Rick Steves Group Meeting in Kansas City June 16th

"I thought a Panera location on the third Saturday of the month was a requirement of the by laws :-)" It is; (beginning to shake uncontrollably) Panera has a loooong reach. A very, very loooong reach. (now crying and frightened; beginning to chant) We Love Panera. We Love Panera. We Love Panera. "Make sure you only pay your franchise fee direct to the right man (empahsis mine)." Nigel ('cause I'm feelin' frisky today), you'd better feel again LOL! (THAT'LL get me an invitation to visit with the Webmaster!) I'm no man ;-) Robert, I hope you get some people to come! I like to harrass send PMs to local posters I notice on the threads; many of them don't notice the announcements for the get-togethers. The summer months can be a little difficult - people are busy in the yard, at the lake, on vacation (the kids are out of school), but then again there are people putting the finishing details on their summer/fall trips so hopefully they will show up! If at first you don't succeed...;-)

Nigel: There used to be a place called St. Louis Bread Company in Missouri (St. Louis and KC), and it was a darn great bakery/lunch place, even though it was a chain (small chain)...that was back in the early 90s. Panera apparently bought St. Louis Bread around mid-90s, because it changed over to the Panera brand about that time in KC. I was in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago and was very surprised to see there are still a few St. Louis Bread companies around, but it's really Panera in disguise...nothing like the old stores. IMHO, Panera is terrible to extremely bad. I know a bunch of folks will disagree with me on that, but that's been my experience anyway. Still, it's probably a decent place to meet...food is bad but coffee is actually fair. Wi-Fi is apparently free, so that's a plus.

Robert, you should have attended a Sacramento meeting. MUCH more fun that those Denver guys!! Also, we don't try to extort new groups by demanding a 'franchise fee'. Well, maybe Eileen does. Anyway, good luck with your meeting. I hope you have plenty of interest. Don't worry if it takes a couple of months to really get it going. Have fun!!

Is it possible to have one of these meetings anywhere in the country at some place other than Panera? I mean, you have Classic Cup, which is my own personal favorite in the whole of The Plaza...how can you possibly choose Panera over Classic Cup? :)

I don't know what Classic Cup is, but we chose Panera for three reasons - 1. Free wifi. 2. No servers.
3. They don't care how long we are there. We could get the same at McDonalds, but then we would be at McDonald's. Who wants that!

Michael, there is nothing magical about Panera. This group thing started when I notice then-Centennial Frank posting a lot, and saw he was near me, so I sent him a PM and suggested we get together sometime. Panera was between us, convenient to main streets, and had WiFi, so we met there. We also picked the 3rd Saturday because it was the next Saturday, or the first one we both had time, I don't remember. Anyway, all these things are pretty arbitrary, so meet when you want to, where you want to. Good luck.

Yeah, I actually noticed that other groups had co-opted your Panera idea, which is cool since they seem to have free Wi-Fi and other amenities as already mentioned. I was sort of half joking since there are a million other places in the USA with similar amenities, yet it's always Panera somehow. :)

To all of the responders of this thread: I am sure Classic Cup is fine (haven't been there) but I thought a Panera location on the third Saturday of the month was a requirement of the by laws :-) But Lee I enjoyed my trip to Denver in April to get the "Rick Steves 3rd Saturday morning in the month group meeting" offical training at the mothership location.
My laptop screen got cracked on my RS South Italy tour last month so unless someone else brings a laptop on Saturday the wifi will go unused this month. But this could be a good thing too as that means no one will be subjected to the pain of other people's pictures. I also appreciated knowing the history and background of these groups. Denver was a long enough drive. California will have to wait for another trip. Idaho will have to wait also. Robert

Robert: there are no by-laws (only a franchise fee). Ours is really an informal thing. Panera seems to be a bit crowded on Sat. mornings, and we have to look for a free place - never the same place - sometimes a high table by the window, sometimes near a power outlet - varies by the number of people there on any particular Saturday. It would be nice to have our own room, but the Panera with a back room is farther away. There is another non-chain place a few miles north of Panera that has Wifi and a back room, but higher prices. I mentioned it to Frank a while back but he thought we should stay with Panera since our regulars expect it - it might be confusing if we moved it around.

Robert: I realize you don't actually live in the city, but you need to hit Classic Cup...it's been a fixture on the Plaza for years. And I can't really compare it to Panera, since it's actually a really fantastic, award-winning bistro and not a fast food place. IMHO, it's the best place on the Plaza...not the most expensive but the best. Figlio is good, Plaza III is okay, and Starker's is really good...seems like everything else is a national chain of some sort and a few bars. BTW, if Panera is too busy, Starbuck's is right around the corner from Classic Cup on Central and Nichols. Good luck with your new group.

Good luck with your new Group Meeting, Robert, and all the KC area readers. I hope it becomes just as much fun as the others. Make sure you only pay your franchise fee direct to the right man. Don't allow others to say they will "get it to him". Having never visited a Panera Bread - they must have started up after I left the US - I find it kind of fun to keep reading about the meetings there, all across the country... {bump}

Where are those "Like" buttons....

Here's a secret... amongst many places I have lived in the past 15 years, I called KC home for about two years. And I have to agree with Michael here... with all the great choices around the CC Plaza, why choose a mediocre faux-Italian chain like Panera? I ate at the Classic Cup once, and as I recall, the food was quite good. Whether or not it would be convenient to have a group meeting there is another story, as I remember it being kind of small.

(approaching menacing thunder) NOOO, Michael and Tom! PANERA is ANGRY!!! Must.Make.Panera.Happy. Must sacrifice the youngest hostess from Classic Cup to appease PANERA!!! Tom, I never think of Panera as Italian, or really anything else, except as a breakfast/lunch-y, soup-n-sandwich type place. A bakery. I think in two years I've only purchased food there - including the simple pastry - maybe 5 times. Much of that was free - I have their frequent-customer card! Free food for your birthday, too ;-) What I've eaten was very good, especially the sandwiches. Good and a bit different, but not way-out-there, 'weird different' LOL! I have had several gallons of their coffee, though...This Sacto group is boring; gotta stay awake ;-)

Indeed, the dining room inside is very small and intimate, and even the sidewalk patio seating along 47th is narrow and limited. But they have a large patio/deck out back that can accommodate larger groups. Of course, it has to be the right time of year, and the weather has to cooperate, too. I would think you could do a meeting out back for sure. As I recall, there's a Sunday brunch, and the place is way too packed for a meeting. But Saturday right after breakfast but before lunch could work. You can't beat the food, the bar, the scene itself. For Europhiles, the place will remind you of your favorite small place in Italy or France. In fact, the entire Plaza itself was built in the 1920s and was sort of modeled after Seville in Spain...it has to be one of the most beautiful shopping districts in the U.S. I actually think it was one of the first anywhere. But all of the corporate chains sort of ruin it in a way...oh well. Yes, I do know KC very well.

Aww, we're busy this Sat, hope you have something next month!

Starkers is still there? One of my favorite places! (I used to live on The Plaza) back in the Houlihan days.) I wanna come, but the commute is a bit much. So, I'll just settle for Panera's in Sacramento and hope Elaine will bring her flask of limoncello... Give a nod to the fountains and clock towers for me. (sigh) Good luck!