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| - I had not been to Panera for awhile when I stopped in here yesterday. I wasn't really sure why or when I stopped coming. There wasn't a particular event that triggered it. I think I just got tired of Panera.
I remember when this franchise started popping up over the landscape, how refreshing it was to have an alternative to grease-laden guilt of the usual fast food restaurants. Decent soup, sandwiches, and salads in a carefully-calculated coffeehouse atmosphere....it was way better than getting raped in the arteries by Ronald McDonald, The King, or Dave Thomas. But as I sat there waiting for my order yesterday, with a huge 5-pound red-flashing pager in hand, I came to the conclusion that Panera has become a franchise struggling to maintain it's levels of quality and service...perhaps a victim of it's own tremendous success???
The waiting period for food seems to continue to grow longer and longer at Panera, creating an awkward fast-food purgatory, where people mull around with pagers, wondering whether to sit or stand. The staff behind the counter seem as miserable as ever. They've totally scrapped that perky, friendly coffeehouse charade they had working years ago. Now, they just look stressed out and pissed off about the prospect of making yet another sandwich for their increasingly impatient guests. The manager was busy reprimanding one of the cash register girls for taking a "custom" order for a panini while I stood there.
When my sandwich (tomato & mozzerella panini) was finally off the assembly line, I was disappointed. Frankly, it sucked. Worst creation I've ever had from a Panera. It tasted like grilled bread covered with marinara sauce, nothing like the fresh caprese taste I was looking for. Pesto was scarce. My ration of potato chips was pretty disappointing, too. You could count individual chips in a single glance...maybe 10 to 12 good sized chips, with some smaller objects orbiting around the larger planets. I'm all for helping the average American lower their intake of junk food, but don't take it out personally on me, man. I just paid $10 for this.
I'm issuing 3-stars here because I guess I'm still thankful for Panera's existence, even though I think it's slipping. It's still a better alternative to having to give oral to whatever promo partnership Hollywood crapola is taking place over at Burger King this week.
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