By Zac Bestwick
After over a month of suffering through the University Student Center’s lack of a Panera Bread location, students are finally able to return to what is undoubtedly GW’s best restaurant.
Over the summer, GW renovated its student center by re-arranging the tables and chairs and adding two new dining options. The Panera, which called the Student Center home long before the renovations took place, was not open in time for the start of the Fall semester. This was much to the chagrin of the grilled cheese enthusiasts and hazelnut coffee aficionados of the George Washington University (including the author of this piece).
Without the USC Panera, students were forced to seek lunch elsewhere, including Lisner Hall’s Uptowner Cafe which offers decent coffee and a serviceable, if not excellent, grilled cheese sandwich. Other available lunchtime options in Panera’s absence were the Thurston and Shenkman dining halls, which allow students to use meal swipes rather than dining cash. The latter location serves a grilled cheese sandwich that is best described as being made without love, a formulaic and uninspiring ration that completely fails as a substitute for Panera’s soft white bread and melty American cheese.
Perhaps the best option during the absence of Foggy Bottom’s Panera was to seek out other franchises elsewhere in the city, the downside being that none of them accept GWorld cards. This inconvenience, combined with the required walking distance, turned Panera from an accessible delight to an only-on-special-occasions treat (one that the author of this piece treated himself to on several occasions).
Waiting for Panera to finally open was a difficult ordeal, complicated by the fact that no timeline was ever provided to the bread company’s loyal customers. At first, the storefront was draped in a white screen to obscure the construction going on behind it. Passers-by could not see the state of their progress, but it seemed as though important bread-related infrastructure was being implemented.
Later on, the screen was removed to reveal that construction was finished. The refrigerated bins in front of the counter were even fully stocked with bottles of water and orange juice. Despite this, the lights were dim and the entire stall was caged in a storefront security gate, signifying that the Panera was still very much closed. Some days, though, employees were visible behind the gate, preparing orders. It is unclear who these orders were for or if they were just practice for new employees, but it gave hope to GW’s Panera crowd that the end of a ‘long winter’ was coming.
Today, the Panera is finally back where it belongs on the first floor of the USC, but things just aren’t quite the same. The additions of Chaat House and Absurd Bird on either side of Panera have cramped its real estate, necessitating the removal of the long table that diners once used to wait on their meals. Now, they must pace back and forth along the walkway, looking impatient as they wait for their order to be prepared.
The reshaped establishment just doesn’t have the same vibe as it did before. Such is the nature of change, and older students may feel a sense of nostalgia for how things were before. That said, the grilled cheese still kicks and the coffee still flows like wine. Panera is finally back at GW.
