Panera Phoenix airport- Corporate- Drive Through Only

[ClownLoach]

I can't imagine stopping for Panera anywhere...

Well, there is THAT.

I haven't liked them since they changed over from St Louis Bread Company and changed the menu. It seems like they use too many ingredients and try to be "upscale" and fall flat on their faces. I do like their regular lemonade (or did, haven't had it in a while so not sure what it tastes like anymore) and their frozen lemonade (ditto) but that's about all.

Do they still carry regular lemonade or just "charged" lemonade?

The "charged" lemonade will be behind the counter this week. It needs to be discontinued entirely. The warning notices they have about it online, in restaurant, etc. are tacky and call into question the entire "clean food" message they have been trying to convey. This product needs to be discontinued immediately. I suspect they cannot discontinue it due to the pending lawsuit and somehow discontinuing it could be construed as admitting guilt in some way. I don't see it like that, but the product was never a fit for the brand and the end of summer/into fall is the perfect time to revive the cold beverage line up and trim it down for the winter.

I feel like the entire "clean food" message went out the window with the lemonade, french bread pizza type dishes, loaded macaroni and cheese, pepperoni melts, fried chicken sandwiches, teriyaki chicken bowls, etc. I can't recall the last time I saw anything remotely "healthy" or "clean food" in a Panera ad. They have completely lost their identity and are just throwing food at the menu to see what sticks. Reminds me of Jack In The Box with schizophrenic categories of random food aimlessly added to the menu. Nothing looks appetizing and almost everything is more loaded with fat and calories than McDonalds food. The few "healthy" things on the menu look disgusting.

[storewanderer]

Well, there is THAT.

I haven't liked them since they changed over from St Louis Bread Company and changed the menu. It seems like they use too many ingredients and try to be "upscale" and fall flat on their faces. I do like their regular lemonade (or did, haven't had it in a while so not sure what it tastes like anymore) and their frozen lemonade (ditto) but that's about all.

Do they still carry regular lemonade or just "charged" lemonade?

The "charged" lemonade will be behind the counter this week. It needs to be discontinued entirely. The warning notices they have about it online, in restaurant, etc. are tacky and call into question the entire "clean food" message they have been trying to convey. This product needs to be discontinued immediately. I suspect they cannot discontinue it due to the pending lawsuit and somehow discontinuing it could be construed as admitting guilt in some way. I don't see it like that, but the product was never a fit for the brand and the end of summer/into fall is the perfect time to revive the cold beverage line up and trim it down for the winter.

I feel like the entire "clean food" message went out the window with the lemonade, french bread pizza type dishes, loaded macaroni and cheese, pepperoni melts, fried chicken sandwiches, teriyaki chicken bowls, etc. I can't recall the last time I saw anything remotely "healthy" or "clean food" in a Panera ad. They have completely lost their identity and are just throwing food at the menu to see what sticks. Reminds me of Jack In The Box with schizophrenic categories of random food aimlessly added to the menu. Nothing looks appetizing and almost everything is more loaded with fat and calories than McDonalds food. The few "healthy" things on the menu look disgusting.

The pita at Jack in the Box is pretty good, it just costs twice as much as it is worth.

But it is still a better deal than Panera.

Jack in the Box also offers steamed rice as a side option. They even carry soy sauce packets as a condiment option (check the date before using it...).

I don't know what Panera is doing. Here in Reno they had a completely botched opening down in Carson City (they somehow got Google to delete their business page down there and give them a new page - the reviews were SO bad), a completely botched opening at University of Nevada Reno, and now have two more openings occurring in Reno one that just opened and I have heard mixed things (some positive some negative) and another about to open next month. I think they must have lit a fire under the franchisee's chair to force them to get these 2 new Reno units opened before the end of 2023. Panera has been trying to enter Reno for years but franchisees kept falling through. They finally found one to build out here in 2023. This franchisee they found for Reno - based on the botched Carson City opening and that their menu prices are higher than Sacramento Paneras - I am not impressed. I think if their prices were about 40% lower than they are, I'd still consider them slightly overpriced for what they offer.