Panera Bread (August 14, 2008)

There are now two Paneras in my area. The one that I usually visit is in a crowded strip mall with limited parking. It's almost always packed. The strip mall sits across one of the city's prep schools and during a school year lunch time, it is packed with snobby high school age kids that are loud and borderline belligerent. A new one recently opened up a bit closer to me and it is probably the only Panera I've seen with a drive-thru. Being the anti-social person I am, I was excited for this and headed out to try an interesting menu item: the strawberry poppy salad.

So I drive to the new one, pull up to the drive thru and look for what I want to order. I ask for a minute when I'm badgered for my order through the speaker by an angry sounding girl, to which she, sounding frustrated, lets me have one. I search for my salad, and low and behold it's not on the damn menu board!

Now I'm frustrated and I pull away without even ordering. I know the salad is a "regional" item but I wasn't expecting Panera's regions to be ridiculously small because, of course, the usual Panera I visit had the salad - and they made damn sure that anyone entering the building knew of its existence through large advertisements. Even though the salad I wanted was there, I was still a little bothered because I had to actually go inside and interact with humans in a face to face manner for more than a mere second due to the absence of a drive-thru. Dammit.

So I get out and then walk into this high class location dressed like a complete slob with my gym shorts hanging low, my wrinkled polo shirt showing evidence that hadn't been washed in a week or so and with my flip flops clacking on the floor. I wait in line, wait and wait until the people at one of the two open registers finish ordering and paying. I begin to advance forward but the counter girl scoots away, though she assures that she'll help me in a second.

Counter girl comes back, smiles and asks for my order. Counter girl's name was actually "Billie" as evidenced by her self-made name tag that the Panera gods make her wear on a daily basis. Upon seeing that, this is what immediately popped into my head:



I could of broken into song, but decided to not make a total fool out of myself.

I ordered my salad (with chicken - $1.59 extra..) and a cup of french onion soup. Both things came with a choice of bread, chips or an apple. I got bread with both of those. Billie asked me if I wanted a $ .99 cookie twice, and I declined. I also declined her offer of getting the 1/2 and 1/2 deal - seeing how my appetite would probably not be satisfied if I went with that option. However, she didn't mind and still had a teethy smile on her face. She was kind of cute: bubbly type and the smile on her face actually seemed genuine. There seems to be a shortage of girls that in this world.

The price? $14.45 with a regular sized soft drink. Ouch.

After realizing I was an idiot for not getting the 1/2 and 1/2 combo, I filled up my drink, sat down at a table and watched the clientele for today. Not a lot of the usual prep school students, there were only a few: a guy and his girlfriend cuddling in a booth.. ah to be 16 again.. I saw two "alternative" girls as well, one of them was wearing a fauxhawk on her had that was straight from 2004. And then there were some old people. A lot of old people actually. I got lost into my usual act of people watching until my buzzer thingy basically scared the living crap out of me, telling me that I had to get my overpriced food.

The salad? Good. Interesting. Though I could easily replicate this at home for a cheaper price. The only thing I probably couldn't find in a local market would be their poppy seed dressing but a raspberry vinaigrette would be just as good, if not better.

The soup? Salty, but satisfying. Not enough cheese but I'm trying to start my diet. The croutouns inside only add to the saltiness. Bleck.. I needed some more diet pepsi after that to wash away all the salt in my mouth.

Was it all worth 14.45? Not really, no.

So I felt cheated as I left. I didn't get to order what I wanted at the original Panera I set out to visit, I didn't get to get my meal through the drive through, as I had originally planned, and I wasted almost fifteen bucks on a meal that was worth around eight or nine even.

I should be angry, fuming and boycotting the place but I'm not.

In fact, I'll probably be back again to do some more people watching.