Panera Bread opens to large crowds
Panera Bread opened to large crowds of hungry, sun-drenched customers and screaming girls at its Memorial Day weekend opening May 24 outside Rehoboth Beach.
Well, maybe not screaming girls.
Although, Millsboro resident Cierra Silvernail, 21, was close to screaming when she found out the store would be opening.
Silvernail has been a Panera fan for more than two years after enjoying a visit to the restaurant in Pennsylvania.
She showed up at 2 a.m. before the store’s opening with a basket of chocolates for the night workers who were there baking bread for opening day.
As the store opened at 6 a.m., Silvernail was the first one through the doors.
Her first order? An everything bagel with cream cheese.
“Later, I also ordered a steak and cheese sandwich. Everything was delicious,” said Silvernail, who works across the street at the Coach outlet.
“I love Panera Bread because everything is so fresh, and you can watch them making the food.”
Since opening, the restaurant has been bustling, said Jenny Hurley, spokeswoman for the regional franchise operated by Lemek LLC.
“We had a fantastic opening day of sales,” Hurley said. “People were waiting for us in the parking lot when we got there Thursday morning.”
The menu features 15 kinds of freshly baked artisan breads, bagels, scones, muffins and brownies, as well as lunch favorites including panini, garden-fresh salads, soups and macaroni and cheese.
“Some of the local favorites so far include the strawberry and poppyseed chicken salad and the tomato and mozzarella panini, which features fresh basil, sun-dried tomato pesto on ciabatta bread,” she said.
Lemek LLC, owned by Brian Lemek, operates 51 Panera Bread cafes in Maryland, and has plans to open and operate new locations in Delaware and southern New Jersey. Operating partner Bill Reagan and general manager Shae Muir worked to hire more than 50 associates for the Rehoboth store. The New Jersey location is set to open Saturday, June 2.
“Our Rehoboth location is the second café to open under the Lemek Slower Lower division of our company,” Hurley said.
Walking into the Panera Bread, customers are first taken in by the aroma of baking bread. One look around reveals a warm atmosphere of oranges and greens with free WiFi. When temperatures drop, the store features a working fireplace to keep customers warm.
“At the end of every day, the café donates all of the unsold baked goods to local homeless shelters and food pantries,” Hurley said.
The store is open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call-ahead orders to 302-645-9790 are welcomed, and a drive-through is available for customers.
