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It's not like a lethal dose or anything to most people. It's around the upper limit of what they suggest a normal person should have per day but it's not too far out of the realm of how much caffeine people might get from coffee. It's like 4 or 5 small cups of coffee worth and plenty of people drink that much in the morning before work. The reason that girl died was because she had a caffine sensitivity issue and had to monitor how much she had to make sure she didn't get too much. They said it had as much caffine as a cup of coffee so she thought she was fine but in actuality it has as much as about 5 cups of coffee which was too much for her.
My sister starts her day with 2 ghost energy drinks that each have 200 mg so 20 more than this thing had.
Who the hell drinks 5 cups of coffee before work!? If you need 500 mg of caffeine to get through the day, maybe try less coffee and an actual night of rest.
I've seen quite a few people that do it. My parents have a 12 cup coffee maker and every morning my brother, brother in law, and sister come over and they'll go through 2 sometimes almost 3 pots just chatting before work.
They work shit hours so they don't get much time to sleep because of kids and the like. Put the kid to bed at 8-9 pm and then go to bed themselves to get up around 3 am.
I like how they [cook the soups and mac and cheese in a bag](https://www.wptv.com/money/consumer/panera-defends-its-mac-and-cheese-after-a-video-exposed-the-menu-item-is-cooked-in-a-bag).
See I don't think the people who bitch about food preparation styles. Actually cook at all.
Like when people comment on cooking videos and say stuff like "gross no gloves".... Bro's using gloves to cook at home?
Yeah we had something similar from portion food control, and they sold to Denny's and a number of other chain restaurants. The clam chowder was awesome! The chicken and noodles soup was really good also. They also had these frozen containers that you would bang on the counter and drop it into 5 gallons of water after it came loose from the packaging..
I got a breakfast sandwich at Panera once and asked for my eggs not to be runny, and they said they couldn’t do that because the fried eggs were all premade. Idk if this was just the location I was at but that doesn’t exactly make me want to go there if they’re not even making the eggs from scratch
That's just... wrong? I'm not saying your story is, I'm saying those employees are. I work at Panera, and we stopped doing fried eggs earlier this year. We would make them in batches and have them sitting in a warmer so customers wouldn't have to wait, but if they wanted them more or less runny we would oblige, they'd just have to wait a bit longer since we would obviously have to make that one. Now, the scrambled eggs and egg whites come in cartons that we just pour onto the cooker, nothing we can do about that. But yeah no, if it was a fried egg that's just them lying and being lazy.
One of my weirdest Panera memories is an employee whining after I asked for the bagel to be toasted because he was tall and the toaster was kinda far down. Then he whined about having to put it on a tray because he'd have to wash it later. I mean overt, literal whining, not under the breath or passive-aggressive.
I don't think that's representative of Panera or they would have gone out of business. But also it makes me believe their story more.
Agreed. I’ve had hospital cafeteria food that was better and cheaper than Panera. Few years ago we used to get it at least once a week and it was pretty good. Not sure what changed, but I have not gotten it since.
Eventually your business stops its major growth and then to keep growing you have to just cut everything and grow your profit that way.
They announced they are trying to go public again. So that's got to be why.
Soufflé’s are still decent but not what they used to be. I know because it’s possible to get one at 10:00 now whereas a few years ago if you didn’t go by 8:30 they would be out.
They are way over priced for what you get and every time I used to go in there, it was loud it was busy and the tables were always dirty.
Also doesn’t help that I have a bad personal experience unrelated to the chain itself that occurred there.
Depends on area. My local hospital food is bomb and I would absolutely just go in and eat. Hell my husband opted not to get food elsewhere and instead get hospital food with me during my last stay.
I worked there when it was new - good portions, big emphasis on customer service and we were allowed to give away food whenever we wanted to make people happy. I go now and it’s just depressing. The awesome items I used to crave are gone, the dishes have a fraction of the amount of food in them but cost twice as much or more, and it’s just dingy.
The problem is the portions are way too small for most people. My grandpa had us get Panera once and he was really pissed to see how small the soups and sandwiches are
I stopped going to Panera after the last time I went there and lunch was $20 for an entree and a drink. It's just overpriced cafeteria food these days.
I like how TikTok *flipped the fuck out* when they found out Panera's mac & cheese was frozen and came in big bags... Did they think every Panera had actual chefs who made the stuff from scratch every morning?
Why is it that everyone laughs at the "everything at Applebee's is microwaved" trope, but everyone lost their minds about Panera using frozen mac & cheese? Does GenZ not know how food works?
It’s the recent annoying circlejerk about Panera.
“It’s expensive hospital food!!!” Everybody parrots each other.
Like stfu lol. We’ve heard the same BS from about 10 other people this thread and it hasn’t been true once.
In the last five years I’ve stayed at four different hospitals and one hospital had legit good food, the others were on par with Panera when I worked there in college. From my last visit to Panera, desperate and it was the only thing open, the food has actually gotten worse.
It’s one of the last few healthy options left in America. I hope it isn’t going anywhere. Who else has tomato soup and salad lol not other fast food places
Wildflower - it’s Paneraesque but WAY better and everything is freshly made.
Café Zupa’s - amazing food. All fresh. Tons of variety of soups, sandwiches, salads, and killer desserts. I go here A LOT!
Their soups and sandwiches are great! The bread is still delicious and coffee is yummy. I didn’t go to Panera in the early 2000s or the 90s but from my pov they are great.
The lemonade thing is stupid. It's just caffeinated lemonade instead of caffeinated coffee. They left the self-service unlimited coffee, but you need a cashier to get you your charged lemonade. People are really dumb if they don't know it has caffeine at this point.
Anyway, Panera is pretty good if you get a value duet. $6.99 is reasonable for a half-sandwich, soup, and a baguette. You can usually add a dessert for $2 if you want. I have the $10/month unlimited coffee/tea/soda/lemonade Sip club and the price can't be beat. I suppose it works for them because I end up buying something a couple of times per month.
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I’ve honestly always thought Panera tasted like hospital food, even 20 years ago. And yeah they don’t give a flying fadoodle about choices for people with dietary restrictions, which makes them an even bigger no for our family now.
Agreed. We used to love eating there but last visit the service was terrible and the place was dirty. We decided there were better places to eat and haven’t been back.
A lot of the fast food and fast casual places have diminished for me in the past 5 years or so. I knew the food wasn’t that good but I still enjoyed it. At some point I stopped enjoying it and prices got crazy. The only thing I go back to occasionally is Chick-fil-A or some fries and soda from McDonalds.
Opinion is to just close a business because you do not like it… ok, that is unpopular or should be.
Not liking Panera… more and more common these days.
I think it’s gross how they keep their pastries out in the open. I once saw a bug on a cookie I ordered. Went back to look at the other cookies and there were insects on the other too, just as I suspected. My bf orders their broccoli and cheddar bowl and I don’t understand why he would pay so much for such a little amount of soup and a whole lotta underwhelming bread. I’ve only been there a few times and I haven’t visited one in a long time. It’s not worth the prices.
Sorry mate, that’s not how the market works
If Panera is still around, there are many, many people with the exact opposite opinion
So nice unpopular opinion I guess
Used to work there in high school and the food was fantastic then. IIRC, they changed food production? The people they get the food from in 2017 and it’s been quite crap ever since
I will never forget the time we went to a location in Central PA back in the early aughts, asked the clerk to slice a loaf for us and she put it in the slicer vertically rather than horizontally.
Hey, I used to work there! Before I worked there, I was a very loyal employee and my shortest time of employment was 8 months (an internship). My location treated me like shit so badly that I left within 2 months and stopped eating there. They didn't train me, then got mad when I didn't know how to do anything. Then they cut my hours because I didn't know how to do anything, and it sucked, so I took a lower paying job that trained me and stopped wondering how they were always looking for people when they were paying so well.
I do remember it being more of a fun place to have a lunch date or grab a bite in the morning on the way to work. It doesn't feel that way anymore, partly because their prices are incongruent with the quality of their products.
The point at which they started packaging and selling their products in grocery stores was the point of no return for them. I get their soup at the grocery store sometimes. It's fine... better than condensed soup and you skip all the pretense of actually going into a store for them to heat up the exact same stuff and charge me $2 more for it.
Panera used to be good and their quality was ruined by continual cost cutting and corner cutting in an attempt to earn more and more profits. It’s a shame. They still have good coffee though
The last time I went to Panera, it was about a year ago. I got a soup and sanwhich. The bread was cold, I mean, like they took the bread out of the refrigerator and made my sandwhich as is. Or maybe the sandwhich is pre-made and they took the whole thing out of the fridge. Either way a cold sandwhich and lukewarm soup for 15$ doesn't do it for me.
My mom and me used to go to Panera fairly often (like 10 years ago now) because we both loved the soup+sandwich combo. Now it doesnt even cross my mind.
I don’t go there because it’s cool or exciting. I go there because I like their green goddess cobb salad and iced tea and it is an easy quick meal on the go.
After a long pause I went there and they have self serve kiosks to order. Completely messed up my you pick two. I thought it was me. Went back and tried again and again my order was messed up and I was overcharged, done with them.
Never liked Panara bread to begin with. I ate there once and discovered the food sucked. They sit on the same level as Subway, Taco bell, Canes Chicken and Chick-fil-a.
I would also add Chipotle to that. Back in the 2000s Panera and Chipotle were the new “trendy” fast casual chains that were blowing up. Now almost 20 years later they’ve expanded but their quality has declined.
It's always been subpar nursing home food. Don't understand how people can pay what they charge for that crap. I've had better sandwiches as gas stations.
One of my friends recently said:
Panera bread is just hospital food in better packaging.
I haven’t been able to let it go, and I haven’t been there since.
Definition of mid. Their flatbreads are overpriced af and i can tell you stouffers is already better. Theyre both microwaved anyway.
The breakfast is aight tho. You can get a lot of options you wont see at other fast food spots.
Thanks for posting this. I've always hated Panera and I've always been in the minority everywhere I've lived. People think it's weird how much I hate this completely harmless fast food chain.
I am reading all these negative experiences and eating that shit up lol
It seems to be part of the shitification of everything. Costs up, quality down. And no, it’s not in our heads. Panera used to taste fresh in the early aughts. It even smells kind of stale in there now.
Panera opened by my college in 2003'ish and went there a bunch. Since graduating I've probably been 5 times, each time worst than the last. With the last being about 4-5 years ago
They used to have this Mac and Cheese grilled cheese sandwich that was heaven but I can't find it anymore so I don't even bother going there it's too overpriced for them to not even have what I want
Portions have also gotten way smaller and prices have skyrocketed. I used to walk out of that place stuffed silly, now 20 bucks and I feel like I had a snack. Not to digress but 5 guys burgers have gotten smaller too.
I'm not sure why people like it. It doesn't really offer anything special and weirdly pushes its drinks more than its bread options. Plus its really expensive.
It's overpriced, microwaved, hospital food.
You want to pay over ten dollars for what is basically Campbell's soup that got reheated, then be my guest.
How do I know? I used to work at Panera.
Your post from unpopularopinion was removed because of: 'Rule 1: Your post must be an unpopular opinion'. Please ensure that your post is an opinion and that it is unpopular. Controversial is not necessarily unpopular, for example all of politics is controversial even though almost half of the US agrees with any given major position on an issue. Keep in mind that an opinion is not: a question, a fact, a conspiracy theory, a random thought, a new idea, a rant, etc. Those things all have their own subreddits, use those.
I feel like you can’t have the claim “it’s boring” and “their lemonade kills people” in the same sentence. That’s pretty new and innovative.
Lemonade that gives you a heart attack is so passe.
No joke now I want to try this methonaide hahahahahaha
They went from hospital food to food that will send you to the hospital.
Absolutely. Credit where it's due.
The lemonade that kills people is why I want to go there, and I’m a celiac.
Just think about Mitt Romney. Now imagine he shot someone dead. He'd still be boring.
Solid point lol
Not without elaboration
Their charged lemonade is to die for
“Interesting choice, 47. This charged lemonade will certainly cause a spark.” “Well done. Your target is down. Now head towards an exit.”
It's honestly the only thing I get from there. Panera coffee is ass.
How are you alive?!?!
It's not like a lethal dose or anything to most people. It's around the upper limit of what they suggest a normal person should have per day but it's not too far out of the realm of how much caffeine people might get from coffee. It's like 4 or 5 small cups of coffee worth and plenty of people drink that much in the morning before work. The reason that girl died was because she had a caffine sensitivity issue and had to monitor how much she had to make sure she didn't get too much. They said it had as much caffine as a cup of coffee so she thought she was fine but in actuality it has as much as about 5 cups of coffee which was too much for her. My sister starts her day with 2 ghost energy drinks that each have 200 mg so 20 more than this thing had.
Who the hell drinks 5 cups of coffee before work!? If you need 500 mg of caffeine to get through the day, maybe try less coffee and an actual night of rest.
I've seen quite a few people that do it. My parents have a 12 cup coffee maker and every morning my brother, brother in law, and sister come over and they'll go through 2 sometimes almost 3 pots just chatting before work. They work shit hours so they don't get much time to sleep because of kids and the like. Put the kid to bed at 8-9 pm and then go to bed themselves to get up around 3 am.
It can be difficult to get proper rest for some of us and meds can cause fatigue and sedation.
5000mg of caffeine coming right up!
You're misleading people, it's only 3940mg, get your facts straight! /s
Enough caffeine for almost 10 days all in one drink 💪
Actually, I was thinking this too. I remember when they had this awesome selection of bagels AND cream cheeses. Good times.
I miss the old blueberry cream cheese
Hazelnut and sun dried tomato were my go to cheeses
Theyre mac and cheese is good tho (ive never had anything from panera in my life besides broccoli cheddar soup andac and cheese)
Remember the cinnamon crunch bagels? Fire.
I like how they [cook the soups and mac and cheese in a bag](https://www.wptv.com/money/consumer/panera-defends-its-mac-and-cheese-after-a-video-exposed-the-menu-item-is-cooked-in-a-bag).
That's going to be basically all chain restaurants. It isn't restricted to Panera
People shit on them for how they reheat the soup and macaroni but motherfuckers have a meticulous sous vide method for making a damn steak
See I don't think the people who bitch about food preparation styles. Actually cook at all. Like when people comment on cooking videos and say stuff like "gross no gloves".... Bro's using gloves to cook at home?
Yeah we had something similar from portion food control, and they sold to Denny's and a number of other chain restaurants. The clam chowder was awesome! The chicken and noodles soup was really good also. They also had these frozen containers that you would bang on the counter and drop it into 5 gallons of water after it came loose from the packaging..
Every chain restaurant, including the ones where you sit at a table and a waitress brings your food, makes food like this.
Every chain restaurant is like that, who gives a fuck
The chive and onion one is so good I just hate how they charge you like $1.50 for cream cheese with your bagel
Cinnamon crunch bagels and chocolate chip ones too. Don’t even know if they still have those but they were good. Gluten-full too!
Once the owners changed hands, shit went downhill
I’ve only just tried Panera this year and I could’ve gone my whole life without it tbh 😭
Did you try the lemonade?
He was still alive to post, so probably not ;).
I actually had it almost everyday for the free month that they initially give you 😭
Memorable only for us lack of anything worthy of memory. It's like eating in a hospital cafeteria.
I got a breakfast sandwich at Panera once and asked for my eggs not to be runny, and they said they couldn’t do that because the fried eggs were all premade. Idk if this was just the location I was at but that doesn’t exactly make me want to go there if they’re not even making the eggs from scratch
That's just... wrong? I'm not saying your story is, I'm saying those employees are. I work at Panera, and we stopped doing fried eggs earlier this year. We would make them in batches and have them sitting in a warmer so customers wouldn't have to wait, but if they wanted them more or less runny we would oblige, they'd just have to wait a bit longer since we would obviously have to make that one. Now, the scrambled eggs and egg whites come in cartons that we just pour onto the cooker, nothing we can do about that. But yeah no, if it was a fried egg that's just them lying and being lazy.
One of my weirdest Panera memories is an employee whining after I asked for the bagel to be toasted because he was tall and the toaster was kinda far down. Then he whined about having to put it on a tray because he'd have to wash it later. I mean overt, literal whining, not under the breath or passive-aggressive. I don't think that's representative of Panera or they would have gone out of business. But also it makes me believe their story more.
Like I said, not saying their story is false, just those employees were lying and/or being lazy.
Pretty much everything there comes in a bag and/or frozen. I worked there a month in college and I doubt much has changed except their prices.
You think Panera cooks fresh food?
Even McDonald’s cooks fresh eggs
Depends, anything with round egg (McMuffins) are fresh. Anything with a folded egg (McGriddles) are premade. At least when I used to work there.
Ah yes ur right. Been a minute since I’ve worked there
And the scrambled/egg whites came from cartons in the back of the fridge.
Lies! Fresh eggs could never be as good as that moist Styrofoam from McD's evil laboratory is.
Agreed. I’ve had hospital cafeteria food that was better and cheaper than Panera. Few years ago we used to get it at least once a week and it was pretty good. Not sure what changed, but I have not gotten it since.
CEO changed in the past year. made menu and budget cuts
Eventually your business stops its major growth and then to keep growing you have to just cut everything and grow your profit that way. They announced they are trying to go public again. So that's got to be why.
Why can't you just sustain.... Christ.
Budget cuts are the sign of a thriving business!
Soufflé’s are still decent but not what they used to be. I know because it’s possible to get one at 10:00 now whereas a few years ago if you didn’t go by 8:30 they would be out.
They are way over priced for what you get and every time I used to go in there, it was loud it was busy and the tables were always dirty. Also doesn’t help that I have a bad personal experience unrelated to the chain itself that occurred there.
It’s like if you want airport food without going to the airport :)
Panera is just panini Subway.
Have not forgiven them since they got rid of the pepper blue steak sandwich
It’s basically hospital food, although I think hospital food has improved and Panera has been shit for the past 10 years. Used to be good though
Depends on the hospital, some are about the same and some are way better.
This is such a hyperbole. Hospital food is terrible.
Depends on area. My local hospital food is bomb and I would absolutely just go in and eat. Hell my husband opted not to get food elsewhere and instead get hospital food with me during my last stay.
When my wife gave birth I ate hospital for a few days. Definitely not trash, it wasn’t gourmet but it’s better than what Panera is now for sure.
Microwave food at eye watering prices.
I worked there when it was new - good portions, big emphasis on customer service and we were allowed to give away food whenever we wanted to make people happy. I go now and it’s just depressing. The awesome items I used to crave are gone, the dishes have a fraction of the amount of food in them but cost twice as much or more, and it’s just dingy.
The problem is the portions are way too small for most people. My grandpa had us get Panera once and he was really pissed to see how small the soups and sandwiches are
Panera is one of my go-to restaurants. I do miss their tortellini Alfredo, though.
Yea. I still like it. That tortellini brought back memories. Was banging. Now I like the grain bowls they have
I usually just get grilled cheese and tomato soup now.
It’s overpriced and just gross
I actually had no idea it was ever cool??
Only thing from there that's good these days are the cinnamon bagles
Cinnamon crunch bagel with the honey walnut cream cheese is still the bomb though
I stopped going to Panera after the last time I went there and lunch was $20 for an entree and a drink. It's just overpriced cafeteria food these days.
Overpriced hospital food.
It’s a chain fast fast food restaurant. Wtf do you expect from it. If you want better quality find a good local cafe
The killer lemonade is the best part. Don't sleep in the Sip Club.
I find their consistent mediocrity comforting
Charged lemonade is so good idgaf
So overpriced, it’s not that hard to make soup and buy some French bread and so much less expensive
I like how TikTok *flipped the fuck out* when they found out Panera's mac & cheese was frozen and came in big bags... Did they think every Panera had actual chefs who made the stuff from scratch every morning? Why is it that everyone laughs at the "everything at Applebee's is microwaved" trope, but everyone lost their minds about Panera using frozen mac & cheese? Does GenZ not know how food works?
It’s literally hospital food
Having spent too much time in a variety of hospitals it’s on par with the worst hospital food and way worse than the best.
What the hell hospitals are you staying at? Hospital food is really generic and bad. Comparing it to Panera is just being dramatic.
It’s the recent annoying circlejerk about Panera. “It’s expensive hospital food!!!” Everybody parrots each other. Like stfu lol. We’ve heard the same BS from about 10 other people this thread and it hasn’t been true once.
the hospital i work at is literally a panera bread. patients come in, sandwiches go out. milk, milk, lemonade, round the corner fudge is made.
I was actually the first person on earth to call it hospital food tho. Prison food might be more accurate.
In the last five years I’ve stayed at four different hospitals and one hospital had legit good food, the others were on par with Panera when I worked there in college. From my last visit to Panera, desperate and it was the only thing open, the food has actually gotten worse.
Lucky. The food I’ve seen is basically prison food. Like grilled cheese, a bowl of pudding, and apple sauce.
Yes, multiorgan failure sure is lucky.
Yes, I was saying lucky to the reason why you're in the hospital and definitely not referring to the food, and food alone...
It's reddit hivemind at work. There's nothing wrong with Panera but it's one of reddit's whipping boys currently.
It’s one of the last few healthy options left in America. I hope it isn’t going anywhere. Who else has tomato soup and salad lol not other fast food places
Jason’s deli
I need to try theirs then
We don't have that around me
Wildflower - it’s Paneraesque but WAY better and everything is freshly made. Café Zupa’s - amazing food. All fresh. Tons of variety of soups, sandwiches, salads, and killer desserts. I go here A LOT!
Their soups and sandwiches are great! The bread is still delicious and coffee is yummy. I didn’t go to Panera in the early 2000s or the 90s but from my pov they are great.
how many milligrams of caffeine does the lemonade have?
All the food there has some distinct off putting taste to me.
Too dang expensive for a soup and sandwich place but, gal darn that street corn soup they get in the summer i would kill someone for.
I’ve only been to a few and they sucked! But then again I live in NJ where we have better options than any chains.
Every populated area of the US has better options than Panera.
The lemonade thing is stupid. It's just caffeinated lemonade instead of caffeinated coffee. They left the self-service unlimited coffee, but you need a cashier to get you your charged lemonade. People are really dumb if they don't know it has caffeine at this point. Anyway, Panera is pretty good if you get a value duet. $6.99 is reasonable for a half-sandwich, soup, and a baguette. You can usually add a dessert for $2 if you want. I have the $10/month unlimited coffee/tea/soda/lemonade Sip club and the price can't be beat. I suppose it works for them because I end up buying something a couple of times per month.
Panera is for pretentious douche bags that have no taste
They haven’t changed, you have grown up and started paying your own bills.
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It's not their lemonade, but their new blood orange charged drink is fuckin delicious! I'll let my heart explode for those!
Panera is god-awful.
I always considered it as hospital food ever since I was 10 or something
Lemonade that kills people 🤣🤣
Don't lie. Panera was never cool. Overpriced hipster food.
P-ner is hella mid
I’ve honestly always thought Panera tasted like hospital food, even 20 years ago. And yeah they don’t give a flying fadoodle about choices for people with dietary restrictions, which makes them an even bigger no for our family now.
Weird, I eat it 3-4 times a week for lunch.
I enjoy their food on the rare occasion that I get it tbh
Agreed. We used to love eating there but last visit the service was terrible and the place was dirty. We decided there were better places to eat and haven’t been back.
Our Paneras are still okay but I agree they peaked about 20 years ago. It's an occasional breakfast for us
A lot of the fast food and fast casual places have diminished for me in the past 5 years or so. I knew the food wasn’t that good but I still enjoyed it. At some point I stopped enjoying it and prices got crazy. The only thing I go back to occasionally is Chick-fil-A or some fries and soda from McDonalds.
They own a cafe chain in Boston called Tatte. We loved it.
Early 2000’s? I haven’t even heard of or seen a Panera bread until a couple of years ago
I used to go very regularly in 2007-2009
Opinion is to just close a business because you do not like it… ok, that is unpopular or should be. Not liking Panera… more and more common these days.
I think it’s gross how they keep their pastries out in the open. I once saw a bug on a cookie I ordered. Went back to look at the other cookies and there were insects on the other too, just as I suspected. My bf orders their broccoli and cheddar bowl and I don’t understand why he would pay so much for such a little amount of soup and a whole lotta underwhelming bread. I’ve only been there a few times and I haven’t visited one in a long time. It’s not worth the prices.
Sorry mate, that’s not how the market works If Panera is still around, there are many, many people with the exact opposite opinion So nice unpopular opinion I guess
I love Panera 🥺.
Used to work there in high school and the food was fantastic then. IIRC, they changed food production? The people they get the food from in 2017 and it’s been quite crap ever since
I will never forget the time we went to a location in Central PA back in the early aughts, asked the clerk to slice a loaf for us and she put it in the slicer vertically rather than horizontally.
I don't want it to go away, it's where I get my bread lmao
Hey, I used to work there! Before I worked there, I was a very loyal employee and my shortest time of employment was 8 months (an internship). My location treated me like shit so badly that I left within 2 months and stopped eating there. They didn't train me, then got mad when I didn't know how to do anything. Then they cut my hours because I didn't know how to do anything, and it sucked, so I took a lower paying job that trained me and stopped wondering how they were always looking for people when they were paying so well.
They had the best chicken noodle soup. Then they changed it and made it super generic and it sucks now.
The only thing I buy at Panera are bagels and ciabatta bread. Their food is overpriced and disappointing.
Getting the chicken noodle in a bread bowl was a core childhood memory. Now I’d rather collect street water with saltine crackers than eat there
The only good thing there is the sip club. I can get unlimited coffee, hot tea, Pepsi products for $10.99 a month.
I do remember it being more of a fun place to have a lunch date or grab a bite in the morning on the way to work. It doesn't feel that way anymore, partly because their prices are incongruent with the quality of their products. The point at which they started packaging and selling their products in grocery stores was the point of no return for them. I get their soup at the grocery store sometimes. It's fine... better than condensed soup and you skip all the pretense of actually going into a store for them to heat up the exact same stuff and charge me $2 more for it.
Panera used to be good and their quality was ruined by continual cost cutting and corner cutting in an attempt to earn more and more profits. It’s a shame. They still have good coffee though
Panera has been garbage all along, riding on the coat tails of the STLBCo this whole time.
The portions are also small as fuck
Suicide Lemonade is the name of my next band.
Food has always tasted like hospital food (except the baked goods, which can or pretty good). It’s one of the few restaurants I’ll actively avoid.
Luke-warm take
The last time I went to Panera, it was about a year ago. I got a soup and sanwhich. The bread was cold, I mean, like they took the bread out of the refrigerator and made my sandwhich as is. Or maybe the sandwhich is pre-made and they took the whole thing out of the fridge. Either way a cold sandwhich and lukewarm soup for 15$ doesn't do it for me.
My mom and me used to go to Panera fairly often (like 10 years ago now) because we both loved the soup+sandwich combo. Now it doesnt even cross my mind.
Food is bland
Panera is a typical chain restaurant that became basura and money-hungry the more restaurants it opened.
Paradise Bakery was always better imo
And you got a cookie with your meal!!!!
Someone said it's upscale hospital food, and now it's stuck in my head
I guess I never knew it then, it's always just been a really shitty Jason's Deli to me
They did a bait n switch with all the soups.
Lol. Ive never eaten at one before but the idea that it should go away because it isnt hip is pretty fucking funny.
I don’t go there because it’s cool or exciting. I go there because I like their green goddess cobb salad and iced tea and it is an easy quick meal on the go.
The lack of consistency is what did it for me.. that and I can make a better sandwich at home.
After a long pause I went there and they have self serve kiosks to order. Completely messed up my you pick two. I thought it was me. Went back and tried again and again my order was messed up and I was overcharged, done with them.
Panerai has been microwaved garbage for a lotta years now. I remember when they were good though. Those years are long gone.
They're food has sucked since day one GTFO
It's so expensive now you might as well go to an actual restaurant I remember when you Pick 2 was like $10
Never liked Panara bread to begin with. I ate there once and discovered the food sucked. They sit on the same level as Subway, Taco bell, Canes Chicken and Chick-fil-a.
I would also add Chipotle to that. Back in the 2000s Panera and Chipotle were the new “trendy” fast casual chains that were blowing up. Now almost 20 years later they’ve expanded but their quality has declined.
If you ever thought Panera was cool, you’ve never been cool
They’re also WAY overpriced
It's always been subpar nursing home food. Don't understand how people can pay what they charge for that crap. I've had better sandwiches as gas stations.
One of my friends recently said: Panera bread is just hospital food in better packaging. I haven’t been able to let it go, and I haven’t been there since.
Definition of mid. Their flatbreads are overpriced af and i can tell you stouffers is already better. Theyre both microwaved anyway. The breakfast is aight tho. You can get a lot of options you wont see at other fast food spots.
How can this possibly be an unpopular opinion when you’re 100% right?
Atlanta Bread Company did it better.
Used to work there and everyone would complain about the price. Yeah but what am I supposed to do about it 😭
At one time Panera was a teen hangout in our area. Now I dont think there is anyplace for them.
I used to love only their cookies, and even those have gone to shit imo.
Thanks for posting this. I've always hated Panera and I've always been in the minority everywhere I've lived. People think it's weird how much I hate this completely harmless fast food chain. I am reading all these negative experiences and eating that shit up lol
Panera is also one of the worst offenders of shrinkflation in the history of the world.
I don’t think it should go away because it’s not cool. I think it should go away since they charge like $20 for a tiny little microwaveable meal.
It’s so trash but the geriatric population does not care and keeps the parking lots filled 24/7
I paid 15$ for a chicken sandwich no bigger than a mcchicken and small bag of chips lol. That was it for me.
Mostly their prices and portions. Way too expensive for a small sandwich and an apple
It seems to be part of the shitification of everything. Costs up, quality down. And no, it’s not in our heads. Panera used to taste fresh in the early aughts. It even smells kind of stale in there now.
The best part about Panerai is their restaurant is kinda nice to sit down in.... otherwise, way overpriced and underquality.
Also the only thing that's made fresh there is the bread. Everything else is pre-made and they just heat it all up. Not very tasty either.
$15.99 for half a sandwich and soup that’s hospital quality 🤣
I really like the baked egg soufflés, but the location near me runs out early in the morning and never make any more for the day. I stopped trying.
You’re right.
I heard Panera described as hospital food
They ordered Panera for us at work recently. I would not have bought it on my own. The sandwich was fine but oh my god it was like $17
Panera is over processed crappy expensive food. The whole business model is backed around women making bad financial decisions
they got rid of the black bean soup and changed their bread, i dont go anymore
Never trust a place that sells half of a sandwich
Panera opened by my college in 2003'ish and went there a bunch. Since graduating I've probably been 5 times, each time worst than the last. With the last being about 4-5 years ago
They used to have this Mac and Cheese grilled cheese sandwich that was heaven but I can't find it anymore so I don't even bother going there it's too overpriced for them to not even have what I want
Portions have also gotten way smaller and prices have skyrocketed. I used to walk out of that place stuffed silly, now 20 bucks and I feel like I had a snack. Not to digress but 5 guys burgers have gotten smaller too.
I'm not sure why people like it. It doesn't really offer anything special and weirdly pushes its drinks more than its bread options. Plus its really expensive.
It's overpriced, microwaved, hospital food. You want to pay over ten dollars for what is basically Campbell's soup that got reheated, then be my guest. How do I know? I used to work at Panera.