Paradise Bakery Review 12/21 – Noblesville

Restaurant: Paradise Bakery
Location: Noblesville, IN (Hamilton Town Center)
Address: 13230 Harrell Parkway, Suite 400  Noblesville, IN 46060
Hours: Mon – Sat 6:30am – 9pm; Sun 8am – 8pm
Menu: Paradise Bakery Menu
Type: Cafe and Bakery
Loyalty Program: Taste of Paradise Card (acts as gift card and loyalty card)
Today’s Meal: 1/2 Chicken Walnut Sandwich, 1 Cup Broccoli Cheddar Soup, Chocolate Chip Cookie
Cost: About $8

Paradise Bakery Meal

Paradise Bakery is located within the Hamilton Town Center.  It is a fairly large cafe/bakery type of restaurant.  The feel is light and airy; however the seating is a bit crowded.  The place has always looked clean and orderly when I have gone in there.  There are two different stations to order food.  They have the bakery area where you can get cookies and bread, and they have the other area where you get sandwiches, soups, and salads.  Today I got the 1/2 Chicken Walnut Sandwich.  It was good as usual with the big pieces of walnut in the chicken salad smothered on two halves of the wonderful Molasses Bread.  This bread is so good that I have bought loaves of it to use at home with my own sandwiches before.  It has just the right amount of sweetness for many different kinds of sandwiches.  I also had a cup of the broccoli cheddar soup.  It was very good as well.  This soup was the perfect consistency.  I’ve had some broccoli cheddar soups before that seem quite runny/watery, but this was not the case.  When I was getting the soup, they asked me if I would like to have crackers or bread with my soup.  They have not asked me that when I’ve gotten soup here before.  I chose the bread, and I got about three little half slices of white bread inside a paper sleeve (similar to what the cookies come in).  The chocolate chip cookie was a bit chewier than normal.  My preference is when they bake it and it comes out with that slight crisp on the outside but still soft and chewy inside.  That’s how I’ve gotten the cookies here most of the other times I’ve been.

My only complaint would be that they were a little too eager to get me served.  I had intended to step back for a moment and look at the menu and soup board and decide what I wanted, being there wasn’t any other customers in line.  When they asked what I wanted, I said that I was debating between a soup or a salad.  Then, they asked if they could make me a sandwich while I was deciding.  It seemed like I was getting rushed through while I was the only customer in line, and it wasn’t even near their closing time either.  The reply I would have rather heard  from them would have been something like, “Take your time, and let us know when you’re ready to order.”  Then, if they were really feeling generous, they could have even thrown in something like, “If you have any questions about the menu, let us know.”

Check out my other Paradise Bakery review.

Panera Bread – Indianapolis

Restaurant: Panera Bread
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Address: 5020 East 82nd Street  Indianapolis, IN 46250
Menu: Panera Menu
Type:  Bakery & Cafe
Loyalty Program: None Known
Today’s Meal: 1/2 Chicken Fontaga and 1/2 Soup
Cost: About $7

Oh my, I did not have the most pleasant experience at this Panera Bread!  To begin with, there were about 6 of us in line and there was no one at the cash register where they take orders.  We stood there for a several minutes and finally the customer in front asked the person who was making the food where we should all order at.  That person said that we should just order over at the bakery.  (Yes, thanks for making us aware of that!)  So, we end up waiting there in the line, and as soon as that worker sees so many of us there in their line, they call back for someone to open the register we had just been at.  So, by that time, there are new people who came in and went directly to that register and now they are getting waited on before us, while we are still in the bakery line.  The person in front of me finally ordered, and they told her that her sandwich could not be made on the croissant that it was suppose to come on because they had run out of croissants.  When it was my turn to order, the cashier never even asked me if my meal was for there or to go.  Needless to say, they made it for the wrong one.  Then, sure enough, I got the wrong soup.  That was actually the reason I had went to Panera was I knew it was the day for the kind of soup that I like. 

The sandwich wasn’t even very good.  It was made sloppy with the bread all shifted around and half the ingredients sticking out of the bread.  That was not surprising, being the people making the sandwiches could be overheard talking about their Halloween night, the night before.  This was definitely not a good experience.  It was actually quite frustrating.  I should have just walked out when I had thought about it, when none of us were getting helped at the cash register.

Paradise Bakery – Noblesville

Restaurant: Paradise Bakery
Location: Noblesville, IN (Hamilton Town Center)
Address: 13230 Harrell Parkway, Suite 400  Noblesville, IN 46060
Hours: Mon – Sat 6:30am – 9pm; Sun 8am – 8pm
Menu: Paradise Bakery Menu
Type: Cafe and Bakery
Loyalty Program: Taste of Paradise Card (acts as gift card and loyalty card)
Today’s Meal: 1/2 Chicken Walnut Sandwich, Small Paradise Caesar Salad, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Soft Drink
Yesterday’s Meal: 1/2 Turkey Wrap, Small Paradise Pasta Salad, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Soft Drink
Cost: Each meal, about $10

That’s right, I ate at Paradise Bakery two days in a row!  We’ll start with today’s meal.  Their Chicken Walnut sandwich is very good.  I think that my favorite part is the bread.  They use a sweet molasses bread, and it is amazing.  It is the perfect amount of sweetness for this sandwich.  Their chicken salad is very good, although I could use a tad bit more mayo.  However, that is being picky because, like I stated, it is a very good chicken salad sandwich.  The walnuts in the chicken salad also add a nice texture to the sandwich.  The Caesar salad is good.  They toss it up right in front of you, adding ingredients as they go.  Therefore, they are sometimes a little too quick and the Caesar dressing and Parmesan cheese don’t get completely mixed, and you’ll find small clumps every now and then instead of being perfectly blended.  Now for the chocolate chip cookie which is one of my favorites!  It has the perfect amount of a crispy outside while having a chewy inside.  You can definitely tell they are freshly baked.

When I ate at Paradise Bakery yesterday, I got a turkey wrap.  It was a little on the plain side and dry.  It could have used a bit more mayo or pesto or something.  However, it tasted fresh.  The Paradise Pasta salad was good, but wow, they serve way too much!  You can really taste the vinaigrette dressing, so therefore, it is a pasta that is on the strong side.  It’s one of those things that you can only eat so much of.  I got a small bowl of it (and wasn’t able to finish that), and I couldn’t imagine trying to eat a large bowl!  Once again, the chocolate chip cookie was amazing!

Want to make your own chicken salad sandwich at home?  Click here for a recipe!