Panera was mediocre even before then. Overly expensive mid-tier sandwiches and bread bowls full of campbells-tier microwaved soup.

Its just that Subway was still a thing that people ate for some unfathomable reason, so the sandwiches seemed "good" in comparison. And other fast food joints were overly dependent on human cashiers which meant any time someone wanted to "use the secret menu" it led to a massive backup.

I am not saying that panera has gotten better since it went corporate. I just think it would have been screwed either way. Because now that everyone acknowledges subway is sugary dog vomit, we also kind of acknowledge that panera sandwiches are horrible. AND we likely all lived off a lot of sandwiches in the pandemic which reminds people of how it is one of the cheapest lunches you can pack. And while there are a LOT of social implications of it, the push toward kiosk and app based ordering at other chains has made them a lot more viable for a quick bite to eat. Which further reduces the need to go to "a nice sitdown place" to eat some overpriced campbells... Also, see The Pandemic and realizing we can just toss a can in a backpack.