A Manic Monday Dinner at the Blacklick Panera!

In an effort to squeeze in as many new Panera reviews by years end, I made it a point to visit the Blacklick Crossing Panera on Monday for dinner. This Panera is by no means convenient for me to get to. I decided to stop by this Panera on my way back from Zanesville en route to UA.

I actually used to work very close to this Panera years ago, sadly I never bothered to eat there! Apparently that was pre-Panera obsession. Regardless, visiting the Blacklick area off of Taylor-Station Road was bit like a stroll down memory lane.

The REVIEW:
Date visited: Monday 11.21
Time of day: 6:30ish
Items ordered: The proverbial old-faithful...Med Veg (Apparently I ordered it on whole grain...see random notes), whole grain baguette and the unsweet tea.

My blood sugar level was dropping dramatically as I was basically parked on Rt. 16...with no Panera in sight. Getting down Rt. 16 off 270...was a real B****H! As it turns out, A LOT of people live/work near Blacklick...who knew?

I finally arrived at the Blacklick Crossing Panera, and my attitude instantly changed. In a word, this Panera is quaint. I have seen my fair share of the larger Panera's. It was a nice change of pace to see a smaller, more cozy Panera.

Difficult to illustrate "quiantness"...you will have to just see for yourselves.

Random NOTES:

• A bit of a debacle with the Med Veg. I ordered a whole-grain baguette; however, the associate that made my sandwich assumed this meant to nix the tomato basil bread on the sandwich. Once my name was called, I noticed the mistake. Because I can be a bit of a scatter-brain, I asked him if I ordered whole-grain instead of tomato basil. He looked at the order, and noticed that it was his mistake. He offered to remake the sandwich, but that seemed senseless at that point. I was hungry and didn't want to be a diva. Whole-grain sounds healthier anyway.

3 butters and a Dispatch...pretty standard, really.

• The CROWD for a Panera dinner is always interesting. A completely different vibe than your breakfast or lunch crowd. Even the associates act different. I always wonder why others chose Panera for dinner, and not something more traditional...like an Applebees or something I suppose. While it is not near as strange, but it is kind of like going to Waffle House for dinner. It just doesn't happen that often. Perhaps these dinner diner's are in fact as die-hard Panera fans as I?
• BLACK FRIDAY. You won't be able to go to a Panera for Turkey Day, but you can get there early for Black Friday. Some open as early as 4 AM...but most open at 6AM.
• For anyone that is counting...to-date I have reviewed 19 Columbus area Panera's (only one more to-go and it is a new one)...Outside of the Columbus market, I have reviewed 10 others across the nation. Keep in mind that I don't do a review each time I go to a Panera. That would be far too time consuming, and quite frankly embarrassing.
• Coming next weekend: My Lakewood Panera review. Refer back to my "About this blog" post, and you will see the significance.