“Sometimes it can be hard to review chains, but my general rule is to evaluate them within their peer group. So, while I don't think Panera's food is the best in the world, I do think this overall Panera location was pretty good for a quick lunch on the road. What I liked: This location was clean, and I appreciated that they had kiosks to order at. I don't know if it's the Millennial in me or what, but any time I can avoid ordering at a counter I tend to go the kiosk route. It was peak lunch time but they were fast, and the food was overall tasty. What I didn't care for: Is it just me or has the quality of Panera's food kind of gone downhill a bit recently? Truth be told I hadn't been to a Panera for a long time. Like probably since COVID if I'm being honest with myself. It's one of those places that was in a regular rotation when I worked in an office, but since making the shift to work primarily from home, it's just not as much of a place I find myself at. An old staple for me used to be the Asian Sesame Salad. I had that this time and I felt like the dressing maybe had some sort of artificial sweetner in it? I couldn't remember if it always tasted that way. And the meat just tasted a bit more processed that I remember. It could just be that as I've aged what I want to spend my money on has changed and this just doesn't fit the bill anymore, but it had lost some of it's appeal for me after this meal. Overall I'm going with 4 stars simply because I felt like for a Panera it was pretty good, the folks working were kind, and it was still one of the healthier options when driving through MO on a road trip.“
Recommended
“Sometimes it can be hard to review chains, but my general rule is to evaluate them within their peer group. So, while I don't think Panera's food is the best in the world, I do think this overall Panera location was pretty good for a quick lunch on the road. What I liked: This location was clean, and I appreciated that they had kiosks to order at. I don't know if it's the Millennial in me or what, but any time I can avoid ordering at a counter I tend to go the kiosk route. It was peak lunch time but they were fast, and the food was overall tasty. What I didn't care for: Is it just me or has the quality of Panera's food kind of gone downhill a bit recently? Truth be told I hadn't been to a Panera for a long time. Like probably since COVID if I'm being honest with myself. It's one of those places that was in a regular rotation when I worked in an office, but since making the shift to work primarily from home, it's just not as much of a place I find myself at. An old staple for me used to be the Asian Sesame Salad. I had that this time and I felt like the dressing maybe had some sort of artificial sweetner in it? I couldn't remember if it always tasted that way. And the meat just tasted a bit more processed that I remember. It could just be that as I've aged what I want to spend my money on has changed and this just doesn't fit the bill anymore, but it had lost some of it's appeal for me after this meal. Overall I'm going with 4 stars simply because I felt like for a Panera it was pretty good, the folks working were kind, and it was still one of the healthier options when driving through MO on a road trip.“