Paneras
 

stopped into Paneras @ L.S. this evening had only been there for coffee and pastry in the past...I ordered a turkey and cranberry flatbread sandwich...was only about $6....i was shocked when i sat down and opened up the flatbread in the middle on this approximately 6" flatbread was 1 little hunk of turkey no bigger than the size of my thumb and the cranberries was a little red spot of juice (no actual cranberries) what the rest of the sandwich consisted of was about 25 little green leaves (fancy lettuce)the manager actually told me that was a "normal" portion of turkey...how do these places stay in business

Well you did the right thing talking to the manager. Apparently you weren't satisfied with the response. (either would I have been) . Next thing is to write to corporate and tell them of your experience. Would have been good in hindsight if you would have taken a picture and included it in your letter to corporate. In answer to your comment, how do they stay in business? No one complains to the right people. So I say good job to you and stay on this.

Agree....the only items I will purchase is the coffee and a bear claw. In my opinion the sandwiches are terrible.

The one at LS is a far cry from the 2 I use to frequent in Illinois; portions were good, staff was friendly. We went into the LS one the other night and the help behind the counter wasn't that helpful - asked what I needed then walked away for about 3 minutes without taking my order; finally reappeared and seemed disgusted to have to help anyone. In my own polite way, I told her to have a really great evening. Good help is really hard to find.

I have only ordered food there 1 time. I got a chicken salad sandwich. It was barely a tablespoon of chicken salad. I asked about the small amount and they said that's how they make them. I never ate there again. I used to go in and get some bread once in awhile. Haven't been there for years.

This is good to know as I have only went there for breakfast and love their cinnamon crunch bagel and hazelnut coffee.

I will go elsewhere for lunch. Toojay's is a better option.

Doug and I went there this past weekend and noticed the small portions as well. I have to agree that generally Paneras are not this stingy! I eat a couple of different Paneras close to my other house and the portions are generous and yummy! Does anyone know if Spanish Springs location is any better?

NO, the SS Panera's is worse! Actually just came back from there with a coffee refill. So I was appalled at the so called cranberry turkey panini , complained to manager asked for another sandwich which they begrudgedly made. She wanted to take the first one back when she gave me the second one, I said no! So I ate both. When I got home I did write to corporate explained everything in detail and also said that the ad on TV and on the posters in the store clearly show 4 SLICES of turkey, a big hunk of CRANBERRIES and a normal amount of spinach. Her reply was that they do "stylize" their photos of the food! Oh great way to fool the customers. She sent me an $8 egift card......couldn't they have rounded up to $10?
I do go there a lot as I like their coffee. If you have a Panera's card and your own mug, of whatever size, you can fill up for $1.26. The soups are always good and I do love their cinnamon crunch bagel.

If they were making you another sandwich, why didn't you just give the first one back ?

Hmmm. Could this possibly be a reason the portions of food are getting smaller? I can just hear someone with a crusty old voice say - "They screwed us on the food, let's screw them on the coffee". :mornincoffee:

I wouldn't call that stylizing either. You can make a hamburger photo look juicy but you can't show a photo of a double cheeseburger and get handed a single and not get called on it.
And if they gave me a new sandwich the way it looked in the photo, I would also feel obliged to return the first sandwich.
I guess the place is popular because of the bread. My mom would tell me you can put just about anything on good bread and it will taste great. Good bread must be expensive to make or everyone would serve it.
In Italy, where the bread is excellent, I was surprised that the bread on the table is extra. At least at the low brow places where we ate three years ago.

Appalled??? 2 sandwiches, gift card and basically free coffee. Complaining that the gift card wasn't more. How do people expect them to stay in business. No wonder they are skimping on the meat. Oh wait, I guess it is the developers fault!!

:agree:

To quote Larry The Cable Guy - "I don't care who you are, that's funny!

I kept the first sandwich because in my opinion the two I got made one decent size sandwich. By the way, the second one was as skimpy as the first. And no where did I mention free coffee. Hey, I love Panera's ......that particular day the sandwich issue just bothered me , probably got up on wrong side of bed.