Panera Bread Co? Anything Safe?

[amberleigh]

My friends want to meet there for lunch next weekend (I don't think they know about my celiac disease dx yet) so I thought I'd check here first. I saw a gluten-free menu floating around on here but didn't know if anyone had actually had any success with eating there. Thanks!

[Lisa]

Yes, I have eaten there many times. I believe you can get their gluten free menu on line at www.panera.com. If you can't find it, let me know.

They will also let you look at their ingredients book. I have found them very nice to deal with.

[amberleigh]

I believe you can get their gluten free menu on line at www.panera.com. If you can't find it, let me know.

Hi there! I looked online and only saw their regular menus. Do you have a link? Thanks so much!

[Lisa]

From the Triumph Dining Guide:

Panera Bread Company

Salads:

Asian Sesame Chicken Salad - no wonton noodles

Bistro Steak Salad Ceasar Salad - no croutons

Classic Cafe Salad

Fandango Salad

Fuji Apple Chicken Salad

Greek Salad

Strawbery Poppyseed Salad

Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with Chicken

Dressings:

All dressing that come with the above salads are okay, as well as the Balsamic Vinaigrette, Ceasar, Greek, Poppyseed, Rasberry Vinaigrette, and Asian Sesame Vinaigrette

Soups:

Cuban Black Bean

Mesa Bean & Vegetable

Moroccan Tomato Lentil

Santa Fe Roasted Corn

Vegetable and Sirloin Beef

Vegetarian Black Bean

Vegetarian Lenitl

Drinks:

All Lattes

Apple Juice

Bottled Soda

Chai Tea

Coffe

IC Honeydew

Lemonade

Milk

Orange Jice

Regular Tea

PLEASE NOT: Cross-contamination with bakery-care items is a possibility.

[emcmaster]

I'm obsessed with the Fuji Apple Chicken salad: no onion, no salad dressing. The whole thing is gluten-free, but the salad dressing has corn in it, and I like it better without the dressing anyway. And since there is no dressing, there isn't any reason to toss it in a salad bowl, so I don't have to worry about the salad bowl being clean. They just stack the ingredients on a clean plate.

I go there 2 times a week, on average, and almost always during lunch. The guy who calls out the names of the dishes ready to be picked up always recognizes me, as does the manager. I always stand by the "window" and watch them make it so I can be certain it's ok.

One time last week, a girl was making it. She started to throw the ingredients into a dirty (well, pre-used, not exactly "dirty") salad bowl to toss it with dressing. I about had a heart attack and the guy that calls out the names (his name is Polo) told her he would make it for me. And he did.

I guess the main point of that long winded story was I eat there a lot, the food is good, and I don't get sick. AND the people are really understanding about celiac and cc.