Forum Topic

Pret

The first Pret opened in Victoria Street, SW1 n 1986.

Kevin Tanner ● 1513d16 Comments

Aha.just seen story on front page Bad news for others. Coffee is not bad and the Coffee Subscription is a bargain if you buy hot drinks on a regular basis

Julian Pavey ● 1513d

I read that Pret actually  had an Opening before 1986 in Hampstead.. but that failed to take off..the business name taken on by someone else ..successfully.I do like Pret Coffee and think it will do well... Costa coffee is always enjoyed too. But £175,000 a year rent suggests there's a rip off somewhere.

Jim Lawes ● 1513d

Have a look at this jim if you buy Barista-made drinks quite often You will need a mobile for the qr code or print it off from the email they send https://www.pret.co.uk/en-GB/pretcoffeesub

Julian Pavey ● 1513d

I've long thought it odd that Chiswick didn't have a Pret when many suburbs have two. There are four of them within two minutes of Trafalgar Square!

Susan Kelly ● 1512d

Since the Empire building closed, surely the greatest concentration of office workers is at Chiswick Business Park.  I feel Pret's main business is sandwiches for lunch rather than shoppers stopping for coffee and so that may be why they haven't opted for the High Road yet.

Vivienne Cox ● 1512d

I am pleased. I agree their coffee isn't great but their is a need for good sandwiches and lunch food in competition to M&S and the other supermarkets. with all the banks going, better than testing centre.  As more people in Chiswick are working from their homes - the need for choice of food at lunchtime is a boost.

Jackie Elton ● 1512d

As one of the many with a subscription (there were four within 250 metres of my office, pre pandemic) I'm very happy to see one filling a long-empty shop front on the High Rd. Since Waitrose stopped their filled baguettes (a covid death) there's definitely a gap for a decent ham (& Greve) baguette. A strawberry tart from Oree afterwards and job done!

Gordon McDonald ● 1512d

If out-and-about and knowing there'll be a need for sustanance during the day it's so easy to sandwich together two slices of thick moist wholemeal between which with sliced banana and slithers of cheddar daubed with jam or mushed avocado or whatever concoction suits ~ rather than buy from a sandwich shop.

Bobbie Carnegie ● 1512d

I think Pret should run the mushed avocado, banana and daubed cheddar brown bread butty, (without any butter) alternative as a reason why to buy a decent sarnie, when out and about.

Russell Pearson ● 1512d

If you read Bobbie's post again there is an important comma.You can avoid a lot of packaging if you make your own or visit somewhere where they are made on the spot for you.We see them as for those occasions when you are caught unprepared rather than an everyday occurrence.  Is the one in Hammersmith still there?

Philippa Bond ● 1511d

There are two in Hammersmith and a mini one at the Circle Line station.

Susan Kelly ● 1511d

There are no commas in Bobbie C's post, Philippa, only what is called a 'tilde'. He has also used it in other posts. "A tilde is a character on a keyboard that looks like a wavy line (~).  It is a diacritical mark in other languages, such as Portuguese, but it is also used in logic and maths. When you put a tilde before a number, for example, you’re saying that the number is approximate". But why Bobbie uses it, I'm not sure.

Brian Coyle ● 1511d

You learn something new every day!Personally I like Pret on station forecourts, airports for breakfast or busy commercial areas but not in Chiswick.These big companies suck a High Street dry.  I don’t approve of Boots, Poundland or WH Smith selling sandwiches- this is not their business.  I whole heartedly support the cafes and small businesses starting out on the High Streets bringing something new and being creative and different.

Elizabeth Ross ● 1510d

I confused Bobbie's and Russell's posts.  Was that really just one sandwich with all those fillings in it?  I thought it was a list!  Thanks for the info on the tilde though because I didn't know what it was for or what it was called and it just might turn up one day in Wordle!

Philippa Bond ● 1510d

I prefer those crusty baguettes from the Café Derrida, where the filling only serves to form the non existent void between the ambiguity of the bread, which simultaneously becomes both a sandwich and a loaf. The BLT is best.

Russell Pearson ● 1510d

Personally, I have always found the coffee from Pret unpalatable, so dodge it in favour of cold drinks. Recently I have read a number of comments online from former Pret workers calling out unfit business practices, unhygienic food policies, cases of food poisonings and generally poor management inside these shops which has totally turned my stomach against picking up food from them. If you recall back in the day they made a point of everything being fresh that day and never held overnight, which you won't see being called out on their site or in store any more, which raises questions over freshness. Their website says "Many of our most loved recipes are freshly made in our shop kitchens" nothing about being new every day...Keeping in mind it was also part owned by McDonalds until 2008  the whole thing just leaves me cold. Appreciate I may be alone in feeling this though, so by no means trying to start an argument!

Katerina Sanderson ● 1508d