DINING REVIEW:

Going to Panera Bread in Glendale is like putting on your favorite jacket on a chilly autumn day. It’s warm, it goes with everything, and you feel good wearing it. You can trust that a meal at Panera will be comforting and good for you, the ambience will be warm and welcoming, and the experience will be relatively painless (sometimes, in life, the zipper does get stuck).

Panera is a little like a modern cafeteria in that you order your food in one area and have it delivered in another. But instead of having trays to slide along metal counters, there’s a bustling food-court-like setup on the right and a calm, quiet dining room on the left. In the dining room, there is lovely lighting, warm decor, smooth jazz and sturdy tables at which people feel comfortable checking e-mail or quietly chatting.

The right side, or food court as I call it, takes some getting used to. There is a bakery section, a food-ordering section, a take-out pick-up section and a few cashiers. Patrons are encouraged to pick up a laminated menu and then step aside to decipher its confusing contents. I won’t take the time to explain the menu — the friendly servers are clearly used to doing it. Just know there are multiple combinations of soups, salads and sandwiches to consider. The combo is called the “You Pick Two” and comes in regular ($7.29) or “Signature” style ($7.79-$8.29.)

My kids and I have decided that you can’t go wrong with a sandwich at Panera. The artisan breads are freshly baked, true, but they are not actually what make the sandwiches special. It’s the unique combination of fillings that taste so good, particularly the fillings featuring their chipotle mayonnaise, such as the Sierra turkey cafe sandwich on asiago cheese focaccia with field greens and onions ($6.29)or the Frontega chicken signature hot panini with smoked & pulled white meat chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, onions, basil and the chipotle mayo ($6.99). The turkey artichoke panini ($6.99) was a hit with my group as well. It features spinach-artichoke spread, asiago-Parmesan, tomatoes and caramelized onions on grilled focaccia bread. The Italian combo sandwich ($6.99) was not such a hit, but not bad.

Check their posted soup schedule for the day’s selections. A bowl goes for $4.99, or $5.49 in a bread bowl. The popular ones often repeat, new flavors appear now and then, and there is always a vegetarian choice. The first day I went, I chose the corn chowder, which, in my opinion, was the best of the bunch. However, the broccoli cheddar, chicken noodle and creamy tomato were, according to my friends, all good to the last drop. The French onion was hard to finish.

And finally, let me speak of the salads. Readers may know what a salad snob I am. I tasted only three of them, but the only one I’d go back for is the Asian sesame chicken ($7.29). It has crispy, cold Romaine lettuce, cilantro, almonds, sesame seeds, wonton strips and really nice white meat chicken.

The reduced-sugar sesame vinaigrette is just right. The Caesar salad ($6.29) dressing was watered down and the Fuji apple chicken salad ($7.29) had no “gestalt” (an integrated whole greater than the sum of its parts). It would benefit from having real apple chunks, not the dried apple chips it sports.

There are other perks at Panera, such as bottomless freshly brewed iced tea, both green and black. They have organic juice, milk and yogurt, antibiotic-free chicken and a zero-gram trans fat menu.

They have a healthy kids menu ($3.99) and a to-go menu that lists the calories, fat, sodium and carbs of all their items. Their take-out system looks nicely organized, and there’s also a fully stocked condiment bar. Their selection of freshly baked sweets (69 cents to $2.49) and bread loaves ($2.59 to $6.39) is extensive and fairly priced. If you’re into cookies, we all agreed that the toffee nut ($1.69) was to die for. And the baguette at Panera Bread, which comes on the side with many meals, is delicious — sweet and chewy with a nicely glazed crust.

So pop on your favorite jacket and head on down to Panera Bread in the old Ethan Allen store on Brand at California. Once you figure out the right way to order, it may become your go-to wardrobe item, er, restaurant.

?LISA DUPUY enjoys trying all types of food and reads cookbooks in her spare time. She can be reached at ldupuy@aol.com.