Juicy, delicious and perfect for the summer, two new sandwiches were added to the Panera menu.
Ciabatta Cheesesteak
A popular and classic genre of the sandwich variety is the Philly cheesesteak and Panera has taken that and put it on a ciabatta bun. The Ciabatta Cheesesteak keeps all the original ingredients a cheesesteak would normally possess with peppers, provolone and steak on the inside of the ciabatta bun.
The first bite invites a good cheese pull from the provolone that the cooks put generously on the inside. It takes a few bites to taste the steak and peppers which lacked more in amount. The juicy meat prevents the upset of a mouthful of dry steak and the red peppers provide a sweet and spicy flavor. While the mix of savory, sweet and spicy complement each other the sweetness from the peppers became overbearing.
The whole sandwich is $13.39, but ordering the half size cuts down the price to $9.39. This makes it a pricier sandwich on Panera’s menu. The price goes up if customers prefer a drink with their food which on average costs around $3.29 for a regular fountain drink.
The Ciabatta Cheesesteak is definitely a must try item. For those who don’t mind too much sweetness and are fans of a classic cheesesteak, this sandwich is a solid 4/5.
Chicken Bacon Rancher
A basic sandwich that customers can never go wrong with is the Chicken Bacon Rancher. With the obvious ingredients being chicken, bacon, ranch and white cheddar cheese all between two slices of focaccia bread.
While the chicken is similar to the steak on the Ciabatta sandwich creating a silver lining, there is a scarcity of ranch making the sandwich dry. The cheese isn’t as prominent as in the Ciabatta Cheesesteak either. This would make sense because it’s not the star of the sandwich, however with nothing standing out on behalf of the ranch a cheese pull would’ve saved it some points. The bacon packs a punch taking over the sandwich to help make up for the lack of other ingredients.
As another one of Panera’s more expensive sandwiches, the final price for a whole size is $12.19 and for a half its $8.59. If extra items are added the price rounds up.
Unless a Panera customer wants a mouthful of chicken and bacon with little to no sauce, the Chicken Bacon Rancher is a pass. However, if the order is to go and a consumer has ranch at home, the sandwich can easily be saved. Overall, the Chicken Bacon Rancher earns a 2/5.
