I've lived in Russett for 4 years (November 2020) and have yet to write a review on my local Panera. Today is the day! I became a Sip Club subscriber in June 2020, where you get upwards of 1 cup every 2 hours. I get a large iced coffee or iced tea typically. Before I moved to Russett, I had never gone to this Panera until August 2020 when I was looking to buy my place.
Over the course of 4 years, I've been to this Panera many times. Vast majority of times I come in just for the drink & leave. But perhaps 5-10% Panera also gets a sale from me, typically I get one of their salads, but I've had sandwiches, soups, etc.
Staff here is friendly for most part & usually if I'm just getting a drink, I tend to be in & out quickly even when line is long, they are pretty efficient getting people through. The manager sees me come in, & he will volunteer to get on a cash register to help out. A lot of managers out there won't do that.
In MD City/Russett area, it's one of few healthy options (& only healthy if I get salad). So, this is often a go to place. A lot of the other places are fast food/ casual like Chick Fil-A, Chiptole, Burger King, etc. none of which are healthy. Chick Fil-A salads are small & similar price to Panera; Panera you get a good amount of salad with various fresh ingredients. If I'm going to Chick Fil-A, it means I want a chicken sandwich. If I want almost anything else, Panera would be the winner. Burger King is pretty weak, & occasionally like Chipotle & other places depending on what I'm in mood for (or if I have a deal).
As for Panera salads, they do a good job at this one. I've been to some others where it wasn't so fresh or skimped on the food. Never had a problem except maybe once in 4 years where they didn't do the right substitution. I often got Green Goddess Cobb salad with 3 adjustments, no bacon (more chicken instead), no onions (cucumbers instead), & no green goddess dressing (Caeser instead). They do with no issue or upcharge for doing so. Also like Fuji apple salad. Over years, they've introduced new salads. I really like the Southwest chicken salad as an example.
Besides salads, their sandwiches like Philly cheesesteak one is pretty good. It's almost as good as Charley's Steaks in same center. I've gotten turkey avocado & a few others out there. I feel sandwiches are often not enough meat to bread ratio, but still tasty.
Soups are good here too, but I'm not a big soup person in general. My favorite they have is chicken & WILD rice; not sure what makes the rice so wild, but it's good. They also had the turkey chili, which is a bit more expensive, but often worth it if I want more meat & is good. I was upset they had taken away chili from their menu, but as of 12/4/24, it's Back! That might be my biggest complaint about Panera in general is that they have an item you really like & then discontinue it.
I also like their chicken chipotle breakfast sandwich. It used to be a wrap, but they discontinued the wrap & was annoyed, but I like it better in Ciabatta bread it comes in. They also have bagels. On rare occasions, I've gotten bagel. One time in 2024, my girlfriend & I got bagel each & cream cheese each. It ended up being $7 for just 2 bagel/cream cheese. Panera charges more for cream cheese than for bagel itself, & what we realized is we should've split cream cheese as there is plenty in container, but considering I paid for my own, I loaded mine with all of the big container.
This Panera is larger than the normal one going deep in back with lots of various seating 2 & 4 person booths, tables, etc. Other Panera can be pretty cramped especially in the afternoon because they are just a small location but still get a good amount of business. I'm thankful to have this one by my home. Because it's close to home, I've taken food to go a bit more than I've eaten in here, but as I said eating here is comfortable. With the ample size of the restaurant, it's kind of a community gathering place as I've seen people I know. Chipotle in this center & pretty much any location is pretty cramped.
There were a few times I did my work in here like if my Xfinity service was out like today Wednesday, 12/4/24! My work wasn't too busy, so I had some time to write this.
Also, my 2nd date with my girlfriend was here at Panera in February. Since then, we've been here together often at least for the drink & have eaten in here too. Our 2nd date we got &Pizza in the same center, & I said it'd be roomier if we ate our pizza here in Panera, which I justified as I was getting my Sip Club drink so technically a customer, and knew they wouldn't be that busy on a Thursday night.
Overall, Panera is great especially this location. read more