Florida wedding and the Lake Eola Panera

One of my good friends, Ashley, got married a few weeks ago in Florida. I was excited to be in this wedding, and had been looking forward to the events leading up to the wedding for some time now. It was an added bonus that I had a legit excuse to go to Florida in November!

Warning, this part gets weird...

Shortly after arriving in Orlando, I picked up my rental car and went to a nearby Panera. Yes, that was the first thing I did. You read that correctly.

Now that's curb appeal!

The Panera I chose was the Lake Eola location. Lake Eola is in downtown Orlando, and it is gorgeous! Directly across the street from the Panera is a large lake with a bordering walking/running trail. It is quite picturesque, to say the least! I would consider the Lake Eola neighborhood to be very high-end. There were several high-rise condo units, that looked pretty high-dollar. (Although there are probably some really good deals on those units, considering the real estate market, especially in Florida)

An aerial photo of Lake Eola. Told ya it was gorge!

The Review:
Date visited: Wednesday, November 2
Time of Day: 11ish
Items ordered: Chopped Chicken Cobb salad, apple, unsweet tea

I was proud of myself for not ordering the med veg and a baguette. Clearly, I was thinking about the dress I had to wear in a couple of days...and said no to the carbs.

The layout of this Panera is quite unique. The outdoor patio is very tranquil. Once you enter the restaurant, there is seating to your left and right. Straight ahead is the bakery cashier and to the right of that is the regular cashier. Along the other side of the restaurant is more seating.

Random NOTES:

• Sweet tea option. They have an unsweet and sweet tea option available at this Panera. With the rise in sweet tea popularity, I am surprised sweet tea is not an option at the Ohio stores. I have noticed that sweet tea is becoming more and more popular in Ohio. My theory holds that McDonald's is responsible for spreading this trend. I personally, hate sweet tea. It is far too sweet for my liking.
• Business crowd. A majority of the patrons looked like they were on a quick break from work and/or conducting a business meeting at the Panera.
• Bathrooms. 3 stalls. That's fairly unusual. Also the handicapped stall had it's own sink. That's always a pleasant surprise.
• My Panera. I have earned a free sandwich on My Panera card. If you don't have a My Panera card, you are crazy. They practically give you money. What a reward...a free sandwich!
• Gift cards. I had a bunch of points racked up on my Chase checking account. Instead of using those points to buy something useful...I traded those points in for $125 worth of Panera Gift Cards. I think I went through the money in just under 2-months. Disgusting.
• Patio seats. Call me crazy, but these seats seemed nicer than usual. Thoughts?

Congratulations Tim and Ashley!



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.