Fast Food-Addicted Cities Get the Finger Wag

[Food Network Fan]

I get more colds since I had kids and they are around other kids at school. They are little germ factories with young strong immune systems. They get something and shake it of in a day or 2. Then they give it to you and it nearly kills you.

[isilzha]

My sister loves Panera's French Onion soup. I'm always giving her a dirty look about it now because it has like a days worth of sodium in it.

[Pluff Mudder]

I have seen one of the Panera, never stopped, I thought it was just a bread place. Did not know it was soups and a eating place.

Me either. We've got one on our side of Charleston and go by it almost every time we go to town. Have to check them out when it gets cold and we're up that way.

[Food Network Fan]

I like the french onion too, but sodium is still my friend right now. If it ever turns on me I guess I will have to remember that.

The bread is good and I guess that's the big part of what makes their sandwiches special. But there really is only so much you can do with a cold sandwich. The soup is very good if you just don't have the time or the energy gets zapped out of you.

[bakerman]

I watched a show a couple weeks ago that was profiling businesses that were beating the odds in this economy. Panera is one of those companies, they are growing their profits every year in spite of the economy.

They have managed to do this without adding cheap stuff to their menus or compromising quality.

When I eat out, I will pay a bit more if I am getting good quality and a good value. The places that are cutting back on portions or cheapening their food are losing me as a customer. When your business is serving food and that is where you make your cutbacks, I think that your company has some serious issues, I'm looking at you Boston Market!

[isilzha]

The worst thing about Panera is the people who bring their laptops and take up a table for hours with only a cup of coffee (or I've even seen people sitting there who didn't appear to have bought anything). I like bringing my laptop to Panera, but we buy meals, we don't stay forever, and we're mindful of how busy the place is when we do it.

[Food Network Fan]

Our panera has a section with a lounge type area and I see people over there using laptops. It's separate from the dining tables and has big cushioned furniture.

[bakerman]

That's how many of ours are setup, most laptop users are in the lounge area.

[isilzha]

Ours always has laptop people all over the place. They set up shop I swear. One time I was there this guy (and he was a nice guy and everything) took up 2 2-seat tables. He had his laptop setup, notebooks, his phone, and an MP3 player out. He was there before we got there, and all he had was a cup of tea. We stayed with our laptops for a while (maybe like an hour and a half) and he was still there when we left. He had me watch all his stuff when he went to the bathroom.

[Food Network Fan]

I have seen people in hotel parking lots using the free wifi that look like they have music players downloading songs.