The first reviewer (aa d) makes a valid point about Panera's market focus group-based presentation, but he/she misses another important point: People in Vinnin Square and vicinity really crave a convenient, clean, attractive, comfortable and welcoming cafe-style place, and Panera's fills the bill.
I have seen the entire Swampscott girls' soccer team gathered there in adjoining booths after a game; elderly people who are alone and dining with a newspaper or book; college students or workers hogging a table all afternoon with their laptops and books (and they are NEVER asked to leave), you name it. It is open fairly late in the evening on weekends (10pm; the rest of the week closes at 8pm) if you are restless and need to get out and grab a bite.
Yeah, the soups are PACKED with sodium -- some exceed the recommended daily intake by a couple-hundred milligrams. My elderly parents love Panera's, though, so we get just a cup of soup and they split it and add a bit of water so they have soup to eat with their half sammiches, and the sodium level is down to a safe level.
The salads are fine. I mean, what can you do to mescalun and romaine? It's a deep green and it's fresh, ergo it is good unless it has been dressed with pesticides instead of vinaigrette. The desserts -- stick to the chocolate-chip cookies, chocolate cookies and brownies. And share them so you don't eat nearly 500 calories of sugar and fat. It's common sense.
The tea and coffee are very good. They have a coffee, tea and condiment counter where you can help yourself and they don't say you can't refill your cup or take a second teabag. You can choose from different fresh roasted, brewed coffees, including flavored ones and de-caff. There are almost a dozen varieties of "Republic of Tea" teas from which to choose, including decaff and herbal, green, and various flavored black teas. I love the ginger-peach black tea with some milk, British-style.
Caraffes of cream or half-and-half, whole milk, 2% and skim allow you to customize your cup, and there are shakers of cinnamon, cocoa powder and unbleached (brown crystal) whole sugar for that purpose, too. There's even honey. You can help yourself to as much sugar or non-sugar sweetener, stirrers and napkins as you need, too. I've been amazed that people aren't pigs about it, and there is little if any pilfering or waste. If you are going to hang out there (not taking it out), you can get a ceramic round mug or a tall one, and it's one of those little pleasures to hold it in both hands and breathe in the steam when you've come in on a cold afternoon.
And the staff are always extremely courteous and helpful, from the managers to the sandwich makers. Sure, it's part of the corporate plan, but thanks to Ronald Shaich, who believes in treating his employees like human beings, employees are recognized and rewarded for their good work. They seem genuinely happy to work there. That says a lot. The staff at the Vinnin Square store (chains always call their restaurants "stores," not restaurants... that is kinda impersonal but I can understand where they're coming from. After all, business is business and product is product when you're a corporation, whether you're selling baguettes or brassieres.) have always gone out of their way to be kind to my parents, in their 90s, and I have seen them do the same for other elderly people too.
Panera's may be a corporate concoction, but it serves a purpose that is important to what would otherwise be a very cold and commerical-feeling shopping area in a semi-urban suburban North Shore area. read more
