Reunited and it feels so good...My Hilton Head Panera review!

HHI Panera entrance.

My adventures in the Lowcountry continue...this installment of my blog details the HHI Panera visit. While I had been quite excited to get back to the HHI Panera, it was not my first stop. My first stop was a trip down memory lane to the Atlanta Bread Company. During my tenure in Hilton Head, the only Panera Bread I could go to within an hour's drive was is in Savannah. So it was ABC that was my cafe bakery of choice when in the south. My detailed review of ABC can be found here.

Getting back to the Panera story...I moved back to Ohio in September, 2008. Just shortly before my move back to Ohio, a Panera Bread opened on the south-end of the island! Before the big move, I visited this Panera a handful of times.

Fast forward to February, 2011...and I was once again reunited with the south-end Panera Bread!

THE REVIEW:
Dates visited: 3 visits. Feb. 10 + Feb. 11 (Drive-Thru) + Feb. 11 again
Items ordered:
Feb. 10: Power breakfast sandwich and an unsweet tea
Feb. 11 AM (Drive-thru): Unsweet tea
Feb. 11 PM: Unsweet tea
Those in attendance:
Feb. 10: Deb. She had the cinnamon crisp bagel and a coffee. We also split a pumpkin muffin top, that was complimentary thanks to the MY PANERA card.
Feb. 11 AM (Drive-thru): Deb...I had to go through the drive-thru. This visit was almost forced. I needed some caffeine. Deb didn't didn't get anything.
Feb. 11 PM: Mary Pat, my former co-worker and friend from Bluffton Today. We met to have a coffee. Naturally, I had tea.

The meals.

My first visit on Feb. 10 with Deb was a morning visit, about 8 AM. It seems that a lot of my visits back to HHI revolve around food and alcohol...this trip was no exception. In an effort to not be a complete glutton, I tried to be good. I ordered the power breakfast sandwich. It consists of egg, ham, and cheese on whole wheat bread. (Ok that doesn't sound too healthy. But hey, they certainly market this thing to be super healthy...and it doesn't hurt that it's name sounds bad ass "Power Breakfast Sandwich") Deb and I also split the free muffin top and based on my eating from this past week, I may have created my own muffin top. I think the breakfast sandwich was good. Would I order it again? Probably only if I just want, well...a power breakfast sandwich. I would have ordered more from the menu, but I had a list of restaurants I wanted to visit before the weeks end. (Wild Wings, Big Bamboo, Kobe, La Hacienda, etc.)



The drive-thru!



They say you will always remember your first...My Feb. 11 visit to the HHI drive-thru was my first Panera drive-thru experience. Needless to say, I was super excited! I really wish I could have ordered a sandwich from the drive-thru so I could rate the efficiency of the drive-thru...but again, not enough time to do everything. Deb was able to visit the drive-thru last year with my sister Valerie. They ordered sandwiches. Deb claims it was fast and efficient. I think I will write more about the Panera Drive-Thru's on a separate blog. I have a lot of input on this topic. Stay tuned.

My final Panera visit on HHI was later that day for 'tea' with Mary Pat. It was a nice visit, as it was about 3PM, and the restaurant was fairly empty. We sat by one of the windows and caught up on all the office gossip.

Overall the atmosphere of Panera blows ABC out of the water! The colors, the layout, the people, the music.

I notice that the Atlanta Bread Company that once was in Bluffton is now an IHOP...and interestingly enough, a Panera Bread is being constructed at the Tanger I outlet in Bluffton just a mile down the road from the former ABC.

Looks like my next HHI area visit will include my take on the new Bluffton Panera!


Random Notes:

• On the drive down to just before the HHI exit on 95, a Panera Bread semi passed us. Some may call that a coincidence. I call it fate.

I took a quick snapshot while driving of the truck...

• I must give a shout out to my good friend, Mandy, otherwise known by her "island" name, Amanda. She is a teacher in Bluffton. Despite our best efforts, we could not meet up at Panera...again, too many other places to see. I hope that we can reconnect for that Bluffton visit, or perhaps even a Panera Ohio visit.