Restaurant Review: Panera Bread

I had a work meeting at Panera Bread recently. I hadn't been there in a very long time. I don't think Panera is usually much fun if you're vegan, but you can find something to eat if you're stuck there. I had a garden salad with quinoa tomato sofrito and avocado added to it and a low fat vinaigrette dressing (that was the only vinaigrette available), with plain potato chips on the side.

It tasted fine (though the dressing was a bit too sweet for my tastes), but a meal like this one tends to not satisfy me very well, and I ended up hungry within a few hours. I often go a long time between lunch and dinner and this just wasn't enough to see me through. I kind of knew it wouldn't be, but I didn't want to spend the money on a smoothie to round it out. If I wanted to spend more, I probably could have managed to get something that stuck with me longer.

General thoughts: If you need to go along with a group with omnivores in it, you may want to visit Panera. There are options for you there, and the chain has restaurants nationwide, more or less. I feel like it's kind of expensive for a vegan to get a satisfying meal here, and there's nothing very exciting about it, but I'm glad it's there. 3/5

Comments

  1. I worked for Panera for a few years on breaks from college. I remember liking the menu so much more back then. They had the best Garden Veggie Soup (they changed the recipe and it's horrible now) and they have a great black bean soup (which I also haven't seen in a while). The salads aren't filling and the bowls that they have now don't sound appealing. It's a shame because the concept would be great for vegans in theory, I just don't like their options anymore and it's way too expensive for what you get.

    Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned I worked there before ranting about it, ha!

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    Replies
    1. I do love their frozen strawberry lemonade, but of course, that's not lunch, it's a snack. And yes, very expensive for what you get.

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  2. While good that you were at least able to get something, disappointing that it is expensive and not filling. Salads need to be pretty hefty to fill me up. I guess at least they had some quinoa and avocado on it.

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