Panera Bread: Just What Doctor Mom Ordered

In my last column I mentioned that at my house after the Holiday season ends, the cold and flu season starts. This year the cold season did not wait until after Christmas ended, it started in the middle of our holiday festivities.

The entire family was feeling a bit sniffle-y and sneeze-y so as soon as we had all been fever free for 24 hours, we decided to go to to have some soup. Panera Bread is located at 451 South Randall Road in Algonquin.

We arrived a little after 6 p.m. on Monday, the day after Christmas. We checked out the menu hanging over the registers and after decisions had been made, we placed our order.

The kids both wanted soup and a half sandwich. Piper asked for a cup of Broccoli Cheddar soup and Logan asked for a cup of Chicken Noodle Soup. All soups and sandwiches come with one of three sides — an apple, a bag of chips or a piece of bread. Both Logan and Piper chose an apple as their side. I also ordered the Smoked Ham and Swiss Sandwich for them to share.

McKenzie, who had eaten a late lunch, ordered a Mango Smoothie and ate the bread that came with my soup.

My husband, Tom, ordered a cup of Steak Chili and a Smokehouse Turkey Panini. He asked for a bag of chips as the side for his Panini and asked for no sides for his Chili (the chili is topped with cornbread croutons).

I ordered a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup and my all-time favorite Panera sandwich, the Napa Almond Chicken Salad sandwich on Country White bread. I skipped getting a side for my sandwich and asked for a piece of bread for my soup, which McKenzie ate.

Piper loved her Broccoli Cheddar soup. She has already asked me if I can make it at home and said she would eat it every single day. Logan liked his Chicken Noodle soup but said he liked the Chicken Noodle soup at Noodles & Company much more. Both kids were pretty full from their soup and did not touch their sandwich halves, so we brought them home and they ate them for lunch. Piper said it was “yummy ham.”

Tom enjoyed his Steak Chili and his Smokehouse Panini. I tasted the chili and thought it was pretty tasty. I thoroughly enjoyed my soup and sandwich. It is my main go-to meal when I eat at Panera.

Now that I know for sure cold and flu season is upon my family, it looks like I will be picking up soup from Panera Bread on the nights I just do not feel like cooking. It was soup-er good!