Panera Bread

Panera Bread. If you have one of these in your area, you have been there at least a half-dozen times .. or two. This is the perfect balance of soup, salad, and sandwiches to appease any taker. There are so many selections but I usually get the same thing over and over. Sometimes I stray from the norm and this was one of those times. I was pleasantly surprised too and had to write about it.

You would look at my meal and think, "Okay, Caesar Salad: semi-healthy. Whole-Wheat baguette: definitely better than the French baguette they offer. Mac & Cheese: probably not the healthiest." Dead wrong!

Here were the nutrition facts I pulled from the website: (click for larger image)

The french baguette is actually not much different than the whole-wheat except that it doesn't have as much fiber (3g less). Calories and sodium and other factors were almost exactly the same. So I have been thinking this whole time it's healthier!? Yeah yeah .. I know .. it's processed differently in our bodies. Yadda yadda. But it tastes SO GOOD!

Also, I always get the caesar dressing on the side (because they put it on by the gallon I think) and that saves a lot of calories. Doing this will! Dip your fork in the dressing, then some lettuce. You'll be pleasantly surprised at all the leftover dressing you have (and calories saved).

Now for the dreaded mac & cheese! This stuff was superb!! I want to learn to make mac & cheese like this at home. They were advertising this stuff everywhere in the store and it looked so good I had to try it. If I had known it was almost 500 calories .. NO THANK YOU! Other than that, it was fantastic!

All in all a 900 calorie dinner. Made me want to run to the bathroom and purge immediately. I could do it once in a while, but not on a weekly basis or anything.

Food taste: B (too much dressing)

Service: A

Atmosphere: A

Wait time: A

Diversity of menu: B (more of a luncheon place .. not for dinner really)

Nutritional value: D