My Orlando trip included a visit to PANERA!

Panera Bread, Sand Lake Road - Orlando. Pictured: Ashley and Abby.

Date visited: 1.7.2011
Time of day: 10:30 am
Attendees/Items ordered:
Me: Old faithful, the Pick 2 combo (Sierra turkey on wheat, greek salad, and baguette) with iced tea.
Ashley: Breakfast panini with bacon, egg, cheese and a Mocha
Abby: Pick 2 combo (Broccoli and cheddar soup with greek salad)
Bonus: I gave my free My Panera reward of a pastry to Ashley and Abby. They opted for the a strawberry danish.

The story:
While visiting my friend, Ashley, that lives in Orlando, I had the distinct honor of going to the Panera located on Sand Lake Road. The weather in Orlando was gorgeous! Sunny and in the high 60s each day...not bad for January! When the weather is so pleasant, it is difficult to be negative...but somehow, I found flaws...mainly due to the service we received.

I fell instantly in love with the exterior of the building. They had an AWESOME outdoor seating area with higher end furniture. Beyond the exterior - my first impression of the interior was that it was quaint. That's right - they did not have a community room, so this was was much smaller. Despite the lack of community room and the more intimate seating, I did like the interior layout. As I said, it was very quaint...proving the age old adage - bigger isn't always better.

The FOOD.
No real trouble with anyone's food, other than the lettuce on my salad was a little brown for my liking, but other than that it was good. Ashley had a mocha with her meal, which she received free from her My Panera rewards card! She did note that while the Panera mochas are good, they are also expensive. (Further confirming the point that Amy made in the St. Clairsville post). I was told that the danish was good.

Our meals.

The SERVICE.
In a word - awful. The food preparer could not get my order correct. First he tried to give me the greek salad with a soup instead of the sandwich. When I told him what I ordered, he seemed rather annoyed. A few minutes later he called my name to pick up my order...only to have the sierra turkey on the default asiago bread, instead of the wheat bread as ordered. I had to inform him that it was still incorrect. Finally he called my name with everything correct, but the baguette. They gave me white instead of wheat. At that point it wasn't worth the fight.

Random FACTS.

• Abby signed up for My Panera card.
• They stop serving breakfast at 10:30...but thankfully Ashley was able to get that last-minute breakfast order.
• This Panera did not have free samples
• Orlando area Paneras use billboards to promote their stores.

Overall I enjoyed my visit to this Panera. I regret not sitting outside on the patio. Although it was nice outside - it may have been a tad chilly to sit there comfortably. Considering the fact that it was snowing in Ohio - I should have taken advantage of the patio seating.