Pret A Manger then and now
Discussion
We all have our favourite place for lunch and I aim for Pret most days, I have historically found the food to be tasty, the staff to be efficient and friendly, and the odd cup of coffee has been randomly given to me ‘on the house’ for no apparent reason.
However, I sense a different Pret is developing, no doubt since it was flogged to a bunch of accountants.
The key changes have been:
Marginally smaller portions
Noticeable increase in cost
Noticeable reduction in quality of produce
Noticeable lack of care in food presentation
Staff are beginning to have British accents & appear to be suitably unable to smile/be welcoming
From my point of view, it really is very sad to see my favourite lunchtime spot losing its sparkle, I fear that they have just taken a left turn to follow Pizza Express towards the very long road that ultimately leads to the breakers yard........
However, I sense a different Pret is developing, no doubt since it was flogged to a bunch of accountants.
The key changes have been:
Marginally smaller portions
Noticeable increase in cost
Noticeable reduction in quality of produce
Noticeable lack of care in food presentation
Staff are beginning to have British accents & appear to be suitably unable to smile/be welcoming
From my point of view, it really is very sad to see my favourite lunchtime spot losing its sparkle, I fear that they have just taken a left turn to follow Pizza Express towards the very long road that ultimately leads to the breakers yard........
Have been a big fan ever since I found out they do fairly good filter coffee for 49p if you use a keep cup, so they are my morning coffee fix.
Staff are always friendly, And you’re never far away from one in London. I like that all members of staff who had been working at the company for more than a month got given a £1k bonus when they were taken over.
Haven’t noticed any changes, but I only grab breakfast/coffee.
Staff are always friendly, And you’re never far away from one in London. I like that all members of staff who had been working at the company for more than a month got given a £1k bonus when they were taken over.
Haven’t noticed any changes, but I only grab breakfast/coffee.
I work in the square mile and in my life have only ever visited a pret twice. Not a huge fan and they have now taken over “eat” and closing them all down.
Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
i always found any of their food to be too expensive and have too small a portion size. the only thing i ever buy from them near my workplace are
- bananas. 50p. its easy to tell if they are fresh or not
- egg/omelette breakfast sandwich. expensive. but i might get it in a pinch. oddly i prefer the vegetarian one over the one that has bacon, or the one with sausage.
- bananas. 50p. its easy to tell if they are fresh or not
- egg/omelette breakfast sandwich. expensive. but i might get it in a pinch. oddly i prefer the vegetarian one over the one that has bacon, or the one with sausage.
bristolbaron said:
The spicy chicken or meatball wraps are great, never enough to satisfy though but two is excessive. I hope they don’t get smaller!
You must have a serious appetite-the meatball one (while lush) is huge!I do like Pret-good coffee and nice sandwiches, my go to place for lunch or coffee when on the go if I can. Really hope it doesn’t go downhill.
sc0tt said:
I work in the square mile and in my life have only ever visited a pret twice. Not a huge fan and they have now taken over “eat” and closing them all down.
Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
Not closing them all down. Pret said "in response to growing consumer demand for more vegetarian and vegan options on the high street, Pret plans to convert as many of EAT’s shops as possible to “Veggie Prets.” The one on Fenchurch Street next to HSBC is going to be a Veggie Pret, but the EAT in my building was converted to a normal Pret. Which is a bit silly as there is one only a few doors away. Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
Cotty said:
sc0tt said:
I work in the square mile and in my life have only ever visited a pret twice. Not a huge fan and they have now taken over “eat” and closing them all down.
Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
Not closing them all down. Pret said "in response to growing consumer demand for more vegetarian and vegan options on the high street, Pret plans to convert as many of EAT’s shops as possible to “Veggie Prets.” The one on Fenchurch Street next to HSBC is going to be a Veggie Pret, but the EAT in my building was converted to a normal Pret. Which is a bit silly as there is one only a few doors away. Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
I didn't know Eat were taken over by Pret. Eat did the best breakfast baps, and I always preferred them for lunch. I used to use the one on Cannon Street.
I'm in Kings Cross now so Pret is my usual can't-be-bothered-to-go-anywhere else since it's closest, but gosh it gets a bit boring. The staff in that one are always really good though.
I'm in Kings Cross now so Pret is my usual can't-be-bothered-to-go-anywhere else since it's closest, but gosh it gets a bit boring. The staff in that one are always really good though.
Tin Hat said:
However, I sense a different Pret is developing, no doubt since it was flogged to a bunch of accountants.
The key changes have been:
Marginally smaller portions
Noticeable increase in cost
Noticeable reduction in quality of produce
Noticeable lack of care in food presentation
Staff are beginning to have British accents & appear to be suitably unable to smile/be welcoming
From my point of view, it really is very sad to see my favourite lunchtime spot losing its sparkle, I fear that they have just taken a left turn to follow Pizza Express towards the very long road that ultimately leads to the breakers yard........
Just sounds like a lot of other chain places - Nandos, GBK, etc..The key changes have been:
Marginally smaller portions
Noticeable increase in cost
Noticeable reduction in quality of produce
Noticeable lack of care in food presentation
Staff are beginning to have British accents & appear to be suitably unable to smile/be welcoming
From my point of view, it really is very sad to see my favourite lunchtime spot losing its sparkle, I fear that they have just taken a left turn to follow Pizza Express towards the very long road that ultimately leads to the breakers yard........
All great to start off with, then expand past the point where the first four of those issues kick-in
rxtx said:
I didn't know Eat were taken over by Pret. Eat did the best breakfast baps, and I always preferred them for lunch. I used to use the one on Cannon Street.
I'm in Kings Cross now so Pret is my usual can't-be-bothered-to-go-anywhere else since it's closest, but gosh it gets a bit boring. The staff in that one are always really good though.
I still mourn the demise of Benjy's (another venture capital funded franchise operation that expanded, then ultimately collapsed). They used to be all over the place in London, and suited skinflint me as they were pretty cheap (perhaps the reason it ultimately failed..) I used to live off their 50p cheese and pickle baps.I'm in Kings Cross now so Pret is my usual can't-be-bothered-to-go-anywhere else since it's closest, but gosh it gets a bit boring. The staff in that one are always really good though.
Sandwich places have a lot of competition now, noodles, burritos, dhosa places, Leon and other "healthy" type takeaways, and Tesco & Sainsbury's locals are undercutting a lot of traditional snack bars. Although I've noticed the chicken Katsu curry and the sweet chilli chicken and rice at Wasabi are also decreasing in size recently, so maybe this is the end for them too...
sc0tt said:
I work in the square mile and in my life have only ever visited a pret twice. Not a huge fan and they have now taken over “eat” and closing them all down.
Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
Pretty dissatisfied as we used to get our lunch from eat on a friday paid for by work and have had to change to coco di mama which is just greasy rubbish.
That would explain the fate of Eat on the Southbank then - I couldn't for a second imagine it wasn't profitable, so why shut it down? It's not as though it's competing with any existing Pret branches!
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