Panera - The Food

I likely do not need to introduce you to Panera, the chain of fast casual bakery cafes with 2000+ locations in the US.  They also have retail items available in most grocery stores, like their soups and mac and cheese.  I suspect you've encountered Panera, and thus, don't need much intro here. Plus,  I've reviewed different elements of Panera before, such as the bagels that I do actually enjoy, the ok pastries, the muffins I didn't care for, the hit or miss scones and hit or miss cookies, and the drinks.  

Those previous reviews reflect the majority of my visits to Panera - I generally visited to get a pastry/scone/muffin or bagel (and I say "visited", past tense, because the San Francisco location shuttered at the start of the pandemic, and did not re-open).   Anyway, I don't think my experiences are the common ones, I think most people go to Panera for the cafe side of things, for lunch and dinner.  On the actual food front, the only items I had reviewed before was the breakfast sandwich.  

The lunch and dinner menu at Panera revolves around sandwiches, salads, and soups, including their popular "You Pick Two" option of two half-portions.  In recent years, they've expanded into pizzas and "warm bowls" with rice and quinoa bases.  The sandwiches at Panera are mostly chicken or turkey based, with a token veggie sandwich, tuna salad, and single steak option too.  Back in the day, long before I wrote this blog, I did used to get the sandwiches as part of a You Pick Two option, but its easily been 20 years since I've had one.

Salads

For salads, Panera doesn't actually offer a simple garden side salad.  The most basic versions are the Caesar or Greek, both also available with chicken.  Other options all include chicken too - Asian sesame or citrus Asian crunch, BBQ chicken, or cobb.  These are all available as entree size, as part of a Pick Two, or in larger format for catering.

Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken. $54.99. (Catering, Serves 10).

"Chicken raised without antibiotics, arugula, romaine, kale and radicchio blend, vine-ripened tomatoes, red onions, toasted pecan pieces, Gorgonzola and apple chips tossed with sweet white balsamic vinaigrette."

This was a satisfying salad.  All the ingredients were in well distributed amounts, and were clearly designed to work together cohesively.

The base was mixed greens, romaine, kale, arugula, and radicchio, all fresh and crisp, a good blend of flavors and bitterness levels.

The tomato was fairly standard, not particularly ripe or flavorful, but, it was December after all.  It did seem a bit out of place in this salad though.

The red onion, gorgonzola crumbles, and pecan bits were also all fairly standard, but a really nice combination.  In particular, I liked the harshness of the red onion and the creamy gorgonzola and crunchy pecans for textural crunch.

The apple chips were my absolute favorite though!  Some were crisp and some were a bit soft, but, that actually worked well.  I thought these were a fun ingredient, and really liked the texture they added to the salad.

The dressing was White Balsamic With Apple Flavored Vinaigrette ... I didn't taste the apple, but it was a tangy vinaigrette.

I didn't try the chicken, since I don't like chicken.

Overall though, this was good.  I'd prefer without chicken, which I could obviously order at the restaurant, and the tomato didn't really fit in, and I'd suggest cranberries perhaps, but, overall, still a nice salad.  ***.

Soups & Mac

Soups are available in small cup size, larger bowl size, or even larger bread bowls.  They range from classics like tomato soup and chicken noodle, to hearty chili, and more adventurous chicken tikka masala ... soup.  On the mac front, there is classic mac & cheese, or a broccoli cheddar version, that I believe features the same base as their well regarded broccoli cheddar soup.  The menu has some staples available every day, along with a daily soup that changes each day, but is consistent week to week, e.g. always the same on Mon, on Tue, etc.  

Many of the soups and mac can be found in the refrigerated section at the grocery store too.

Mac and Cheese, Large. $9.09.

"Tender shell pasta in a blend of rich cheeses including our tangy aged white cheddar cheese sauce."

Panera's mac and cheese is actually fairly well known.  Sure, I think most people get salads and sandwiches, maybe some of the baked goods and bagels, and sometimes soups, but ... the mac and cheese definitely has a following.  Along with most of the soups, it is also available in their "Panera at Home" line in grocery stores, although that version is actually pretty different (according to the ingredients listing).

After years of almost getting the mac and cheese, I finally did, one chilly winter day, when I was going through a mac and cheese phase.  Literally, eating mac and cheese every couple days (my favorite fast food style is still from Krispy Krunchy Chicken, which I just adore!, and I'm pretty fond of Trader Joe's frozen mac and cheese for a quick and easy meal).  I went for the classic mac and cheese (white cheddar based), although Panera also offers a bright yellow Broccoli Cheddar mac as well.

The Panera mac and cheese did indeed look pretty good.  So much cheese, very very creamy, but not runny, a light white sauce, since white cheddar, not yellow.  The flavor was decent, a bit "grown up" with the white cheddar, decent depth of flavor.  The pasta choice, large shells with small ridges was a good one, sauce filled the shells and squirted out in a pleasing way when I bit in, and the ridges helped it cling to the pasta.  The pasta wasn't mushy, but it was softer than I prefer.

No bread crumb topping, no crispy broiled top, it was just a bowl of it all the same, fast food style.

So overall, it was about what I'd expect.  It wasn't like a restaurant version finished under a broiler, it didn't have any interesting spices or toppings, but, the pasta shape and cheese choice made it slightly unique, and I really did like how creamy it was.

***, I was glad to try, but I don't think I'd seek it out.  Also, it is somehow shockingly bad for you, even in the world of mac and cheese.  This container was ... 950 calories!  Wowzer.  (The small is 470 if you wanted it more as a side rather than a meal).