I ate at the Delafield Panera for lunch this past Saturday. As I walked into Panera, I could smell the fresh bagels and pastries being made. It brought me back to when I was a carefree child that could eat the cinnamon swirl bagels. But going out to eat is not as easy anymore. I got diagnosed with celiac three years ago, which means I cannot have gluten. That means when I go to restaurants I have to be super cautious of what I am getting to eat because of possible cross-contamination.

I was nervous when I was ordering because I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t getting anything that had gluten or would have any contact with gluten. My needs were met when I told the worker that I had celiac. I ordered the Greek Goddess half salad with a fountain drink. The total came out to be $12.35, which is very reasonably priced.

As I made my way over to the drink fountain, I was a little disappointed to see a lack of drinks, until I saw the freshly made lemonade. It had the calories and nutritional facts right on the front of the container. It did have high sugar, but it quenched my thirst. After I got my lemonade, I made my way over to a table. There was a lot of people there so all of the booths were taken, so I sat at a table across from my friend. It took a while to find a clean, open table. I would have liked to seen it cleaner than it was, but it was not too bad.

About five minutes after I have been sitting down, my buzzer went off. I walked up to the front where they called my number. I felt a little bit rushed when I was getting my food because it was a chaotic Saturday. Once I got out of the chaos, I sat back down and saw how delicious my salad looked. The romaine lettuce and grilled chicken bathed in the greek goddess dressing, had my mouth watering. I took a big bite and it tasted just as good as it looked. The fresh romaine leaves mixed perfectly with the greek goddess dressing. I not only tasted good, but I also felt better after eating the salad. I cleaned my plate and left Panera with a smile.

Overall, I was elated about the experience I had at highly the Delafield Panera, and I plan on returning as well.