Panera Bread Knows its Dough

I really loved when it first moved into the Cleveland area. It was a breath of fresh air in the fast food arena.

Sandwiches are made to order and with a choice of different kinds of yummy breads and rolls. The sandwiches served here were not the usual bland meat stuffed in a boring white flour bun topped with dry sesame seeds that was the norm at most fast food joints.

I was surprised when I recently visited the Panera Bread at 17090 Royalton Road (there’s also one across the street in Westfield SouthPark mall) at what I thought was an early 11 a.m visit. The lot was packed (I took the last space) and so was the restaurant. Pretty impressive at such an off hour to have a large crowd.

The strongest part of the restaurant is the bakery half. I never grow tired of looking at the various colorful, gooey and tasty pastries. When I got engaged I brought in an assortment of delights from Panera Bread to share with staffers to celebrate my then future nuptials. The jammed boxes of goodies were understandably emptied quickly.

Easily the best thing here is the cinnamon roll. I always get one when I visit. They’re large, sweet and sticky in all the right ways. It didn’t disappoint. I wish I could say the same for everything else I had that day.

On the café side I have to say the quality in their sandwiches has dropped a bit since the early days. The bread and buns are still terrific, it’s just what is filling them seems, well, less. At least that’s what I’ve observed on my last few visits, including this one. (Or, maybe I just have bad luck in who is preparing my sandwiches?)

I went with their "You Pick Two" deal, where you can choose two items: a small salad, a half of a sandwich, or a cup of soup. I went with a salad and sandwich. I also ordered a bowl of soup.

I thought I’d try one of their Signature Hot Panini sandwiches. The Cuban Chicken sounded wonderful with chicken, smoked lean ham, sweet & spicy pickle chips, chipotle mayo and sun-dried tomato ale mustard. Just typing that is making my mouth water.

The size of a half sandwich was pretty good; too bad there wasn’t much filling it. In fact, a little less than a third of my half bun was empty. It also didn’t help that my bun was more burnt than toasted on the bottom, though the top bun was fine. What should have been the star on my plate looked more like a forgottable side. Very sad.

The salad fared better. I ordered the Thai Chopped Chicken and as soon as I saw it I knew I made a good choice. It’s filled with romaine lettuce, chicken slices, cashews, fire-roasted edamame, red peppers, carrots, cilantro and wonton strips. It’s tossed in Thai chili vinaigrette and drizzled with peanut sauce.

I really enjoyed my salad. The small salad size is actually a pretty good portion. My one nitpick is I wish it had a touch more dressing as it was a tad dry. Still, I would definitely get this again.

My soup of choice was the broccoli cheese. I’ve always enjoyed this soup and it was still thick and comforting.

A number of the dishes comes with an additional side dish, be it bread, chips or an apple. Be sure to tell them what you want, otherwise they usually don’t ask (as was my case) and the default is bread, which is usually the last thing I want when I already got a sandwich.

If you've got a small appetite or just want a coffee and a pastry, you'll do fine here.