Buells, sandwiches and things that go with them

2006-11-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

I bet you guys know where I stand on this... but let's discuss it:

Arguments spread thick
Rivals aren't serving same food, judge rules
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff November 10, 2006
A burrito is not a sandwich.
That's the culinary ruling of a Worcester judge, ending, for now, a food fight between Panera Bread Co. and Qdoba Mexican Grill.
In issuing his decision, which blocks Panera Bread's attempts to keep the burrito maker off its turf, Worcester Superior Court Judge Jeffrey A. Locke relied on testimony from Cambridge chef Chris Schlesinger and a former high-ranking USDA official, not to mention the Webster's Third New International Dictionary.
The burrito brouhaha began when Panera, one of the country's biggest bakery cafes, argued that owners of the White City Shopping Center in Shrewsbury violated a 2001 lease agreement that restricted the mall from renting to another sandwich shop. When the center signed a lease this year with Qdoba, Panera balked, saying the Mexican chain's burritos violate its sandwich exclusivity clause.
Not so, Qdoba countered, submitting affidavits from high-profile experts in the restaurant and food industry. "I know of no chef or culinary historian who would call a burrito a sandwich," Schlesinger said in his affidavit. "Indeed, the notion would be absurd to any credible chef or culinary historian."
In his ruling, Locke cited Webster's definition of a sandwich and explained that the difference comes down to two slices of bread versus one tortilla: "A sandwich is not commonly understood to include burritos, tacos, and quesadillas, which are typically made with a single tortilla and stuffed with a choice filling of meat, rice, and beans," he wrote.
Panera spokesman Mark Crowley declined to discuss the matter or say whether the St. Louis company planned to appeal the ruling. Mitchell Roberts , manager of the franchise group that runs the Shrewsbury Panera, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
"We were surprised at the suit because we think it's common sense that a burrito is not a sandwich," said Jeff Ackerman , owner of Qdoba franchise group, known as Chair 5 Restaurants, which plans to open the eatery next year. "We're just delighted that the experts and judge saw it the same way we did."
The case, observers say, is less about common sense and more about the high stakes of the Massachusetts restaurant market. Panera Bread, as the established player in the region with 31 locations, is trying to fend off upstart Qdoba, which plans to build at least nine new stores in the market next year, up from eight now. Panera serves up fresh-baked artisan breads and sandwiches, while Qdoba is known for its signature burritos .
"It shows you how competitive the business is when a bakery cafe feels like it's in direct competition with a Mexican chain," said Ron Paul , president of Technomic Inc., a restaurant consulting firm in Chicago. "They're fighting for a share of the stomach."
The fight began earlier this year when Panera learned that the owners of White City Shopping Center were in negotiations to lease space to Qdoba. Panera, citing the exclusivity clause in its lease, sought assurances that White City would not rent to the Mexican chain, saying its burritos, tacos, and quesadillas were all types of sandwiches, according to court papers.
But the landlords refused, and in August they agreed to lease about 2,100 square feet to Qdoba, which planned to spend more than $300,000 on construction. A month later, the landlords sought a court ruling that renting to Qdoba would not breach its lease with Panera.
In turn, Panera filed a counter-claim trying to stop Qdoba from moving into the neighborhood. Qdoba rolled out an all-star line-up of food experts to testify that a burrito is just a burrito.
Schlesinger explained that a sandwich is of "European roots" and generally recognized as "two pieces of leavened bread," while a burrito is "specific to Mexico" and typically contains hot ingredients rolled into a flat unleavened tortilla.
Schlesinger, whose All Star Sandwich Bar includes items such as the Pastraminator and Meat Loaf Meltdown, also features hot dogs -- though they are on the menu with this disclaimer: "not a real sandwich, but a close friend."
Judith A. Quick, who previously worked as a deputy director of the Standards and Labeling Division at the US Department of Agriculture, said in her affidavit: "The USDA views a sandwich as a separate and distinct food product from a burrito or taco."
Panera, in court filings, argued for a broad definition of sandwich, saying a flour tortilla qualifies as bread and a food product with bread and a filling is a sandwich.
Ultimately, the judge ruled against Panera's request to stop Qdoba from moving into the shopping center. In his eight-page ruling released last week, Locke said Panera had not stipulated that burritos and tacos be covered in the exclusivity clause. Moreover, Panera failed to show that its survival was dependent on preventing Qdoba from opening.
Panera has up to 30 days to file an appeal.
"This was a very important case for us," said Lawrence Green , a lawyer with Burns & Levinson LLP, which represented Qdoba. "Panera frankly got a bit greedy here. What are they afraid of?"

2006-07-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

I am concerned that comments I have made on another site where guys are sometimes mean to me, but not always, may have some people thinking that I don't like hamburgers. That is really not true. I think that hamburgers are awesome... but they are not sandwiches... and that's what I was trying to communicate. The differentness of hamburgers from sandwiches does not make them not awesome. Sometimes, being different is just awesome all by itself. You can eat cheddar and sour cream chips with a hamburger... and those are awesome, too.

This picture represents when you get a hamburger and things are not all cool. Sometimes, the hamburger that you order at a restaurant does not look like a big, juicy and delicious and awesome, but it is small and more like something that sucks.

You can usually count on a sandwich to be just that... a sandwich. But hamburgers are more of a gamble. I gamble with my life every day by riding real fast on my awesome Buell, I do not need to gamble with my food. Food is fuel for us people like high octane gas is fuel for a real fast Buell, (gas is fuel for other, less awesome vehicles as well.) Anyway, I really wanted to let people know that I do not hate hamburgers. I just do not like them as much as I do like sandwiches.

2006-05-26T12:59:00.003-07:00

Things that are named like me

I am back from a vacation and some other things I had to do. Don't worry, I still own my Buell.

2006-04-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

You gotta respect the bike!!

2006-04-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Meeting new friends

If you get the really really big bag of Ruffles cheddar and sour cream, and probably two or one 2 liter bottles of root beer, or maybe one 7up and one root beer, definitely no caffeine for this ride, you might have enough tasty treats to convince some others to join you for a ride. I already had my favorite snack on this particular day, but me and Jody went through an entire 22oz bag to get these two guys we met at Rocky Point to join us. I usually keep several sets of leathers around for just this occasion. It's a time to enjoy good snacks and meet other Buell enthusiasts. I got to sit in the middle on Jody's Buell, he's a neat guy.

2006-04-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

I was posting earlier on this blog about how much I like snacks. These here ruffles cheddar and sour cream are my favorite snack.

I like to have them while I drink root beer. Root beer doesn't have any caffeine, which is good. I don't want to be all jittery when I am riding my Buell. Anyway, I thought, what with all the traffic my site is getting, that you might like to see what kind of snack I like to eat.

Some times I put shredded cheese on these chips... and that's pretty good. They are good with beer, but you wouldn't want to ride a Buell or any other really fast motorcycle, after you have had some beer and chips.

These ruffles have ridges... and that is awesome. I think that the ridges trap in the flavoring more. Ever get a chip out of the bag and see that it has a bunch of extra flavoring on it... and you are like, "awesome, this is gonna taste really good"? I think that it is awesome when that happens.

I bet a bunch of you just got real hungry for these awesome chips and are totally jumping on your Buells and riding to the store to get some.

It's cool if you go get some in your car or on a motorcycle that is not a Buell. I mean, it would really be cooler if you did it on an awesome Buell.. but you don't have to.

2006-04-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

10,000 HITS !!!!!!!!!

A great BIG THANK YOU to everyone that has stopped in and made this site a success!!!!!

I have been in existence for 31 days now and am completely overwhelmed by the number of readers I have!!

2006-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of this hot chick that was asking me about my Buell. I thought she was pretty and she let me kiss her. Then, she didn't let me put my hand in her pants. Some chicks won't put out. Tell what bugs you. Chicks that won't put out bug me.

2006-04-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Here is a drawing my friend Steve did of my old lady dry humping my Buell. See how hot she is? She even lets me kiss her and stuff. Notice how hot the Buell Raven Black 10 looks on my tricked out bike. Did I tell you that she lets me kiss her sometimes?

2006-04-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

I tell people riding a Buell is like riding thunder. There is nothing to how the bike FEELS! If they have to ask ,"WHY I RIDE A BUELL",they just DONT GET IT!

2006-04-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Photos

I must regret to inform you that I will not be posting any more pictures of peolple who only claim to own buells. I will post pictures of buells only, but not people only. The pics below will remain as I have no real proof that they do not own buells. Sorry.

2006-04-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

Senor Badass is being mean to me over at his stupid site that nobody reads. He probably doesn't like how cool I am and how sweet my Buell is. That makes me mad. Being mad is icky.

2006-04-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

I would love ridin my buell with this guy.

2006-03-21T12:33:00.000-08:00

I CRIED TODAY...

Not the shedding of manly tears... but a big, fat pussy cry. Somebody keyed my bike... and I don't cotton to that bullshit. Then, somebody made me pass out at work. They didn't really do anything... but they did make me pass out. Then... to top that all off... the person who made me pass out didn't care... and then didn't let a coworker ride with me in the ambulance. Like that person was going to get any work done knowing that I had been made to pass out by being worked so hard. I mean... I PASSED OUT!!! They should have closed the office and had a "Gravedigger Passed Out Day" that counted double towards accumulating years of service for our age 48 early out pension. I cannot be asked to barely work twenty years of my life only to not have 100% income replacement at age 42 with days off when somebody in the office experiences some kind of negative episode. That is so cruel. Now I'm crying again...