Panera Bread Bakery-Cafes to drop fresh baked bread for frozen bread

I've never liked for Panera Bread so they can go out of business for all I care.

[quote]Hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs as part of the brand's new business strategy,

WINNING!

Not surprised, their quality nosedived years ago. Hard to believe they were ever good.

I’ve never been to one of these places. It seems like an orgy or carbs. Who wants frozen bread?

Anybody who eats at Panera and thinks they are eating healthy, fresh food is laboring under some mighty serious delusions.

I supposed I will no longer entertain friends at home with Panera Bread.

By switching from the more costly 'freshly baked bread' to the cost-savings 'pre-made frozen crap', prices should drop like a rock. But they won't.

Reddit reports that Cracker Barrel is doing the same thing with their biscuits, no longer made fresh in house, they are frozen and then reheated. Bakers being laid off. Haven't been there in years but I recall the biscuits were good.

Freezing bread is not a big deal. Does anyone on this thread actually bake?

No, freezing bread is not a big deal, but if I'm paying the high prices charged by restaurants these days (I haven't been to Panera in years but I assume they've hiked their prices a lot too) then I'd prefer bread made fresh on the spot.

You can reheat coffee too but nobody wants their Starbucks drinks made hundreds of miles away hours beforehand.

Yeah, Panera has never been top quality bread. It’s a step up from fast food, and there is a market for that,

All Starbucks food is made offsite. That would be the logical comparison, not coffee, which degrades much faster than bread.

I liked their cheese bagels.

DLers have been posting about the downfall of Panera for several years now. They really jumped the shark when they switched to those super caffinated drinks that killed people. I used to love them. Then they shrunk the portions.

[quote]their quality nosedived years ago

Um, "nosedived" is not a word.

Next time, try "took a nosedive."

R14 You're wrong. "Nosedived" is indeed a word.

Are you really "taking" a nosedive? Where are you taking it? If dove is to dive is nosedove to nosedive?

I’ve never understood the appeal of this place. It is like glorified hospital cafeteria food. I ordered a full grilled cheese sandwich there with a cup of tomato soup once and it cost me close to $15. Egregious.

I tried a nearby Panera, but the place was so full of people with laptops using the free WiFi that I gave up.

I worked there for six weeks back in college. The soups, meats and vegetables were all really low quality. The only thing that separated Panera from Pizza Hut (where I also worked) was the bread.

R10 Excellent point.

It reminds me of the declined of Dunkin' Donuts over the past few decades. When I worked there in high school in the late 70s - early 80s, they made the donuts and muffins on the premises, in an area where customers could see them. We offered 52 different donuts, and tossed them after 4 hours. We constantly made fresh coffee, and tossed that after a half hour if it was sitting in the pot. Even as a high school kid, I had pride in what was served.

The first thing they did in the 90s was get rid of their kitchens and ship everything in from a commissary an hour away from most locations. One delivery in the morning - and that's it. No more baking and refilling all day. Now they offer about ten different donuts in the locations near me, they're small, and expensive.

Overpriced and overrated.

Sad last days.

I went to a Panera for the first time in a couple of months the other week and they had changed the bread on the only sandwich I ordered from there. It wasn’t as good.

Somebody gave me a $50 gift card to Panera bread. I went two times and unimpressed both times, so I never went back even though I had a balance left on the card.

I recall eating a turkey artichoke panini or something years ago. It was okay but overpriced even back then.

If I’m going to gorge myself on something unhealthy it’s going to be a local bakery not mass produced

remember when EACH Dunkin’ Donuts made their own Glory Holes?

lol glory holes.

I just looked up a copycat recipe for the turkey artichoke sandwich because it sounded interesting… The only artichoke in it is in the form of a spinach and artichoke cheese dip spread. Gross.

Fresh or frozen, bread is not good for you.

Nor is soup with tons of salt.

My mom used to love Panera though; great comfort food.

I agree. Bread should never be eaten.

Panara serves up some slop and their sandwiches alway look like they were assembled by a blind person.

[QUOTE] Um, "nosedived" is not a word.

Um, yes, it is.

[QUOTE] Next time, try "took a nosedive."

Next time, try the dictionary, R14.

I ate there a time or two, expecting something better than fast food. I was wrong.

What's next with these restaurants ? Will IHOP start serving frozen pancakes and waffles outsourced from a third party and still charge a premium price?

[quote]Fresh or frozen, bread is not good for you.

[quote]I agree. Bread should never be eaten.

Says who? And why?

I love bread and will never stop eating it.

What r3 said

Back in the mid-2000s, it was a fun place to go with decent food

[quote] What's next with these restaurants ?

They will charge you to cook and prepare your own food.

[quote]I agree. Bread should never be eaten.

No, of course not. Bread should be worn on your head, like a hat.

Failing that, bread should be used to scrub toilets.

Who cares if the entire world population eats bread on a daily basis? We know better!

Bread should never be eaten!

Bread killed Karen Carpenter!

[quote]I ordered a full grilled cheese sandwich there with a cup of tomato soup once and it cost me close to $15. Egregious.

I went last week and got the half sandwich and half soup and got home and their was no soup...BASTARDS!

"I love breeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeead!"

Fat whores mourn

I have a yeast infection from all this bread!

I loved them when they first opened. They had good food, salads and sandwiches and breads and pastries. But then the quality tanked and I actually got sick from one of their Tuna salad sandwiches. So I stopped going there. That was about 6-7 years ago.

I hate Panera.

But I love bread. I have two breadmakers, but haven't made any bread for about 2 years...I was more interested in drinking my calories.

However, I'm actually going to break out (one of) the breadmaker(s) today and make a loaf. I'm sick with a sore throat and would love some fresh bread to eat with the soup I'll be having for the next few days.

R38 I used to work in downtown St Louis and the “Bread Co” store as we called it used to be an absolute madhouse at lunchtime. Good food, good service, decently priced.

Today I can’t imagine wanting to go to a Panera near me. Last time I did was maybe a year ago and it was bland tasting, under portioned and absurdly overpriced. Didn’t even feel like the place I used to know.

My mom also liked Panera Bread but years ago she noticed a decline in quality and stopped going. A long time ago. I think it was only good for a couple years, early 2000s. As it expanded it got more and more and more industrial.

The poster who called it "hospital cafeteria food" had it right.

Something tells me Panera Bread won't be around in 5 years.

Panera, the new Subway!

I've been on a Panera Bread copycat recipe/menu hunt because of this thread. I can't believe how caloric the dishes are. Sandwiches piled with mayo and cheese, soups with tons of dairy. It's definitely comfort food but a little overkill.

I never ate at Panera in the early days but Im reading the same complaints across multiple forums. Panera is a shadow of its former self.

I loved the St. Louis Bread Company R49. Did Panera take them over? The food quality at the SLBC was really good.

R55 SLBC and Panera are the same company. They just changed the name for locations outside of St. Louis. It’s still SLBC in the St. Louis metro area though, and headquarters are still there.

Has there be a recent change in ownership? These cost-cutting measures usually happen when a Private Equity group takes over.

This is their long goodbye

Owned by this German conglomerate, controlled by a family who were huge fans of Hitler. Later complicated by the discovery one of the wives was Jewish.

In March 2019, a German newspaper revealed that Albert Reimann Sr., and his son Albert Reimann Jr., were enthusiastic supporters of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party well before they took power, and profited from forced labor, both in their industrial chemicals company in southern Germany and in their own home.[37][38][39] The revelations sparked ethical questions about consumer support for companies that owe their success in part to the historical use of forced labor.[40][41]

Two months later, several of the Reimanns revealed to The New York Times that their mother, Emilie Landecker, Albert Jr.'s mistress, baptized as a Catholic like her mother, was the daughter of Alfred Landecker, a Jewish man deported to the Izbica Ghetto in 1942. His ultimate fate is unknown although many Jews sent to Izbica were held there pending transport to the Belzec and Sobibor extermination camps. They have renamed the family foundation after him and doubled its budget to €25 million (US$28.2 million), to fund projects that honour the victims of the Holocaust and Nazism.[42]

Isn't all the food premade and prepackaged? Don't they just reheat and assemble?

Because when most of America thinks of St. Louis, they don't think "Ooooh, I'd love to eat baked goods by a fireplace in THAT city!"

I was tempted to buy their pre-packaged soups at my local market until I read the sodium content for one serving.

Every soup has 2 or 3 times the amount of salt needed

White bread doesn't have much nutritional value. Bread made from whole grain flours is better for you but it's hard to find commercially made brown bread that isn't kind of gross.

We should open up the DL Bread Company.

R65 If Datalounge had a bakery, I wouldn't eat there.

Wait, does herpes live in bread?

[quote]Bread should never be eaten.

Even Jesus ate bread, so fuck off.

My Fat Daughter once went to the DL Bread Company. What a day that was. The smell of all the cookies baking are what drew her in. My Fat Daughter then saw the sign above the counter that said “FAT WHORES REJOICE!” and it was like a red flag being waved in front of a bull. Off she went tearing the place apart. She became very confused when after she finished eating all the cookies on site, employees (all wearing caftans as uniforms for some reason) started giving her drained pasta and Duke’s mayonnaise.

So much nightmarish stuff was going on in there. Donut holes were presenting. Scolding pots of something called “Mussy stew” were emitting vile odors. “Cage meat” was in a deli counter. Another counter had things called “Carrie’s abandoned pies”. My Fat Daughter was snarling it all down. At this point, the employees were shrieking running away from her.

We finally used a tranquilizer gun on her and then brought in a truck to haul her back home. The McCain foundation sends its sympathies to the wrecked DL Bread Company.

My local Kroger carries French bread and ciabatta that I love, even though I know it's shipped in before its final baking.

I get ciabatta and french bread from Safeway, used to be Albertsons. I really like it.

There's two bakeries within spitting distance from me which make their own breads right on the premises - Italian (hard crust), white bread, wheat bread and cinnamon bread. What a difference buying theirs, compared to what the markets sell in their 'fresh baked bakery'.

I always see people loading up on that Panera soup. All canned/packaged soup tend to have a ton of sodium but that stuff is over the top. Kinda pricey too. Hard pass.

The markets around me seem to have their individual soups on 'sale' all the time. This weekend, they were '3 / $10' (I think the reg price is $4) and I almost threw them in the carriage - but remembered one soup had enough sodium for a week's worth.

Actually, I've always liked Panera. As someone above said, it is a step above fast food. It's not as expensive as , and is faster than, a sit down restaurant.

I don't go there often, but I like their salads and their breakfast soufflés, and (while I haven't checked the sodium content), I like their French Onion Soup

I have not been back since they got rid of the spicy Thai with chicken salad. That was the only reason I went there.

French and Italian nonagenarians eat bread daily, but never mind that. Datalounge fat whores are the experts on healthy eating.

Dr. Muriel’s Healthy Eating, with delivery to a doorstep near you….

[quote]Bread should never be eaten.

Does Panera make their bread from sawdust? Because that's the only kind I've ever had.

i don't eat this food but i wanted to try their amped lemonade before it was removed from the menu.

^ Just order lemonade and add that “Feel Free” stuff the kids like…

The food there has been horrible for years. The bread is already awful.

At least McAlisters has nachos

(From Reddit)

- Panera Bread is an expensive fast casual restaurant that, for years, has charged a premium for "clean" ingredients and farm animal conscious food. - With their new menu change, this policy will be removed from all cafes, and meat products will begin using antibiotics among other policy changes...while not telling customers. - Prices will be raising with this change, despite it all, and the food will not be as natural as previously advertised. - They plan to silently pivot into this new change. - Panera is a scam, and this is another reason, tell your friends. - Other policies being removed: vegetarian fed animals, grass fed animals, animal welfare guidelines

ALL THAT SHIT IS WOKE R83!

R84 perhaps. So help yourself to your frankenfood, and enjoy!

R10- it’s like Dunkin’ Donuts. 25 years ago all of the donuts sold in the Dunkin’ Donuts stores were made on the premises in each store twice a day every day. Now, all the donuts are made in a factory and then delivered to the stores during the week. That’s why zillions of Dunkin’ Donuts stores have popped up everywhere. Before each Dunkin’ Donuts store had to have its own bakery and equipment. So the startup costs were much higher. The quality and size of their donuts have plummeted. They are horrible tasting.

R86 This has already been covered in R20.

What's next ? Starbucks will be replacing 'fresh brewed' coffee with instant coffee or k-cups and charging a premium price ?

R20- I disagree. You are off about the timeline. Dunkin Donuts were still made on the premises thru the end of the 1990's until about 2006. DD was sold to a hedge fund in 2005. I remember getting some donuts there around 2008 and they tasted kind of burnt and my father said that is because they don't change the oil in which the donuts are being cooked. Even though the donuts were still being made on the premises their quality standards were already dropping.

Tip to fellow fat whores. start making your own flatbread. It takes less time to prepare than a piece of toast

Thawed frozen bread dough tastes no different than freshly made bread dough, once they're baked.

The only two times I’ve used Panera was because of the wifi.

The sandwiches were bridge lady affairs that were pretty, dainty, without any flavor. Also, I didn’t need a gallon sized glass of soda, but that’s what they had available both times.

My older son worked there in 2003-2004. I thought the bread was quite good and the food decent. I don't think I've been to one since.

Bonus: We'd get free stuff now and then, though they donated a lot every day.

I knew a girl who went to Panera once...and then she died.

Another shittification of a once loved brand by a private equity firm and their 20-30 year something profitability team.

Why isn't anyone going to our stores anymore? I know - let's make it worse so we can siphon off more profit before we go bankrupt!

Their over-priced crap has turned off people for a while now. Not helping.

I go to Panera every morning for the “Sip Club” $3 a month all the coffee you can drink! Unfortunately it’s not much better than gas station coffee and they try to entice you with extra purchases when you check in.

Here in Tampa there are a handful of fetching homeless people that I see lounging around, one was sporting a fabulous bulge, but still homeless and I’m not about to be touched by a hobo.

The others look like they’re waiting for the next Sniffies/PNP session, one would be cute if he got a haircut.

Unfortunately it’s the same six characters every morning I go in.

Maybe Panera should start a male strip club? They could call it

PANINERO!

Get marketing on the phone, stat! I've got a humdinger of a new idea for Lifetime. Maybe even Oxygen! Touched By A Hobo: The Dean Cain Story.

Touched By A WHAT?

HOBO, Matt! I said HOBO.

I knew someone who worked there 7 years ago and they didn't even make their own dough. It was brought in from a central bakery