Panera Bread

You can tell Panera (Bread Co. to me) is at least health-conscious.

I'd say that Panera is pricey--my bill's around $20 for two--but if you've been to Subway recently you can't get 2 subs and drinks for less than $15. We don't eat out every day, so I'll happily pay an extra $5 for considerably better quality.

On-menu calorie counts are good and should be required at every restaurant. The people who don't care about calories just ignore the numbers; people who do care are directed to better health decisions.

Unfortunately, having grown up in rural Illinois and Indiana, I have frequent cravings for Missouri's only Monical's Pizza location (O'Fallon)--and of course it's right next door to my local Panera. Sometimes Monical's wins. Usually Monical's wins.

I love Panera, but, what I get there isn't healthy ...coffee loaded with sugar and cream and a bagel and cream cheese.

jemhh wrote: »

neldabg wrote: »

Ruatine wrote: »

Panera Bread is dead to me since they removed the BBQ Chicken Salad from their menu.

TmacMMM wrote: »

The kids like it. I like it. I liked it more before they discontinued my favorite salad: kale chicken caesar. Those crispy cheesy bits were so good.

yellingkimber wrote: »

I'm rioting since they removed the Power Chicken Hummus Bowl from the menu. I lived for that salad.

Wow. After reading this thread, I'm glad I never tried any salads from them. They seem to discontinue everyone's favorite salads.

About half of their salads are seasonal. Wait nine months and your salad will come back. Same for soup and some of the sandwiches. Fall = autumn squash soup season. Winter = beet salad season. Spring and summer = I completely forget seasons

I haven't seen my salad come back, but it could just be my local location. I've taken to just making my own jalapeño hummus to use as a salad dressing. Honestly, it's a really easy salad to recreate. They just made it so pretty and it was such a good option for catching up with friends

I eat there regularly but I am NOT a fan of them discontinuing things. Many years ago, they used to do these really thin-crust pizzas. They stopped those. This past fall and winter, my dieting was immensely helped by their Kale Caesar salad and Turkey Chili (both were delicious) and I could have a Friday night treat dinner for roughly 550 calories. Both are GONE!! Right now, I'm no loving any one salad, sandwich, or soup on their menu but will go in a pinch.

Their breads are excellent, but they are overpriced.

I appreciate that they have quite a few vegetarian options. I really like the black bean soup, and the Greek salad is nice too. Also, I like the "You Pick Two" option.

I haven't had these in ages and hesitate to mention them, but I really enjoyed the cherry pastry, bear claw, sticky bun, and orange scone. And the rye bread is delicious!

I actually have one complaint about their sesame semolina bread--they won't sell me a loaf of it. I can buy loaves of their other breads. I could even walk in and order 12 sandwiches made with that bread and they'd sell them to me. But they will not sell me an actual loaf of unsliced sesame semolina. I've asked at two different Paneras around here and both times have been told that they can't sell it to me.

I really like their food, but it's pretty calorie dense so I rarely eat it.