Boise Panera Opens Doors Thursday

This is the best day ever!

Before I moved to the Treasure Valley, one of my old jobs had paid me in a gift card.  A gift card worth several hundred dollars.  A gift card that I couldn't use in Idaho because at the time, we didn't have a Panera! I was heart broken and figured that I'd just save it for the reunion run my cross country teammates and I  do every December in Ohio.  After all, we always end up at Panera for a giant cinnamon roll and hot chocolate after we run/walk a mile just to say we all still "run."

Then Panera opened in Nampa and Meridian.  I was stoked, but it's still not a practical drive for me to get a broccoli cheddar soup and a bowl of macaroni in cheese. But on Thursday, December 15th that all changes! BOISE IS GETTING A PANERA!

It opens at 8401 W. Franklin road in front of Best Buy at 6 a.m.!  My friend Elizabeth works in the Panera bakery and tells me that the first 100 people that stop by the new location get a certificate for free "You Pick Two" for a year! (That's one a month for 12 months.)  What's a "You Pick Two?"  It's a generous two half portions of your choice of Panera's salads, sandwiches, soups, flatbreads or mac & cheese.

I to this day will continue to tell people that the absolute best macaroni and cheese I've ever ate is Panera's! Their soups and pastries are bomb too!