Corner Bakery Cafe Bfast Panini: A Review
Attn: Corner Bakery Cafe, Mission Valley, CA.
FYI: That means, "for your information", for your information...anyway, FYI, if you're going to offer a promotional for a menu item and require your customers to pick a "reservation" time, your store should be OPEN during that reservation time. Really?! That's right. I picked the 7am-8am time slot, because it was the only time slot open for today {Sunday, 1/29/12} and I figured it was the weekend, I'd have no problem getting there. So Tiny Baker and I hopped in the car {of course husband was still sleeping...wasted coupon for him} and drove out to Mission Valley from South Bay San Diego, arrived around 7:50ish, walked up to the front doors of the Cafe and...LOCKED! Locked? Locked! Really, locked? Yes! We saw a few employees inside, double checked the hours of operation, double checked our coupon, and sure enough, 7-8am, but the restaurant doesn't open until 8am.
Marketing Fail!
Let's discuss this supposed item they wish to call a "Panini"...which should really be called a "Panino"{but that's a whole 'nother post". I was imagining thick, rustic slices of pane, grilled to perfection, melted swiss{according to their description} cheese oozing out of the sides, soft fluffy eggs, and nice thin slices of shaved ham. Flavors uniting, melding, marrying...My mouth was watering. I had been anticipating this very moment. The crunch was coming. I unwrapped the package, rolled out my sandwich, my eyes open wide with excitement, and this is what I saw...
Objects on screen are MUCH smaller than they appear...and more wilted
Personally, I like cheddar better than swiss, so that error will be forgiven. The spinach could be skipped altogether.
It came with a small cup of:
However, I'm not sure how fresh it was...it looked kind of creamy inside. It was something I had no desire to try.
The best part?:
This is iced water, with squeezed lemon wedges and a few packets of Splenda {usually 1, sometimes 2...it's all "to taste"}. It's my new favorite drink. Bonus: it's free! The catch? I made it myself.
The biggest issue I had was with the bread. I would've preferred a thicker slice, that was actually toasty. This bread was about 1/8-1/4in thick, with grill lines, but not toasty one bit. The flavor was, OK. Nothing spectacular. The ambiance is cozy, though. I hope they have a better promotional next time that will sway me.
I rename this sandwich a "Pa-NO-NO". Try again, Corner Bakery Cafe.
Corner Bakery Cafe
1025 Camino de la Reina
San Diego, CA 92108
Map & Directions
-Becky Charms
