For the food blog this week I made a little exception to the rule and went to a chain, but a very worthy one!! Panera Bread has released these new pasta sides and just had to try them!!!!! I usually hate chain style restaurants but Panera is defiantly an exception. I will admit, I think the prices are a bit ridiculous for what it is (salads, sandwiches, and now pasta). However, everything I have ever ordered there has been delicious and this time was no exception.
For those of you that don’t know, there is huge Panera Bread on S. Allan Street right up by the Corner Room. There is also a brand new one off campus by Wal-Mart for any of you that have a car. The one on campus is usually packed around lunchtime so make sure you give yourself adequate time.
So this time around I ordered my 2 favorite items: the Greek salad and the creamy tomato soup. I also ordered the new alfredo tortellini! Before you judge me, in my defense, I had not eaten all day and I was absolutely starving. The Greek salad is your typical Greek salad, but I just love those little purple olives and Panera’s are really good. Hands down the best thing Panera makes is their tomato soup. I personally hate tomato soup, but I wouldn’t even consider Panera’s creamy tomato soup real tomato soup. It’s more like a very thick and sweet sauce. I love to dip the baguette in the soup, absolutely delicious.
The real reason I went to Panera was to try these new pastas. I must say they are a success!! My tortellini was cooked perfectly and the alfredo sauce was quite tasty! My only negative comment is that the portion was too small! I probably could have eaten two.
In the end I ended up spending 15 dollars on the whole meal, which is pretty pricey if you ask me. Despite the prices, Panera is worth it if you have a little extra spending money. I give Panera an 8 out of 10! All of my food was great! But then again it was just soup and salad, kind of hard to mess up. I definitely recommend trying out the new pasta sides! They were very satisfying.