Panera Bread

Posted on 06. Jun, 2011 by Johnnie in Business Lunch, Foods, Fresh Reviews, Group Friendly, Quickie Lunch, Testimonials

I have passed by this establishment numerous times and kept telling myself I was going to check them out, but the timing was never right. Well, having overnight company last weekend the timing was finally right. We needed something light like a sandwich after having a big breakfast earlier. So Panera Bread it was.

We all wanted to try the Signature Hot Panini so we chose both the Cuban Chicken Panini and the Turkey Artichoke Panini. The Cuban Chicken tasted okay, but I felt it was a little skimpy on the chicken and cheese. It did have the pickles which are a big part of a Cuban sandwich, but I think the longer pickle slices would have been better than a few scattered round slices. The Turkey Artichoke Panini was probably a better selection as it had more filling and flavor than the chicken Panini. Both Panini’s were grilled nicely and they were warm when we received them.

We also tried the classic salad, a mixture of field greens & romaine lettuce topped with vine-ripened tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions and reduced fat balsamic vinaigrette. It was all fresh and a very nice size for sharing. They had ample vegetables mixed in, not just lettuce as you can sometimes get. The salad came with a nice chunk of fresh bread on the side. This was my one big disappointment in the meal, and a major mistake for Panera. The bread with the salad was VERY tough. It looked great, but we couldn’t break it, tear it, or eat it. Not good advertisement for a place called Panera Bread which supposedly bakes bread and sells loaves of bread to take home. This is a major faux pas in my opinion.

On a more positive note, we did try the Iced Green Tea, green tea infused with passion fruit & papaya, served over ice which was very nice. We were told it had less calories than green tea sweetened with sugar. It was very refreshing for a summer Texas day with temperatures in the high 90’s.

(210) 479-1717

http://www.panerabread.com/