bad at Panera for some reason.

I think it is the bottomless drinks membership and it is also much bigger than a Starbucks while still having the coffeehouse vibe.

Paneras always had creeps sitting in there all day long before the relatively recent subscription drink thing. But the subscription has probably made it worse. I can’t imagine how unwell you’d have to be to have that routine every day.

+1 Those remote workers are repulsive. Can’t understand why companies have permitted so many employees not come into the office.

Oh, that's easy.

1) They don't have the space for them.
2) They probably don't have teams together in the same location anyway; and
3) Remote workers are more productive than in-house employees.

Anonymous wrote:It's the oldest story in the books, private equity buys something and runs it into the ground.

This! Just like Trump.

It's the oldest story in the books, private equity buys something and runs it into the ground.

You sound insufferable OP. If you think you're too good for Panera...don't go. It's that simple. Cook at home + stay home. There are too many negative people out in the world as is...we don't need more.

Sure you're not projecting? Sounds like you're trying to rationalize leech behavior with 'there are plenty of open tables.'

Paneras are full during peak lunch rush. But also, at any time, normal functioning people don't feel comfortable sitting in proximity to creepy gross people who are leeching Wi-Fi from a cafe all day. Such "customers" are gross and kill the a cafe's atmosphere; whether that's Panera or any other cafe or coffee shop.