Panera Bread - fancy fast food
Since I moved to the United states of America almost two years ago, I often miss quality Mediterranean - style food. One of the restaurants here (that is actually considered a fast food place), called Panera Bread, comes as close to the Mediterranean style foods that I miss, as possible. So the fact that I eat there quite frequently, should not be too big of a surprise.
You can find Panera Bread at several locationsacross the United states of America, and I consider myself pretty lucky to live just a short walking distance away from one. And I am not a big fan of eating out at restaurants simply because it can be very expensive, but eating at Panera Bread will definitely not break the bank. Therefore, I usually eat there at least twice a week.
The entrance into foodie heaven.
A typical Panera Bread interior.
What to order at Panera bread?
Panera bread’s menu is pretty extensive, but I am proud to say that I have tried almost all the menu items so far. These are the items from Panera bread that I cannot live without anymore:
Mediterranean veggie sandwich is the only sandwich that I will order at Panera bread. And not because other sandwiches are not good. It is because their Mediterranian veggie sandwich is so delicious that I do not want to order anything else. The portion is small, but filling, and the freshly bakedfoccaccia bread comes loaded with tomatoes, onions, peppers, feta cheese and other delicious stuff.
See how delicious it looks? And it comes with a side of potato chips!
Modern greek salad with quinoa is my salad of choice at Panera bread. This salad is full of Mediterranean vegetables, topped with a generous dose of honey roasted almonds and delicious feta cheese and a special dressing. You can choose between a big and a small portion. I usually opt for the big one because the small portion is not filling enough if you are planning on ordering just the salad.
Broccoli cheddar soup. You can choose from a variety of soups at Panera bread, but my all time favourite is, without a doubt, the broccoli cheddar soup (which also includes carrots, even though they are not mentioned in a name). It tastes mostly like cheese, and you will only taste broccoli if you bite in one of the pieces.
When ordering soup, you can choose between a cup, a bowl, and, drum roll, a bread bowl that you can eat afterwards! Also, when you order soup, you will get a quarter of a freshly baked baguette that you can dip into the soup… or just eat it by itself. It is that delicious.
Bear claw tastes just like a cinnamon roll, but it looks different, it is smaller than a cinnamon roll and it is also topped with almonds. You can order a bear claw if you want something sweet, but you do not feel like eating a whole cinnamon roll.
Orange scone is basically just a scone, topped with orange icing and it tastes delicious. It is also very sweet and it makes for a perfect dessert after ordering a healthy salad.
Chocolate fudge brownie, do I need to say more? Well, the only downside of this (generous) slice of deliciousness is that it has almost eight hundred calories! But trust me, once you take the first bite, you will forget all about gaining weight. And who said you have to eat it all in one sitting? Although you will probably want to, because this is a slice of gooey chocolate deliciousness.
Cinnamon roll is even better that the chocolate fudge brownie, which might seem impossible if you have already tried the brownie, but trust me, it is true. Cinnamon rolls at Panera bread are enormous, with a ton of cream cheese and cinnamon icing, and they are gooey in the middle. And they are baked fresh, meaning they will still be warm when you will eat them. Yummy!
Panera Bread's pastry display. If you have the opportunity, try everything in there.
Iced mocha coffee. This is one pricey coffee - at almost five dollars for a medium sized cup, it could be a rival to Starbucks. Well, but I do understand why the price is so high - that coffee is delicious. To make it even better, you can ask for frozenmocha - they will basically just grind the ice and make a coffee slushy out of it.
So good! Sorry, Starbucks!
Prices at Panera bread
Eating at Panera bread is cheap. For example, most sandwiches cost around eight dollars for the whole sandwich and six dollars for half a sandwich. Large salads cost between eight and nine dollars, and small salads cost between five and seven dollars. Broccoli cheddar soup costs between four and six dollars, depending on the size. All bagels cost around a dollar, and all bakery items cost less than three dollars.
Loyalty club
Does a phrase ‘free bagels for a month’ sound good? Well, nothing is too good to be true at Panera Bread. A few times a year, they will have a promotion that allows you to have one free bagel daily, and you can pick the kind you want. I tried all of them and the winners are by far cinnamon sugar bagel, chocolate chip bagel, and bagel with rolled oats.
As a Panera bread club member, you will also get a free pastry by your choice upon joining the club, and a free pastry of your choice on your birthday. You can redeem them up to one month after they were posted to your account.
A few words for the end…
Despite the fact that Panera bread is considered a fast food place, it is still a much healthier choice than, for example, McDonalds or Burger King. And the best part is that their food does not look and taste like fast food - just look at their salads! They almost look better than the homegrown lettuce!
