This is a review by my wife and agreed upon by my eldest for the new McArthur's Bakery that replaced the Panera Bread location on the Delmar Loop:
Since my March birthday, I've been waiting for the McArthur's Bakery Cafe on the Loop to open so that I could cash in my birthday lunch coupon from my eldest child, and today was the day! McArthur's took over the Panera restaurant on the Loop and the decor and layout were very similar to what I remember Panera having. It was spacious with many tables in various nooks. The lighting was bright and there were two walls of windows available for people watching. There were fake cakes used as decorations which were fun to look at.
The menu was not very extensive. We decided to split a sandwich and dessert, but we ended up splitting two desserts. The food came in attractive boxes which resembled Japanese Bento boxes, but they were about 2 inches tall and we decided they were too awkward to eat from, so we took the food out of the boxes and placed it on napkins on the table. There was nowhere to return the boxes, but not enough room to leave them on the table. There were trash cans where one could deposit food or recyclables, but nowhere there to put the boxes or silverware. Perhaps we were supposed to leave it on the table? We returned it to the counter where we originally got our food.
We shared the California Club sandwich. It was good but not great. It was refreshing to have chicken breast instead of turkey breast on a club, and the lime aioli sauce added a pleasant but not overwhelming zing to the sandwich. It was nice to have an added zest without it having to be spicy. The sandwich came on French bread which was good. It was fresh, and not dry or tough. The sandwich was supposed to have bacon on it, but I didn't see or taste any. I had read reviews online that said that the sandwiches didn't come with a side, but we were given a choice of chips, fruit, or coleslaw, so maybe they read that review and changed the deal! We chose chips and it was a tiny bag of Billy Goat chips which were quite oily. Between the two of us, we ate one. (one chip, not one bag of chips)
We anticipated that the highlight of the bakery would be dessert. After all, it's a bakery. They had many attractive desserts from which to choose, but less chocolate options than we had hoped. There were also no shortbread cookies. We chose what they called a kamikaze, which looked like an iced brownie with chips and nuts on top, and a peanut butter cookie. The "brownie" ended up tasting like a store bought mass produced Cosmic Brownie but without the sprinkles. It had that mysterious "processed" taste to it. The icing was sort of brittle and not at all creamy or rich tasting. It was disappointing. The peanut butter cookie was very thin and mushy/oily like the cookies you find at Subway. It was sweet and oily, but not very good. Frankly, my copycat recipe of Panera's peanut butter cookie is far superior. (link to my recipe http://smallerservings.
Overall, the food and desserts at McArthur's bakery were significantly inferior to what you might find at Panera. The atmosphere was nice though, and the employees were friendly and eager to be helpful. It's hard not to enjoy being on the Loop.
My eldest's input: I agree with Mom's review of McArthur's. I'd like to add that I went on their opening day and got literally the worst coffee I've ever had. Not burnt like church coffee, but so weak I thought maybe it was just warm milk. Other coworkers had the same experience. I've not gotten their coffee since, so I don't know if they've maybe improved. Their chocolate long john donuts are tasty, but no different than grocery store donuts.
Food Rating:
Service
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