California Vegetarian

Recently George and I needed a quick meal on the road. To our delight, we saw a Panera Bread from the freeway. Panera is a national bakery and a café and, apparently, a catering business chain. When we went inside, it felt most like a café, though the luscious options behind the counter of sweets and thick-crusted artisan breads made the rival claim of bakery completely believable. They make a dozen types of breads and just as many sweets, I’m sure. They also serve breakfast, though we did not stop in for breakfast, as well as cold and warm sandwiches and soups. According to their menu, save for the small amounts that occur naturally in meat and dairy products, Panera’s food is free of trans fat.
None of their ‘Signature Sandwiches’ are vegetarian, but they have a cold ‘Mediterranean Veggie’ that comes with sweet peppers, feta cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cilantro hummus.

We each chose their ‘Signature Hot Panini’ vegetarian option, the ‘Tomato & Mozzarella’ because it was cold, dark and wet outside when we stopped by. The sandwich is made up of fresh mozzarella, roasted and fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and all-natural sun-dried tomato pesto served on ciabatta. We found the three versions of tomato and two of basil intriguing. The taste ended up being good. The sandwich was hearty and filling. It came with potato chips.

We decided to order sweets for dessert. In the end, we shared a caramel-pecan roll and a cobble-stone muffin. We decided that we should have just shared one of them each was so big and so sweet.
As a side note, in addition to vegetarian options on the breakfast menu, Panera also has vegetarian soup options. They serve a vegetarian black bean soup and a vegetarian low fat garden vegetable soup, but on any given day it appears that only one will be available. There are apparently seasonal soups also available, but I do not know if there are vegetarian options in the seasonal offerings. They, of course, also have salads that are meat-free.
All in all, if you like bread, Panera is a tasty option for the vegetarian on the go, and your omnivorous friends and family will have plenty to choose from.