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| - Let me preface the forthcoming critique of this particular location by saying that I realize Panera Bread is not exactly a gastronomic Shangri-La. Now that we've cleared the air of any haze of uncertainty and made it known that I have not set the bar particularly high, let me say that this particular Panera bread location is performing a great disservice in the way it manages its menu.
I hope that you won't judge me too harshly as a pendant for mentioning that the grilled chicken Mediterranean flatbread sandwich, advertised as being served with tzatziki sauce, was instead served with a pumpkin colored, paste-like curried condiment.
When this happened upon the first occasion of our visit to the establishment we took it as a fluke and a simple mistake. Three weeks later we have returned and the curried serpent has reared its foul tasting head having been slathered upon my wife's sandwich once again.
When she inquired as to why there was no tzatziki sauce on it this time the young lady replied that they were out of it and that the curry sauce was what was "closest" to it.
This is truly unacceptable and flat out wrong. I realize that the fine staff at Panera might not have the culinary wherewithal to come up with something close to tzatziki on short notice but curry paste is a far cry. Why not just let the customer who is ordering the item know that they don't have the necessary ingredients to make it? It seems logical but I fear logic may not be present in the lexicon of those running the establishment.
And finally, Panera has seen fit to remove the one menu item which I truly enjoyed, the chilled shrimp and avocado salad sandwich. Now my choices containing any sort of protein not mammal or fowl related are whittled down to no choice at all... just one item, the soba noodle shrimp salad. This could be a well-made salad with nice flavors but instead it takes several very fresh but unseasoned and completely flavorless shrimp and mixes them with soba noodles, sliced cabbage, and some spinach leaves and as the coup de grâce drowns the whole thing in a palate-numbingly tangy vinaigrette which renders all the remaining ingredients undetectable.
A little seasoning, some toasted sesame seeds, perhaps a hint of citrus or some other semblance of flavor would go a long way in this otherwise abysmally bland concoction.
In the end, after my wife was informed apologetically that the curry paste was substituted for the missing tzatziki sauce she asked if she could purchase a cookie. "Sorry, but we're closed already" replied the young lady.
It seems, as Robert Frost said, that perhaps we should have chosen the road not taken and picked another restaurant for our evening repast creating a fond memory of a meal enjoyed.
Panera need not worry about our return as I for one shall not be back.
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