Good morning! As we approach the end of October, you can see the footsteps of Autumn across the campus! The pumpkins, balloons, leaf of the tree, parties for Halloween, and unsettled temperatures throughout the week all decorate this lovely season to the best of it can ever be!
As I struggled to find a new restaurant to explore for more food recommendations, my roommate suggested the Panera located at Kern Building next to the Pattee Library and West Residency. I may be an expert in many fields of food, but Panera is a well-known name that I never discovered, so I decided to give it a shot!
This particular Panera is not super big, but it still offers a variety of options, and Sandwiches, soups, salads, drinks, and bakeries mainly dominate the menu. Following the advice from my roommate, I ordered a Pick 2 including Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt and Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice soup with a free French Baguette aside (you may choose from chips, an apple, and a piece of baguette). Even though I am a rookie at Panera, I am familiar with its drinks. Highly recommend the Papaya Green Tea and Mango Yuzu Citrus Charged Lemonade as a wonderful drink to start your morning with, but I do need to warn you they all contain a high amount of caffeine.
And bring the topic back to our main dish today. Starting with the sandwich, I asked for red onions and Country Rustic Sourdough to replace the regular Black Pepper Focaccia bread. The second I opened the package, the smell of grilled chicken mixed with fresh-baked wheat bread took over every part of my nose. Without hesitation, I took a big bite. I first sensed the crunchiness of the bread, and then avocado and mushed chicken softly landed in my mouth contradicting how crispy the bread was. And then all the taste starts to be shown. Due to the thickness of the bread this barely sensible flavor of wheat didn’t get covered by all the other strong taste ingredients, on top of that, the mushed chicken with sauce (not sure what sauce it is) set a foundation taste for this sandwich. In addition, avocado provided a fresh sense that blended into this heavy-tasting chicken, with a few red onions decorating the overall taste with a little spice. With all these layers of taste, they support each other perfectly.
Finally, my personal favorite from this order is wild Rice soup. To be honest, I don’t regularly eat creamy soup, but I did fall in love with this one. Maybe the chicken in the sandwich influenced my taste, but the soup only contained a light flavor of the chicken. Instead, it has a dominating flavor of rice, which is magical for me! As a big fan of all rice, this is the first time I have tasted rice in a creamy soup. Unlike many other soups, this soup used rice as a base and only used another flavor to emphasize to tastiness of this combination of rice and heavy cream. I don’t know if you ever put bread in your soup but trust me it’s great! The hot soup quickly warmed up the baguette and melted its shielded skin and my heart.
And that is all my first experience at Panera! Definitely highly recommend to all of you! Hope you all a happy weekend!
I swear by the chicken and wild rice soup! There’s just something so comforting and warm about it. The flavor isn’t mind blowing but it’s subtle yet so delicious. I’m not a huge Panera goer but I do enjoy their food! It’s interesting to hear someone’s first expression, especially cause Panera is quite popular in my hometown. I’m glad you had a good Panera experience!
As a Panera fanatic myself, I really appreciated the airtime given to it in this post. My schedule has me lurking between the library and Mateer building (at the far northwest of campus) for a couple of hours every day, so I’ve taken to stopping in at the Kern building and chowing down while I do my Greek homework. My personal favorite order is the pick-2, with a cup of chicken noodle soup (with a baguette) and the turkey BLT. The avocado in the BLT really rounds the whole thing out, and the textures that you described (quite well) in this post harmonize with one another.
I’ve never had the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt or the Cream of Chicken & Wild Rice soup from Panera Bread before, even though I have gone to that restaurant numerous times. However, your description of each item literally made my stomach yell out for the food. My go-to order is always the Toasted Steak & White Cheddar sandwich and a cup of Broccoli Cheddar soup. I also love the Papaya Green Tea! I hope you try out some of their bakery items and desserts soon because they are delicious!
Hey there, I am glad to see your first time at Panera was a good one. Personally I do like Panera, but I do not find myself wanting it too often. It tends to be great every time I indulge though. I heard about the super charged drinks that you mentioned, and apparently they are no joke. I am definitely going to try that soup because your description was just too good. The rice base sounds amazing. Great work!
The cream of chicken and wild rice soup is my favorite! I think the taste and creaminess are really what makes it my favorite. The taste of rice is not overpowered by the chicken, as you mentioned. Instead, they act as compliments and they go great together. If you go back, are quite hungry, and in the mood for this soup again, I suggest getting it in a bread bowl. It is fun to eat out of the bread bowl and if you use your spoon correctly, you can get soup and bread in every bite! It is a lot of food though, so only get it if you’re hungry!
I started reading this and I got to the image of the Chipotle Chicken Avocado Melt, and I knew I had to have it immediately. I went to get it, but I sadly realized that Panera was closed. Nonetheless, I know what tomorrow’s lunch is going to be. The way you describe the food makes me so hungry, and I have to stop reading the vivid descriptions. Thank you for reviewing this sandwich; I look forward to trying it tomorrow.