Back at Panera, but not for long

Before my first heart attack in 2012, the Panera chain of fast-casual restaurants was a regular stop for me at lunch time. But the overwhelming amounts of salt in most of their offerings meant I couldn’t go there post-heart attack, as I wrote back in 2014.

This week, however, I found myself with little choice but a Panera, so I thought I would give it another try. Panera salad offerings are plentiful and I found one with a reasonable amount of salt if I used my own oil and vinegar instead of a store dressing. But the tiny size of what I received compared to the high price means I won’t be heading to Panera again anytime soon.

I ordered the strawberry poppyseed salad which Panera lists at 710 mgs of salt.

When I customized it to eliminate the nuts and the dressing, the salt content dropped to 650 mgs. Given I try to eat under 1,400 mgs a day, that’s a not unreasonable level for a restaurant meal.

But when I picked it up I saw part of the reason for the low salt content. The salad was minuscule and had been packaged to go even though I thought I had specified dine-in when ordering through the Panera app.

So many restaurant apps do not allow for dine-in, that bugs me no end, by the way.

I’m not sure if my picture of the salad does justice in showing just how small it was. Plus, the cost for a salad and small fountain drink was $18.20! That’s $4 more than I would have paid at a Potbelly (which I was originally going to but was out of lettuce when I got to a local one!).

I don’t expect to go back to Panera anytime soon.