Believe it or not the question is garnering national attention. Not only is the query at the center of a legal food fight between two well known restaurants, it happens to be the question I was sent out to answer on a cold winter day during my stint as a television news reporter (more on that later). The current sandwich controversy brewing in Massachusettes involves two of my favorite eateries: Panera Bread Company (which serves sandwiches, soups and an assortment of baked goods) and Mexican restaurant, Qdoba.
According to court documents, Panera argues that owners of the mall where it currently leases space shouldn’t offer a similar lease to Qdoba because they gave Panera sandwich exclusivity in their lease agreement, and Panera considers the burritos Qdoba serves as “sandwiches.” Naturally, the issue raised ire with Qdoba executives and the issue ended up in the hands of a Superior Court judge.
The verdict: Last week, the judge ruled against Panera, citing testimony from a local chef and Webster’s dictionary.
“I know of no chef or culinary historian who would call a burrito a sandwich,” the local chef said in his affidavit. “Indeed, the notion would be absurd to any credible chef or culinary historian.”
In addition, according to court documents, the judge also 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,” the judge wrote.
“We were surprised at the suit because we think it’s common sense that a burrito is not a sandwich,” a Qdoba executive told a local newspaper.
What I find so ironic about the entire incident is that a much similar case came before a Wisconsin judge in 2003. I happened to be a reporter at a local television station at the time and was not only sent out to get “man-on-the-street” responses as to what defined a “sandwich,” but I also sat through four days of testimony from various individuals when the manner went to court in Green Bay. (Similar to Panera vs. Qdoba, a sandwich shop located in a local mall here didn’t want competition from a restaurant that served up a dish that resembled a sandwich.)
As it turned out I left on maternity leave prior to the judge’s ruling and wasn’t in court when the verdict came down. In the end the judge allowed the non-sandwich shop to continue serving its creation… and within 6 months, both restaurants went out of business.