Sashaying through Powell!

I've lost count. I think this Panera review puts it right around 33ish total? The Powell, OH Panera opened a few months ago. I had good intentions to visit during opening week. That never happened. So I was rather excited when my good friends Abby and David suggesting meeting there for dinner yesterday. Not shockingly, David backed out of this visit, due to his busy volleyball schedule. Thankfully, Abby was still willing to dine with me in Powell!

The Review:
Located just north of Columbus, Powell is home to beautiful homes, overpriced SUVs, and soccer moms. It is the quintessential suburb. The new, free-standing Panera can be found just off Sawmill Parkway among many other brand new buildings. It receives bonus points because they have a drive-thru.

I arrived just a few minutes before Abby. Because it was just a pleasant evening, I decided to wait for Abby at the rather inviting patio area. After walking into the restaurant, we both commented that it was a bit small. Maybe it's not small, perhaps it's just the layout. I'll compromise and call this one quaint.

Items Ordered:
Me: Chopped Chicken Cobb Salad, whole grain baguette. Half acai tea, half regular unsweet tea.
Abby: Strawberry poppyseed salad, sans the chicken. Whole grain baguette. Diet soda.

Random NOTES:

Table tracker. Not working as planned.

• They have the new table tracker service at this Panera. The goal with the table tracker is to place the tracker on the table of your choice. Ideally when your order is ready, a Panera associate delivers your meal to you. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. They never delivered. Perhaps because we were outside? I was hungry, so I caved in and picked up our meals. 

• Abby claims the pop was super fuzzy. I did notice that it took her excessively long to get a drink. Was it user error? 

• Sashay. I love to use this word to describe someone's walk. We witnessed a girl sashaying through the parking lot. She also happened to be dressed rather out-of-place for a Panera at 6:30 on a Tuesday. Abby suggested I take a picture. I obided but said I felt creepy. One minute later an unknown observer passed by and asked us if we "picked up some style tips". Caught. I'm not posting the pic, because I feel like a mean girl and creep. Blame it on my Catholic guilt. 
• MY PANERA rewards. I have earned $2 off a pick 2! Last month I earned a free signature sandwich. Maybe I eat here too often?

Next up? The Shoppes at Worthington. I noticed that a new Panera is going in. Looks like it will be a good one. Stay tuned.

The new Worthington location under construction.

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!



2 Birds with 1 Stone at Mill Run...

The Mill Run Panera Bread is located off Fishinger Blvd. Though it is technically listed as Columbus, it really is located in the Dublin/Hilliard area. For whatever reason, I have avoided visited this location, because I thought it was a far drive. The reality is that it is only about a 10 minute drive from my house.

The decision to visit the Mill Run location was in an effort to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I had some computer related work I need to accomplish, so naturally I decided a Panera dinner slash work session was in order. My first instinct was to go to my new home base Panera, which is the Upper Arlington location. Thankfully, I decided to work off my list of Panera's and traveled to Mill Run.

THE REVIEW:
Date visited: Thursday, August 11
Time of day: 7ish
Items ordered: Chopped chicken cobb. Whole grain baguette. Water w/lemon.

Freestanding.

Sadly, as I drove up to the Mill Run Panera, I was super excited. It's a freestanding location, and appears to be fairly new. Apparently I am a big fan of the freestanding Paneras...as I notice this is a recurring theme in my reviews.

The interior is one of the largest and most open floor plans that I have seen. It also features a community room. The patio is one of the nicest Panera patios I have seen. It wraps from the entrance around the front side of the building.

View from my table.

I scoped out the interior and decided to sit near the front entrance at a table next to an outlet.

Random NOTES:

• I love going to a Panera around the 7 o'clock hour. It is typically fairly empty, which is great if you  have work to do.
• The only negative thing I can say about this location is that it was FREEZING. I was hoping to camp out there til close...but I could only make it about 45 minutes. Now I get cold pretty easily, but this was borderline ridiculous. I couldn't have been the only one who felt this way.
• Because of this experience with the temperature, I have made it a point to bring a fleece coat with me anytime I go to a Panera. It's just safer that way.
• 16 down...3 to go. I have 3 more Columbus area Panera's to review. Lancaster, Blacklick, and Tuttle. Though I think there was a new one built in Hilliard that has a drive-thru.

Pre-Wedding lunch at Lewis Center Panera

My good friend, David, invited me to a wedding in Tiffin, Ohio recently. When discussing the details as to when we leave and how we get there, I was excited to learn that we would drive directly past a Panera on Rt. 23! I kept this news to myself, until we made final plans...and casually mentioned that we should have lunch beforehand. He agreed. I then non-chalantly mentioned that we could stop at the Lewis Center Panera on Rt. 23. By that point I was caught...but he still agreed to go. I think he secretly wanted to be mentioned on this blog, if you ask me.

That morning of the wedding, another one of my friends, Candy called to see if I wanted to go to the New Albany Panera for breakfast. It seems I was double-booked for Panera visits. As luck would have it, Candy agreed to join David and I at the Lewis Center location.

The REVIEW.
Date visited: Saturday, April 30
Time of day: 11 ish
Those in attendance/items ordered:
Me: Chopped Chicken Cobb (my new obsession), unsweet tea, baguette
Candy: Greek salad and it appears like a lemonade?
David: Cuban chicken pannini, chips, and mt. dew

The location of this Panera is difficult to enter heading north-bound, as it is located on the left-hand side of the road. The entrances are confusing, and slightly dangerous. The layout is very similar to the Panera on Sawmill/161, however, this Panera is a free-standing unit.

Random NOTES.

• I actually made notes on my blackberry about this visit because there were so many random notes to mention, but I have since switched cell phones, and lost this in the switch.
• Candy was a bit late in meeting us. (Shocking)
• We discussed blogs during our meal. Abby, who is our mutual friend and frequently mentioned on this blog, also has a blog. Candy admitted to not reading the Panera blog or Abby's blog. I won't lose sleep over that confession. She did mention that she doesn't have time to read blogs, and can just read one blog...her chiropractor's wife's. Hmm.....interesting. What?
• I have decided to refer to Candace as "Candy" in this blog, only because she won't read it.
• The bathrooms were tricky...you couldn't tell if someone was in the stall or not. I accidentally walked in on an elderly lady. I felt terrible.
• This was also the day after the "royal wedding" of Prince William. We discussed our thoughts on the dress.

Gorgonzola, Fundraising, and other random notes at the Dublin Festival Center

Next stop...Panera Dublin, OH. Actually there are a few Panera's to choose from in "Dublin"...today's focus is the Dublin Festival Center located off of Sawmill/161. Not my first visit to this one, but this was my first visit back in nearly 7 years.

The REVIEW.

Date visited: Sunday, April 17
Time of day: 11ish
Those in attendance: Myself, Abby
Items ordered:
 Me: Chopped chicken cobb (sub feta for bleu cheese more in the random notes)
 Abby: Pick 2 combo...greek salad with some sort of meatless sandwich (I forget, again more in random      notes)

Nestled in a popular shopping center in the heart of Sawmill Rd, this Panera connects to a Barnes and Noble. It is difficult to find this store...as is anything on Sawmill. Turns out the sign code requires a tree or building to be built in front of every sign. (sarcasm)

Notice the placement of the registers.

The layout is nice. You walk directly in from the entrance and there is ample standing room to view the menu. However, I am not sure about the logic of placing the bakery registers as the first registers that you see versus the cafe register.

The crowd was pretty busy, which is to be expected for a Sunday at 11.

Random NOTES.

• This was my second time ordering the chopped chicken cobb salad. The first time I ordered this, I wasn't a fan of the cheese. I mistakenly thought it was bleu cheese. Turns out they use gorgonzola...apparently I don't like that either. I asked the cashier at this visit to sub feta instead of bleu cheese. I was politely corrected that they don't use bleu cheese on that salad.
• I forgot to take a pic of the food. That is why I can't remember what Abby ordered. As this visit was well over a month ago, I suppose it would be slightly creepy if I did remember everything she ordered.
• I do remember it being unseasonably COLD, yet sunny that day. This angered me, though I was happy to see the sunshine.
• In pure Panera style...there was a fundraiser starting the next day (April 18) to raise money for Autism Speaks. (See photo)