I'm so glad I never was a snacker - just from the cost savings alone (never mind the savings in the size of my waist too)
The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
51–60 of 192 posts
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
> that they typically feed a family of four That's true of some things at American sit-down restaurants. But hardly true for a cold sandwich at a sandwich shop. Even a Subway "footlong" club sandwich is just 620 calories. Assuming a 2,000 cal/day diet, that's a little under a third of what you need. Or, in other words, exactly the right size for a balanced lunch if your calorie requirements are on the lesser side. Ho…
The GP is clearly using hyperbole, but there are much more calorific sandwiches at Subway. From Subway's nutrition datasheet (PDF): http://www.subway.com/~/media/USA/Documents/Nutrition/US_Nut... There are several standard menu items over 900 calories for a "footlong," with the Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt coming in at 1,060 calories.
Well sure, but I'm making the point that a standard American sandwich simply isn't excessive. That the notion/caricature of a regular American lunch sandwich being unhealthily large is simply incorrect.
Of course you can get some mega-cheese melt if you want, just like you can get a triple quarter pounder if you want. But I don't see anybody who sees those as examples of a normal portion. Within America they're seen as excessive. They're not representative of a normal American lunch.
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> that they typically feed a family of four That's true of some things at American sit-down restaurants. But hardly true for a cold sandwich at a sandwich shop. Even a Subway "footlong" club sandwich is just 620 calories. Assuming a 2,000 cal/day diet, that's a little under a third of what you need. Or, in other words, exactly the right size for a balanced lunch if your calorie requirements are on the lesser side. Ho…
The GP is clearly using hyperbole, but there are much more calorific sandwiches at Subway. From Subway's nutrition datasheet (PDF): http://www.subway.com/~/media/USA/Documents/Nutrition/US_Nut... There are several standard menu items over 900 calories for a "footlong," with the Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt coming in at 1,060 calories.
Hyper-Bowl would describe typical US portions. The good thing is, that its also common to get "to go" boxes alongside so you can reasonably eat twice for one purchase.
It is very rare (on my personal observation, I have no stats here so its anecdata) for anyone to walk out of a ready-made food outlet without the soda and chips.
I have also felt at times "pret" was a bit stingy. If I get a turkey and brie sandwich, I want the brie to be visible, not hypothetical.
Katz' deli, I didn't have a boy in the army to send a salami, but the thickness of the meat layer in my salt beef sandwich was .. unreal. I think, they do this because its now expected. In most salt beef outlets I've been to which didn't feature in films, they are a bit more reasonable.
There is an Aussie food called "a halal snack pack" which is a heart-attack in a styrofoam box. Its a box of gyros/kebab/doner/shwarma meat, with all the trimmings but no bread: healthy, since less carbs. Oh wait, its poutine too: they put fries and cheese in there...
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
The GP is clearly using hyperbole, but there are much more calorific sandwiches at Subway. From Subway's nutrition datasheet (PDF): http://www.subway.com/~/media/USA/Documents/Nutrition/US_Nut... There are several standard menu items over 900 calories for a "footlong," with the Chicken & Bacon Ranch Melt coming in at 1,060 calories.
Well sure, but I'm making the point that a standard American sandwich simply isn't excessive. That the notion/caricature of a regular American lunch sandwich being unhealthily large is simply incorrect. Of course you can get some mega-cheese melt if you want, just like you can get a triple quarter pounder if you want. But I don't see anybody who sees those as examples of a normal portion. Within America they're seen…
I think this is one of those things we're going to disagree about. Within the America I see as a conference attendee seeking lunch outside of meetings in the food malls, portion control is out of control. Overall, yes, you can eat healthy anywhere. There is a "value" proposition which drives a lot of people to order bigger than they need. The same "value" proposition drives food outlets to compete on size for the same dollar cost. Carbohydrates are a cheap way to achieve size/bulk. Adding extra carbs is low input cost, high profit outcome.
Super-size-me as a film required the market to exist. They didn't make the problem up.
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
These sort of places prey on people who have no idea what a proper amount of protein looks like. A single slice of ham is so small an amount it’s practically a rounding error in the overall scheme of a balanced diet.
A Pret cheese and ham baguette has 31g of protein which is more than half of the daily needs of a 180lb man.
You're basing that, I assume, on the US Recommended Daily Allowance for protein which is 0.8g protein/kg body weight -- or 65 g for your example of a 180 lb person.
But this metric is widely misunderstood [1] -- "it’s the minimum amount you need to keep from getting sick — not the specific amount you are supposed to eat every day."
If you follow the link, you'll see that doctors actually recommend around double that for full health, and that Americans on the whole actually consume too little protein in comparison. The idea that we consume too much protein is actually a long-popular myth.
So no, the Pret sandwich is nowhere even close to half the protein you should be consuming daily.
[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-...
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll miss them. (If you're not aware, Pret permanently closed all its Chicago locations except UChicago last month: https://chicago.eater.com/2020/8/24/21396276/pret-a-manger-s... ) I just hope Chicgao's own euro-style sandwich chain Hannah's Bretzel survives.
Hannah’s is even more expensive
but tastes better per dollar
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#57American here (work in downtown Chicago), I used to get Pret several times a week as one of their stores was right next door to my office. They have delicious sandwiches, bakery items, and fruit cups, but it's very expensive - a croissant and a breakfast sandwich ran close to $10. It's a great place if you want to eat healthy and have a short lunch time, but there are better options to deliver from if you're WFH.
I'll miss them. (If you're not aware, Pret permanently closed all its Chicago locations except UChicago last month: https://chicago.eater.com/2020/8/24/21396276/pret-a-manger-s... ) I just hope Chicgao's own euro-style sandwich chain Hannah's Bretzel survives.
Wow, TIL! Thanks for the link.
I haven't been in downtown Chicago since the middle of March; my employer is keeping us at home until at least 2021.
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#58I can honestly say that, aside from "good pubs", Pret a Manger is the thing I miss most having moved from London to San Francisco. There's just nothing like it for quick, easy, good coffee-and-premade-food (or I just haven't found it - in which case, please consider this a masterful invocation of Cunningham's Law).
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#59Fast eats like this are total rubbish in the UK. Don't know why. SF is so much better. Walk downstairs, grab a quick sandwich at Working Girls, or Specialty's (now dead), or Chipotle. Pret is like 7-Eleven food. Probably for the best that it dies. Fortunately, lots of food carts out in London that'll benefit.
I couldn't possible disagree more. Pret is orders of magnitude better than Specialty's - their breakfast sandwiches were 90% grease. Working Girls is certainly better than Pret, but Pret wins on convenience of being premade. And Pret does coffee too!
Re: The Rise and Fall of Pret a Manger
#60Ah, if HN readers are fascinated by Pret a Manger, wait 'til they hear about J Lyons tea shops.