Judge rules - Burrito not a Sandwich

[Tulsa]

Massachusetts Judge Settles Dispute by Ruling Burrito is Not a Sandwich

Friday, November 10, 2006


WORCESTER, Mass. — Is a burrito a sandwich?
The Panera Bread Co. bakery-and-cafe chain says yes. But a judge said no, ruling against Panera in its bid to prevent a Mexican restaurant from moving into the same shopping mall.
Panera has a clause in its lease that prevents the White City Shopping Center in Shrewsbury from renting to another sandwich shop. Panera tried to invoke that clause to stop the opening of an Qdoba Mexican Grill.


But Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Locke cited Webster's Dictionary as well as testimony from a chef and a former high-ranking federal agriculture official in ruling that Qdoba's burritos and other offerings are not sandwiches.


The difference, the judge ruled, 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," Locke wrote in a decision released last week.


In court papers, Panera, a St. Louis-based chain of more than 900 cafes, argued for a broad definition of a sandwich, saying that a flour tortilla is bread and that a food product with bread and a filling is a sandwich.


Qdoba, owned by San Diego-based Jack in the Box Inc., called food experts to testify on its behalf.


Among them was Cambridge chef Chris Schlesinger, who said in an affidavit: "I know of no chef or culinary historian who would call a burrito a sandwich. Indeed, the notion would be absurd to any credible chef or culinary historian."



It's not freakin' wonder our courts take forever with trash like this clogging them up. Panera Bread should have to pay for wasting everyones time on this...

[Tony Junior]

Ye gawds, stupid! Since when is a taco NOT a sandwich?

When an idiot judge says so..

[birdbrain]

IS NOT!!

[arbycoffee]

like you can eat at one sitting 10 sandwichs, but can eat 10 tacos

I be hungry, Feed me! ! ! !

[luckydog]

Isn't folded pizza a sandwich too????????

[H20Dreams]

That is just ridiculous

[Sid]

sigh!!!

common sense out the window again..

if people would just stop trying to waste the courts time with this sort of stupidity....

[MrGneiss]

How can you say that Sid???....Now my damn bread shop is going to go out of business!!!

[dhcloud]

I hate stuff like this. We had something similar at our haunted house we do every year. We rent out some of the staging (the area between the three attractions) to vendors, and one guy stated that only he could sell sodas (because he was selling them first) and he threatened to sue the owner because another food vendor was selling sodas with his food.