2022 US Trip – Day 10 (Panera Bread – Richmond)
I’ve never been to a Panera Bread outlet, so after my clothing purchase success I thought I’d see whether or not it would be as good as Greggs.
They’ve made some effort with the presentation, although the ordering process was muddled and I instead headed off to order at a kiosk. Although that didn’t help a great deal, I only ordered a drink and I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to collect it from so I stood looking confused. Anyway, personally I wasn’t that engaged with the menu, I had been looking for something like a bagel with avocado, bacon and poached egg or something similarly decadent, but they were pushing cookies, odd looking sandwiches and their bagels only came with cream cheese.
The drink, a mango yuzu citrus charged lemonade (charged here means they’re claiming it’s full of energy), was rather lovely and I liked that there was free wi-fi and several power outlets. I wasn’t sure whether the drink was refillable or not, although you can buy monthly subscriptions. Most of the customers seemed to be doing similar things to those with the Pret subscription in the UK (and in the US now), namely getting the free unlimited drink and sitting without food whilst using their wi-fi and power (well, like me but without the subscription). The shop was clean and the staff were friendly, but this is nowhere near as exciting as Greggs and although it was very convenient for me to get work done, I’m not sure that I’d come here for food.
