We have a local small chain (4 or 5 locations) that does brick oven Neapolitan style pizza along with sandwiches, pasta and salads. A 12" - which serves one hungry person or maybe 2 with some salad - is $14-16 now. At another nearby place that uses higher-quality ingredients a 16" plain Chicago thin crust will run you…

Sure - but when you buy an energy drink you are expecting a shitload of caffeine. If you drank 90 oz of coffee, you would also expect a shitload of caffeine. I maintain that lemonade is not the place for it.

I don’t know if Panera has any legal liability here, I’m not a lawyer, but I do sympathize a bit with consumers. There’s ideal behavior, and then there’s real-world behavior. Ideally companies adjust for real-world behavior, whether it’s logical or not.

I further wonder why they need to have THAT MUCH caffeine. Caffeinated lemonade, sure - but damn that’s a lot per serving.

They are self-serve, and those signs are accurate to the last time I was in a Panera, anyway. Here’s the thing: people don’t always read signs, and when they do, it doesn’t always click what that MEANS. Like, 390 mg of caffeine is objectively a lot, but I’m not sure people understand what that means compared to a…

No idea, my point was that they’re wealthy and can afford the best healthcare.

Genetics and the best possible healthcare in the world go a long way.

My great-grandmother would regularly drink a cup of hot water with lemon (no tea, no sugar, no brandy - just hot water and lemon) and she lived to be 97. But I doubt that was the lemon water’s doing.

I don’t know if they’re identical but Starbucks has toffee nut syrup in the US.

they can barely pay their writers, forget about editors

I definitely got teary reading the rest of the casts’ tributes to Perry. Look, I can criticize Friends with the best of them - too white, Ross is the worst, weird gay and transphobic jokes, etc - but it could also be very, very funny and heartfelt with the best of them. One of my all-time favorite Chandler & Phoebe…

That definitely seems much more reasonable to me. I knew Goldbelly was overpriced but sheesh.

OK I know shipping is expensive but jeeeeez $90 for 10 hot dogs is nuts. The MOST Chicago parts are the relish and sport peppers, surely you can get Vienna Beef outside of the area?

I worked in newspapers for four years, and every year someone would burn their garage down. It’s statistically small, yes, but it’s a relatively high-risk activity that should be approached with caution. Even if you don’t kill or seriously injure yourself, property damage is also a very real risk.

The Xochitl are good too! But yeah definitely thinner and more prone to break.

The local to Chicago brands are always gonna be my go-to - Masa Uno are a little greasy and a little salty with a hefty crunch and great corn flavor; El Milagro are the goat for nachos and dipping, with a stone-ground texture and great flavor. El Ranchero are also very good.

Never had theirs, but the last time I had A&W (granted, like 20 years ago) it was highly disappointing.

I mean, it has had 12 seasons - albeit short ones.

Funny you say that since I was raised Mennonite.

Great custard, solid burgers, tasty fries ... but yeah I’m not going there for the cheese curds.