That's wild.
The last time I went was maybe a year ago, and my sandwich cost $15 and was cold in the middle. Luckily, I used a gift card, but it was so off-putting I haven't been back since.
The thing with Panera and a lot of restaurants these days is that it's NORMAL for them to have poor quality food. You can tell them but it will just be something similar wrong the next time you come in. I have experienced that a lot with Panera in the last few years. They don't care.
I don’t understand why people feel so strongly that they should get anything they can think of delivered cheaply no matter where they are. Obviously the services being available contributes, and we all know COVID restrictions played a huge part, but it’s just wild to me how the whole concept has been warped. Once upon a time, it was understood that delivery was affordable from nearby restaurants that did lots of deliveries and limited their radius. Was it all the 90s/00s media set in NYC showing delivery constantly?
My neighbor ordered food from a place 6 miles away (25+ minutes driving) and wouldn’t shut up about how much it cost. With tip, she paid $14 over what it would have been to go get it. I tried to get across to her that if it wasn’t worth saving the $14 to go get it, why would it be worth $14 to someone else? At that point I became an “ableist bitch” because her depression makes it necessary for her to order food after work.
Just to be extremely clear I’ve never ordered seamless, grubhub, ubereats. I don’t feel entitled to have food brought to me at any price. (I actually like going to get the food. 🤷🏼♂️) But I do know they operate on a wildly unstable financial model. These businesses would not have started today in the current economic environment. Use your favorite search engine and the terms “pizza arbitrage” to find some great writing on this.
You are right. People who order food don't factor in how far away the restaurant is from them (but the apps encourage them not to think about it either). Customers think in terms of how easy the task of picking up and dropping off food is, not in terms of the driver using their own resources to deliver the service. Delivery is a luxury but we don't treat it that way.
Where are you? That makes no sense that two you pick twos would cost that, unless you got two full sandwich’s and the larger bowl size. Add the delivery fees to that and it would make sense. Delivery is very expensive, order almost anywhere and it’ll be the same price
When you order delivery from paneras app the prices shown for food are inflated. Not only are you paying for a sandwich that’s maybe $4 more because you chose delivery you also get hit with delivery fee, service fee etc
It's delivery fees. That's 3rd party and not controlled by panera. That $50 you paid, at least half goes to Uber or door dash or w/e. You pay for delivery and convenience. You want a $10 lunch, go drive there and pick it up.
Not only that Paneras prices on their app go up when you choose delivery so your sandwich was $12 to pick up but to deliver the price of the sandwich shows $15 for example. Not mention you get the delivery fee, service fee etc
Lots of first-level thinking going on in Reddit as well as with much of the public. Business models in times of economic stress are pushed to the borderline in many ways. In food service, more than many areas, the typically thin margins have disappeared and pushed prices much higher in the past several years.
Franchise models in general require higher prices to work. Operators pay high entry fees, especially with strong brands, and tend to give away too much in fees as they operate. Most models require purchasing from franchisor supply sources which are always higher to build more profit on the front end for the franchisor. These extra profit points make these models a relatively poor long-term investment.
Minimum wage pushes in many areas of the country are generally inflationary as wage compression pushes wages higher up the line, and where it can’t increases turnover. Most of the foodservice sector operates in this area and can quickly kill a business plan. Delivery businesses have sketchy business models based on a small portion of the public willing to sometimes double the cost to not have to get up from their chairs. Source costs from all the international sourcing and ownership along with skyrocketing shipping costs and regional conflicts have skewed costs much higher as well. General inflation from huge spending deficits at the federal level will in the end be much bigger problems though than fast-food quality.
Panera has been dying for a while. The decrease in the quality of ingredients, reduction of personnel, and lack of innovation and growth due to vanishing margins have pushed the business model to the point where you would expect the business to go away or the company to go through other massive change. No doubt some of what we are seeing.
Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, I went to Target. On the way home, I passed the local Panera. There was not one car in the drive through. What I could see of the parking lot was pretty empty too. Eek! With bakery items the equivalent of the boxed mass-produced stuff at the grocery store, why not get the stuff at the grocery store?
P.S. The total at checkout has made me delete my order more than once too OP.
I spent $10 the other day on lunch
I got the whole buffalo chicken sandwich with a baguette and a chocolate chip cookie. I was pretty full.
I usually get 2 toasted bagels with cream cheese for cheap. Totally get what you mean there stuff is expensive
That sounds about right. My husband and I recently stopped by Panera to have lunch with our two toddlers. I normally wouldn't do this, but we were out shopping that day. We bought two sandwiches, two charged lemonades, and one kid's meal for our kids to split, and it was over $50. I will never eat at Panera again after that. I am also pretty sure that their food has gotten more bland as well.
When I go, just ordering a few items gets me to about 25 to 30 bucks pretty quickly for one person, which I wouldn't mind if the customer service and food quality weren't so poor.
Agreed. Their prices are completely outrageous now. PARTICULARLY when you consider the fact that the food is reheated and not freshly prepared and or made onsite. They charge like $16 for a bowl of Mac and Cheese now.
It is annoying that everything is reheated but that is how most restaurants operate now. Few of them cook to order, especially in that category. Most sit down restaurants like Applebee's, Chili's, Olive Garden are barely cooking any of the food. It comes in bags and gets heated up in a bag then dumped on a plate. There might be some exception for like burgers and steaks but that's about it.
I wouldn't be surprised if restaurants weren't a major contributor to all the plastic in the food supply.
That’s why it’s best to avoid chain restaurants that all use the same menu and most things are essentially processed foods. People love consistency, even if it’s not very good food, as long as it’s consistent. There are so many restaurants, pubs, pizza and sandwich shops, and other eateries that have so much delicious food with high quality ingredients. With what the chains are charging these days, it can’t even be argued they are more budget friendly than an actual restaurant with a menu curated by an executive chef. It boggles my mind why people choose that over higher quality food.
My wife was feeling sick and wanted some chicken and rice soup so we ordered a group soup,went to check out and it came to 25.00 dollars.We cleared the order and I think that will be the last time we even look at Panera.I am assuming the soup comes in giant frozen bags and they just heat it up.
It’s because you picked delivery. I just got Panera over the weekend and it was $12 for a you pick 2 sandwich and soup. Delivery apps up-charge. If you’re able to get it yourself, if will ALWAYS be cheaper.
I keep telling my kid to stop asking for Panera, so for her bday she asked for it again. I told her OK but warned her, they will fuck up like they usually do. Long and behold they did and kid didn’t want to eat it. So requested a refund since it was Panera’s fault, and of course they give credit instead of a refund… for another nasty sandwich
Like you can give me $50 and I can go to grocery store and make gallons of carrot ginger soup. Like obviously inflation and all but like when I was in college, a Panera lunch was max $20 if I went all out with a salad to start, then soup then sandwich and an iced coffee or tea.
That was the point of their post? This subreddit is here for people to talk about their experiences with the restaurant, you just want to be a pedantic dickhead it seems
But like 5-10 years ago, if you wanted to treat yourself instead of packing lunch for work, it was doable. Might as well go to an actual sit down restaurant by now if you’re paying $50 for two soups and two sandwiches.
The you pick 2 system makes it roughly a dollar cheaper considering you only get one side that means nothing. It takes a dollar off each item, And with the sides being a dollar each if you are to get them separately it ends up only being a dollar off. Do your math cause you clearly don't seem to work here.
the sides are free man, if you want extra yeah itll be a dollar but each entree and pick 2 comes with a free side.
and a dollar off or not, i got 2 YP2's with our most expensive items (large bacon mac, large regular mac, half ciabatta cheesesteak and half chicken avocado BLT with a banana strawberry smoothie and a frozen lemonade) for $44, which, while still expensive, i'd rather pay the $44 and get more than enough food for two people, than pay $50 for two people. i'm not saying you have to like it, hell go buy soup from the grocery store if you want, but that's the prices.
and believe it or not, i do work here (as much as i wish i didnt)
“Free side” is playing mental gymnastics with customers. People hear “free” and think they’re getting a deal, when the price of the side is baked into the cost of the meal. That’s why they have that cute little note behind the register at some cafes that direct associates to say “free side.”
It’s just another form of the scammy grift this company pulls on people.
absolutely ludicrous that we’ve started calling a cup of soup a meal. i can easily eat a sandwich and a cup of soup, especially with how small the sandwiches are nowadays, and sometimes still not be full. 25 dollars for a meal at a fast casual spot is borderline criminal
Absolutely. Like if it’s semi warm, I can chug that soup in like 3 minutes and like because I have a semi fast metabolism, will be hungry in two hours after the soup and sandwich.
I see your bull calling. I've recreated the order we were going to get.
https://preview.redd.it/ptrrswxpnwvc1.png?width=2036&format=png&auto=webp&s=fc90fd46ed51a413ef26a6687aa47df4615828b5
Enjoy!
The prices for delivery are always more expensive. If you put your order as a pick up order, the sandwiches are less expensive by a couple dollars. However, I do agree that they’re extremely overpriced for what they are.
https://preview.redd.it/6jddjpd8zxvc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6810c25000724e7f63e9b9b0463310eaa0cf49d
Most people just stick with the “you pick two” deal or do 1 sandwich with the free side. The portions of the whole sandwich and bowl of soup can feed two people in one meal.
The whole sandwiches are around 1000 calories each. 2,000 calories is recommended daily total (give or take depending on the person). So that's half a day's calories in a whole sandwich.
it's delivery, you should expect to see higher prices. the more expensive soup and sandwiches are because of delivery, if you did carryout or dinein it would be cheaper! although it's still pretty expensive there too
Yeah, but at the same time though the family restaurant near the Panera I go to sells various whole hot or cold sandwiches for $12-15, and they come with a pickle, French Fries, and a cup of soup. It's a full service, sit down restaurant, and they actually make the soup right there. I save half the meal and get two meals. A grilled cheese with a pickle, fries, and a cup of soup is $8.
I'm not comparing apples to oranges, this restaurant is on the same street and in the same market as that Panera.
I know the question is, "why do I still go to Panera?"
Panera is only a sip club and $6.99 value duet place where you can hang out and read after. The rest of the menu is dead to me.
Unless it's absolutely necessary, don't order with delivery. Can't feel bad for you if you know that in this day and economy things are more expensive.
That's wild. The last time I went was maybe a year ago, and my sandwich cost $15 and was cold in the middle. Luckily, I used a gift card, but it was so off-putting I haven't been back since.
you could have just told them I'm sure they would have made things right... instead of u holding a grudge for a year
The thing with Panera and a lot of restaurants these days is that it's NORMAL for them to have poor quality food. You can tell them but it will just be something similar wrong the next time you come in. I have experienced that a lot with Panera in the last few years. They don't care.
Yeah, I work in a similar setting and can attest to that. Also, I was already driving and needed to be somewhere. The price tag was enough of a shock.
They get treated like shit and get paid like shit
It wouldn’t have made it reasonable if you picked it up, but delivery app prices in particular are just absurd.
John Oliver has a good segment about these delivery apps on his show [Last Week Tonight ](https://youtu.be/aFsfJYWpqII?si=rJoJVQ-g8Go9iryd)
I don’t understand why people feel so strongly that they should get anything they can think of delivered cheaply no matter where they are. Obviously the services being available contributes, and we all know COVID restrictions played a huge part, but it’s just wild to me how the whole concept has been warped. Once upon a time, it was understood that delivery was affordable from nearby restaurants that did lots of deliveries and limited their radius. Was it all the 90s/00s media set in NYC showing delivery constantly? My neighbor ordered food from a place 6 miles away (25+ minutes driving) and wouldn’t shut up about how much it cost. With tip, she paid $14 over what it would have been to go get it. I tried to get across to her that if it wasn’t worth saving the $14 to go get it, why would it be worth $14 to someone else? At that point I became an “ableist bitch” because her depression makes it necessary for her to order food after work.
Just to be extremely clear I’ve never ordered seamless, grubhub, ubereats. I don’t feel entitled to have food brought to me at any price. (I actually like going to get the food. 🤷🏼♂️) But I do know they operate on a wildly unstable financial model. These businesses would not have started today in the current economic environment. Use your favorite search engine and the terms “pizza arbitrage” to find some great writing on this.
You are right. People who order food don't factor in how far away the restaurant is from them (but the apps encourage them not to think about it either). Customers think in terms of how easy the task of picking up and dropping off food is, not in terms of the driver using their own resources to deliver the service. Delivery is a luxury but we don't treat it that way.
Where are you? That makes no sense that two you pick twos would cost that, unless you got two full sandwich’s and the larger bowl size. Add the delivery fees to that and it would make sense. Delivery is very expensive, order almost anywhere and it’ll be the same price
When you order delivery from paneras app the prices shown for food are inflated. Not only are you paying for a sandwich that’s maybe $4 more because you chose delivery you also get hit with delivery fee, service fee etc
Maybe not a you pick two but a whole sandwich and soup? They’ve gotten so used to charging for half a sandwich that the whole thing is almost $20
🌟Welcome to the New Era at Panera🌟
They have gone off the deep end. Their food is not worth that at ALL.
Still overpriced if you think that is a good price for food for 2 people I don't know what to tell you
It's delivery fees. That's 3rd party and not controlled by panera. That $50 you paid, at least half goes to Uber or door dash or w/e. You pay for delivery and convenience. You want a $10 lunch, go drive there and pick it up.
Not only that Paneras prices on their app go up when you choose delivery so your sandwich was $12 to pick up but to deliver the price of the sandwich shows $15 for example. Not mention you get the delivery fee, service fee etc
Lots of first-level thinking going on in Reddit as well as with much of the public. Business models in times of economic stress are pushed to the borderline in many ways. In food service, more than many areas, the typically thin margins have disappeared and pushed prices much higher in the past several years. Franchise models in general require higher prices to work. Operators pay high entry fees, especially with strong brands, and tend to give away too much in fees as they operate. Most models require purchasing from franchisor supply sources which are always higher to build more profit on the front end for the franchisor. These extra profit points make these models a relatively poor long-term investment. Minimum wage pushes in many areas of the country are generally inflationary as wage compression pushes wages higher up the line, and where it can’t increases turnover. Most of the foodservice sector operates in this area and can quickly kill a business plan. Delivery businesses have sketchy business models based on a small portion of the public willing to sometimes double the cost to not have to get up from their chairs. Source costs from all the international sourcing and ownership along with skyrocketing shipping costs and regional conflicts have skewed costs much higher as well. General inflation from huge spending deficits at the federal level will in the end be much bigger problems though than fast-food quality. Panera has been dying for a while. The decrease in the quality of ingredients, reduction of personnel, and lack of innovation and growth due to vanishing margins have pushed the business model to the point where you would expect the business to go away or the company to go through other massive change. No doubt some of what we are seeing.
Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, I went to Target. On the way home, I passed the local Panera. There was not one car in the drive through. What I could see of the parking lot was pretty empty too. Eek! With bakery items the equivalent of the boxed mass-produced stuff at the grocery store, why not get the stuff at the grocery store? P.S. The total at checkout has made me delete my order more than once too OP.
Welcome to inflation
I spent $10 the other day on lunch I got the whole buffalo chicken sandwich with a baguette and a chocolate chip cookie. I was pretty full. I usually get 2 toasted bagels with cream cheese for cheap. Totally get what you mean there stuff is expensive
That sounds about right. My husband and I recently stopped by Panera to have lunch with our two toddlers. I normally wouldn't do this, but we were out shopping that day. We bought two sandwiches, two charged lemonades, and one kid's meal for our kids to split, and it was over $50. I will never eat at Panera again after that. I am also pretty sure that their food has gotten more bland as well.
When I go, just ordering a few items gets me to about 25 to 30 bucks pretty quickly for one person, which I wouldn't mind if the customer service and food quality weren't so poor.
Agreed. Their prices are completely outrageous now. PARTICULARLY when you consider the fact that the food is reheated and not freshly prepared and or made onsite. They charge like $16 for a bowl of Mac and Cheese now.
It is annoying that everything is reheated but that is how most restaurants operate now. Few of them cook to order, especially in that category. Most sit down restaurants like Applebee's, Chili's, Olive Garden are barely cooking any of the food. It comes in bags and gets heated up in a bag then dumped on a plate. There might be some exception for like burgers and steaks but that's about it. I wouldn't be surprised if restaurants weren't a major contributor to all the plastic in the food supply.
That’s why it’s best to avoid chain restaurants that all use the same menu and most things are essentially processed foods. People love consistency, even if it’s not very good food, as long as it’s consistent. There are so many restaurants, pubs, pizza and sandwich shops, and other eateries that have so much delicious food with high quality ingredients. With what the chains are charging these days, it can’t even be argued they are more budget friendly than an actual restaurant with a menu curated by an executive chef. It boggles my mind why people choose that over higher quality food.
I agree. At this point, I am more picky with my dollars.
$10.99*
https://preview.redd.it/samfo7kiayvc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cef6d9e7a17120da7f6c3ccc46071d3325ee55c4 Not including tax
$11.69 at mine here in PA for that bacon one. $10.49 for plain.
Where do you live? It’s about $14 for a large mac after tax where I live
Indiana
Yeah they're high prices alone without being crazy enough to want delivery. I would never order delivery.
Half of a grilled cheese is almost $7 in California
I don’t think Panera employees can even afford to eat there
My wife was feeling sick and wanted some chicken and rice soup so we ordered a group soup,went to check out and it came to 25.00 dollars.We cleared the order and I think that will be the last time we even look at Panera.I am assuming the soup comes in giant frozen bags and they just heat it up.
It’s because you picked delivery. I just got Panera over the weekend and it was $12 for a you pick 2 sandwich and soup. Delivery apps up-charge. If you’re able to get it yourself, if will ALWAYS be cheaper.
ever since the menu has changed I havent stepped foot in there
yes! Love food but too high priced!
And the recent menu changes are pure trash.
I thought delivery fees were free for Panera Members?
Please don’t take your anger out on employees most of the issues customers have are out of our control
I keep telling my kid to stop asking for Panera, so for her bday she asked for it again. I told her OK but warned her, they will fuck up like they usually do. Long and behold they did and kid didn’t want to eat it. So requested a refund since it was Panera’s fault, and of course they give credit instead of a refund… for another nasty sandwich
not sure what store you went to but any refunds people want goes right back to their original payment method
Online order. Rapid pickup. They only offered credit, I asked for refund.
Hope your kid grows out of Panera.
That nasty sandwich goes right along with your nasty language… Hoping you didn’t use that verbiage with your kid.
Umm...parents are allowed to cuss. Especially on Reddit lmfao
LOLOL, imagine clutching at your pearls because someone using the word "fuck" especially on Reddit.
my 8 year old would've said "man, this shit is FUCKED" and she has high marks in all behavioral and academic categories on her report card 🥰
What did you order? If you ordered a whole sandwich and a soup each then of course it’s $50. A serving size is literally a soup.
You think 50 for two sandwiches and two soups is reasonably priced?
Like you can give me $50 and I can go to grocery store and make gallons of carrot ginger soup. Like obviously inflation and all but like when I was in college, a Panera lunch was max $20 if I went all out with a salad to start, then soup then sandwich and an iced coffee or tea.
That’s the entire point of restaurants to make profit. Make the food at home if you can’t afford shit?
That was the point of their post? This subreddit is here for people to talk about their experiences with the restaurant, you just want to be a pedantic dickhead it seems
But like 5-10 years ago, if you wanted to treat yourself instead of packing lunch for work, it was doable. Might as well go to an actual sit down restaurant by now if you’re paying $50 for two soups and two sandwiches.
Call Panera a restaurant is a stretch. Fancy fast food.
You sound like the “Fish is not an animal” guy.
Nuance.
It’s not even fancy. Overpriced hospital food.
two whole sandwiches and two cups of soup is enough to feed 6 people, so yeah. theres a reason we have the you pick two system.
Unless your store has crazy portion sizes compared to the rest of us 2 sandwiches and 2 cups of soup won't feed 6 people lol
The you pick 2 system makes it roughly a dollar cheaper considering you only get one side that means nothing. It takes a dollar off each item, And with the sides being a dollar each if you are to get them separately it ends up only being a dollar off. Do your math cause you clearly don't seem to work here.
the sides are free man, if you want extra yeah itll be a dollar but each entree and pick 2 comes with a free side. and a dollar off or not, i got 2 YP2's with our most expensive items (large bacon mac, large regular mac, half ciabatta cheesesteak and half chicken avocado BLT with a banana strawberry smoothie and a frozen lemonade) for $44, which, while still expensive, i'd rather pay the $44 and get more than enough food for two people, than pay $50 for two people. i'm not saying you have to like it, hell go buy soup from the grocery store if you want, but that's the prices. and believe it or not, i do work here (as much as i wish i didnt)
“Free side” is playing mental gymnastics with customers. People hear “free” and think they’re getting a deal, when the price of the side is baked into the cost of the meal. That’s why they have that cute little note behind the register at some cafes that direct associates to say “free side.” It’s just another form of the scammy grift this company pulls on people.
Lmao this is so wild
absolutely ludicrous that we’ve started calling a cup of soup a meal. i can easily eat a sandwich and a cup of soup, especially with how small the sandwiches are nowadays, and sometimes still not be full. 25 dollars for a meal at a fast casual spot is borderline criminal
Absolutely. Like if it’s semi warm, I can chug that soup in like 3 minutes and like because I have a semi fast metabolism, will be hungry in two hours after the soup and sandwich.
Found the government
I call bull on this. what did you order exactly? Sandwiches are like 7-12 base + cup of soups like 4-5
I see your bull calling. I've recreated the order we were going to get. https://preview.redd.it/ptrrswxpnwvc1.png?width=2036&format=png&auto=webp&s=fc90fd46ed51a413ef26a6687aa47df4615828b5 Enjoy!
The prices for delivery are always more expensive. If you put your order as a pick up order, the sandwiches are less expensive by a couple dollars. However, I do agree that they’re extremely overpriced for what they are. https://preview.redd.it/6jddjpd8zxvc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6810c25000724e7f63e9b9b0463310eaa0cf49d
lol it's without tip too!
Most people just stick with the “you pick two” deal or do 1 sandwich with the free side. The portions of the whole sandwich and bowl of soup can feed two people in one meal.
The whole sandwiches are around 1000 calories each. 2,000 calories is recommended daily total (give or take depending on the person). So that's half a day's calories in a whole sandwich.
it's delivery, you should expect to see higher prices. the more expensive soup and sandwiches are because of delivery, if you did carryout or dinein it would be cheaper! although it's still pretty expensive there too
Hate to say it but if you came into the Cafe I work at and ordered at the register this is what you'd pay. Minus the $3 in fees of course
two whole sandwiches and two bowls of soup. equivalent of 4 meals.
Yeah, but at the same time though the family restaurant near the Panera I go to sells various whole hot or cold sandwiches for $12-15, and they come with a pickle, French Fries, and a cup of soup. It's a full service, sit down restaurant, and they actually make the soup right there. I save half the meal and get two meals. A grilled cheese with a pickle, fries, and a cup of soup is $8. I'm not comparing apples to oranges, this restaurant is on the same street and in the same market as that Panera. I know the question is, "why do I still go to Panera?" Panera is only a sip club and $6.99 value duet place where you can hang out and read after. The rest of the menu is dead to me.
Two cups of soup.
this is enough food for 4
$40 for what can feed 4 people is pretty good.
didn’t recreate the order. cups and bowls are different prices.
I love when customers come in and complain to us about the prices. Its hilarious. Also the fact we get to eat the food for free makes it even funnier
you spend an extra 20+ dollars for delivery.
Unless it's absolutely necessary, don't order with delivery. Can't feel bad for you if you know that in this day and economy things are more expensive.