Fresh baked bread and great cheddar cheese are the stars.

Walk into a Panera Bread these days and you will probably see it occupied by the typical “Starbucks” type crowd, sipping on a drink, working on a laptop. It seems to have taken over as the cool meeting hub for students and telecommuters (free wi-fi). The aroma of freshly baked breads fills the air and the sounds of light classical music can be heard from the background. Panera makes a variety of quality bagels, pastries, muffins and breads daily. I’m sure most people know them for the baked goods, but they’re also serving sandwiches for breakfast (breakfast was introduced nationwide in April 2008), lunch and dinner. Currently they offer three breakfast sandwich choices. Sausage-Egg-Cheese, Bacon-Egg-Cheese and Egg-Cheese with no meat.

Each sandwich starts with freshly baked Ciabatta bread. It’s a tasty, chewy bread with a medium crust and light coating of olive oil. Inside you’ll find the breakfast sandwich staple, the egg. Panera uses all-natural eggs that are cracked fresh, and you can tell they have just been cooked rather than sitting under a heat lamp. There are two meat options, all-natural sausage or Applewood-smoked bacon. But the ingredient that really makes these sandwiches stand out is Vermont white cheddar cheese.

Sausage-Egg-Cheese Sandwich — The ciabatta bread is grilled on the outside, soft where it needs to be, with a little crunch on the edges. Aside from a few crumbs, it’s not a messy sandwich to eat. The egg is fried into a circular shape that fits the bread perfectly. The sausage patty has good flavor and decent size. As I mentioned before, the best ingredient is the cheese. The Vermont white cheddar really gives these sandwiches a unique taste not typical with fast-food breakfasts. It’s a sharp distinct flavor with immediate impact, and a nice change from milder cheeses. [ B ]

Bacon-Egg-Cheese Sandwich — As you can see, the bread and egg are the same from the sausage sandwich. Only the meat is different. The bacon version wins my vote for overall satisfaction. The bacon is usually done just right, cooked evenly, not too crunchy, or too soft. They’re generous with the amount of bacon, and I’ve counted 5-6 slices. Considering it’s not a big sandwich, that’s a lot of pork. The cheese tastes even better (stronger) than with the sausage, most likely due to the patty’s thickness and heavier weight. The bacon version has the best balance of flavors. [ B+ ]

Of course, if you want a meatless sandwich you can order it with just egg and cheese. Surprisingly, even the simple egg and cheese sandwich works well. It’s a little plain, but it doesn’t leave me feeling like I’m missing something or desperate for meat. It’s all about the delicious cheese. That said, if you’re not a fan of Vermont white cheddar, or you find sharp cheese to be a turnoff… these sandwiches are not for you.

At a price of $2.99-$3.49, and a relatively small size, they’re a bit on the expensive side. I still feel hungry after a single sandwich, but it’s more quality over quantity when eating at Panera Bread. In general, they’re a step above typical fast food and definitely worth trying if you haven’t already. If you’re not on-the-run and in a big hurry, stop by and smell the bakery. Come for breakfast and try these sandwiches. Bring your laptop and say you’re working. We’ll know you’re really there for the food.

Price: $2.99-$3.49 / Website: Panera.com

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Nutrition Facts - Panera Bread, Sausage-Egg-Cheese Sandwich.

Calories - 540
Calories from Fat - 250
Total Fat - 27 grams
Carbs - 44 grams
Saturated Fat - 11 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 220 milligrams
Sodium - 980 milligrams
Protein - 26 grams

Nutrition Facts - Panera Bread, Bacon-Egg-Cheese Sandwich.

Calories - 510
Calories from Fat - 220
Total Fat - 24 grams
Carbs - 44 grams
Saturated Fat - 10 grams
Trans Fat - 0.5 grams
Cholesterol - 215 milligrams
Sodium - 1060 milligrams
Protein - 28 grams

I’ve been breakfast sandwich shy for the past few weeks since eating the ugly named BagelBelt with it’s equally ugly taste. But eventually I found the courage to visit my local Country Style Donut store (Ontario’s 2nd largest chain of coffee and donut stores) for their morning sandwich, “The SUNRISER”, a 5-layer egg ‘n cheese BLT.

It started out like a replay of the Belt disaster. A precooked egg hockey puck was plucked off the top of a teetering tower of patties along with a few strips of precooked bacon. Both appeared microwaved into submission. Instead of a bagel, this sandwich is held between a freshly toasted and lightly buttered English muffin. With the addition of a few ripped leaves of crispy lettuce and thinly sliced tomato, the sandwich was prepped and ready for the final ingredient, a slice of *real* medium cheddar cheese. I’d expected the standard processed plastic-textured cheese-product so this indicated things were looking better, and maybe headed for a positive review.

Indeed, I enjoyed it. The warm English muffin was good bread, the heated egg and bacon were better than expected, the cheddar was melted slightly, and it gave the sandwich a rich, quality taste. My biggest surprise was the satisfying mouth feel, the taste and texture of this sandwich. The egg was actually juicy! Bacon was nice and salty. Melting cheese mixed with crisp cold lettuce and moist tomato in each bite. Each ingredient tasted good, and together they combined to create something great.

This sandwich has given me the confidence to start reviewing food again knowing that fast-food can be done well. It’s a great breakfast for an affordable price.

Price: $3.29 / Website: CountryStyle.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A

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Nutrition Facts - Country Style Donut Store, Sunriser Sandwich.

Calories - 350
Calories from Fat - n/a
Total Fat - 20 gramsCarbs - 28 grams
Saturated Fat - 9 grams
Trans Fat - 0.3 grams
Cholesterol - 180 milligrams
Sodium - 630 milligrams
Protein - 14 grams

If McDonald’s ever made one of their breakfast sandwiches available all day long, I’d hope it would be the McGriddle. Breakfast isn’t something I’m able to purchase too often because of my crazy schedule at the radio station. Those rare times I make McDonald’s breakfast hours, I usually go for the Sausage, Egg, and Cheese version, and sometimes when I’m extra hungry I’ll have them toss some bacon on there for a small added charge. The bacon/sausage combo McGriddles is unbelievable.

However, for today’s review I’m sticking with the basic Sausage, Egg, and Cheese sandwich. Inside you’ve got a decent sized sausage patty, fried and folded egg, and a slice of melted American cheese. But the outside is what brings it all together and makes it special… instead of a bun or standard breakfast bread, the sandwich is held together by 2 delicious Griddle Cakes, with Maple Syrup and Brown Sugar baked right in. It’s pancakes without the mess. When the sandwich is done right, which in my experience has been most of the time, the pancakes are nice and moist and the syrup flavor is strong. I don’t consider the strong sweetness of the syrup a bad thing though, because it goes great with the sausage, which has a nice flavor of it’s own and just the right amount of spices. The folded egg and American cheese taste fine, about how you’d expect, but definitely take a backseat to the pancakes and sausage.

I’ve eaten a lot of these sandwiches, and there hasn’t been too many bad ones. The only exceptions I recall… when it just wasn’t hot enough. If the griddle cakes are not cooked thoroughly, the syrup isn’t able to spread out inside, preventing them from getting (and staying) nice and moist. The syrup flavor is still there, but it’s not seeping out of the pancake like it does when it’s toasty warm. That’s the only thing that’s ever been wrong, and it doesn’t happen often enough to warrant a drop in score.

The Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddles sandwich is awesome. I can’t say it beats the Enormous Omelette Sandwich from Burger King, but it’s now tied with it, as my 2 favorite fast-food breakfast sandwiches. At only $3.95 for the combo meal, including hash browns and coffee, this delicious item gets a review score of “A-” from me. Speaking of coffee, I finally tried McDonald’s “Premium” stuff and it wasn’t bad. Maybe if we add a “coffee” category here at FFC in the future, I’ll do a review.

Price: $3.95 (combo meal) / Website: McDonalds.com

Fast Food Critic Score: A-

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Nutrition Facts - McDonald’s Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddles.

Calories - 560
Calories from Fat - 290
Total Fat - 32 grams
Carbs - 48 grams
Saturated Fat - 12 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 265 milligrams
Sodium - 1360 milligrams
Protein - 20 grams

A fast-food pork chop? No way! That’s what I was thinking yesterday when Philip sent me a message saying he saw a new Hardee’s advertisement with a pork chop and gravy on a biscuit. Today, the folks at Hardee’s contacted me with details. This new breakfast item features a boneless, breaded pork chop, covered in sausage gravy, served on one of the chain’s ‘Made From Scratch’ biscuits. It sells for $2.99 and is also available in a combo meal for $4.59 that includes hash rounds (small circular hash browns) and beverage. It’s actually the company’s second version of a pork chop sandwich.

“We first introduced a Pork Chop Biscuit a few years ago and, even though we stopped selling it last year, we still get many requests from people asking us to bring it back,” said Brad Haley, Hardee’s Executive Vice President of Marketing. “And, since we had many reports from our restaurants that people were ordering a side of our famous sausage gravy to dip the biscuit in – which I usually do myself, by the way – we decided to re-test it with sausage gravy already on it and it was more popular than ever. So, I guess the old saying among our test kitchen people is true: The only way to make it better is to add gravy to it!”

It’s breakfast time, so what are my options? Let’s see, a Sausage McGriddle from McDonalds? The Enormous Omelet Sandwich from Burger King? Seems as though most choices for a quick grab-and-go breakfast are completely greased-up and bad for you. Nutrition and fast-food breakfast go together like peanut butter on a pizza. So when I saw a commercial for the new Egg White Flatbread Sandwiches from Dunkin’ Donuts with low fat and under 300 calories each, I thought to myself… “Finally!”.

Fast Food Critic reported in July that Dunkin’ Donuts had released several flatbread sandwiches as ‘lunchtime’ menu items, and now they’ve decided to go the breakfast route. A smart move. They realize where their bread is being buttered, and that’s among the morning coffee and donut crowd. So I wasn’t really surprised to see them introduce these flatbread breakfasts. Yes, DD has carried breakfast sandwiches for a long while now, but they’re the standard egg/cheese, plus bacon/sausage on a croissant, sourdough toast or bagel. Now comes along something for the more health conscious, and part of the company’s expanding “DDSmart” menu lineup.

The Egg White flatbreads come in two choices, the Veggie and the Turkey Sausage. The cost is $2.99 each. In my personal opinion, I believe they are probably a dollar too much. There simply isn’t much going on to warrant a $2.99 purchase. There’s too much of the dry, tough flatbread. It’s a little overwhelming when compared to the actual egg filling portion. There needs to be less flatbread and a price drop… or they should increase the amount of egg and filling to merit the $2.99 price tag.

Veggie — I definitely prefer the Veggie Egg White Flatbread over the Turkey Sausage variety. The Veggie has a better flavor and you can tell it when take your first bite. This taste comes mostly from the green and red peppers. At only 290 calories and 9 grams of fat, it takes the guilt away from your morning breakfast. The Veggie version of this sandwich consists of egg whites, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and reduced-fat cheddar cheese on a multigrain flatbread. The Veggie version was not nearly as dry as the Turkey Sausage and it also had better, tastier cheese.

Turkey Sausage — The Turkey Sausage version is only 280 calories and 6 grams of fat. It’s made up of egg whites, turkey sausage, spinach, and reduced-fat mozzarella cheese on a multigrain flatbread. You can’t really taste much of anything but the egg with this one. There also isn’t any immediate recognition that what you are eating has turkey sausage in it, or spinach for that matter, or even cheese. And it’s too dry.

Neater and Healthier — These sandwiches are not messy and dripping with grease. As I mentioned before, they are not a breakfast you feel guilty about selecting. Both flatbread items are at least 25% reduced (in comparison to the sausage, egg, cheese on a croissant) in calories, fat, saturated fat, sugar and sodium. With that, you of course lose the rich bold taste of butter, cheese and fried goodness… and replace it with something that many people would describe as being bland.

OK, so they’re not a home run, but I still enjoyed them. Honestly, I think just knowing they’re lower in fat and calories than almost everything else out there has boosted my impression. If it wasn’t for that fact, I’d be giving these sandwiches a lower score, but they go up a full letter grade for being healthier. If you’re looking for the tastiest most satisfying quick breakfast item… this is not it. However, if you’re looking for something more in the “guilt free” category, these should satisfy you, and for the moment they’re really the only game in town for a healthy fast-food breakfast sandwich.

Price: $2.99 / Website: DunkinDonuts.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C-

(Turkey Sausage)

Nutrition Facts - Dunkin’ Donuts Flatbread Sandwich, Turkey Sausage.

Calories - 280
Calories from Fat - 50
Total Fat - 6 grams
Carbs - 37 grams
Saturated Fat - 2.5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 20 milligrams
Sodium - 820 milligrams
Protein - 19 grams

Price: $2.99 / Website: DunkinDonuts.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B-

(Veggie)

Nutrition Facts - Dunkin’ Donuts Flatbread Sandwich, Veggie.

Calories - 290
Calories from Fat - 80
Total Fat - 9 grams
Carbs - 39 grams
Saturated Fat - 4 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 20 milligrams
Sodium - 680 milligrams
Protein - 11 grams

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Breakfast at Timmy’s. What could be more Canadian?

I love breakfast. At least whenever I’m awake early enough to enjoy it (most fast food breakfasts end by 10:30 here in Toronto). I was really looking forward to a satisfying wake-up meal. Bacon, Egg, Cheese, Tomato and Lettuce, inside of a freshly baked Bagel. How could you go wrong? Tim Horton’s current breakfast promotion is called the BAGEL B.E.L.T. So I dropped in to my local outlet and ordered the BELT with bacon (could have chosen Ham) on a Multi-Grain bagel (could have chosen Plain, Sesame or Whole Wheat). Being 8:30 am on a Wednesday morning, I’d expected I would be receiving a really fresh bagel and a delicious sandwich of equally tasty ingredients.

NOT — It was bland and dry — and the bagel kept falling apart. Yes there’s lots of healthy seeds and grains in the bagel for an excellent chewiness factor, but I don’t like chunks of bread bouncing off my stomach. Please, no jokes about the size of my stomach, it continues to serve me well. I know, I don’t need extra fats in my food, but they really help add flavor and ease the swallowing. I’d suggest asking for butter on your bagel, for sure, and perhaps double the tomatoes, also adding moisture.

The pre-cooked bacon and egg patty are held, warming in an oven. When the order comes in, the bagel is split and put into a toasting machine. The toasted bagel receives some lettuce (the quantity seems quite variable), a couple of slices of tomato (variable quality and size), and a slice of processed cheese. The warm egg and meat are combined with the cold ingredients, and the cheese gets slightly melted.

– I found the sandwich dry and bland overall.
– The bagel was too crumbly.
– The tomato slices I received were small and mealy (and this during prime tomato season in Southern Ontario).
– The bacon was thin and pretty much tasteless.
– The egg patty/omelette had no seasoning at all that I could detect.
– Even a pinch of salt would have been a welcome addition.
– At $3.45 each, this is not cheap and I expect more satisfaction.

Price: $3.45 CDN / Website: TimHortons.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C-

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Nutrition Facts - Tim Hortons, Bagel B.E.L.T. Sandwich.

Calories - 440
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 14 grams
Carbs - 59 grams
Saturated Fat - 6 grams
Trans Fat - 0.2 grams
Cholesterol - 165 milligrams
Sodium - 940 milligrams
Protein - 21 grams
Fiber - 3 grams (should vary with bagel choice)

Between breakfast at McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Burger King, when the choice is up to me, I usually go for Burger King. Don’t get me wrong though, I still enjoy the McDonald’s McGriddle and I usually spend the extra money to add bacon to the sausage version. (It is definitely worth it.) I also like the sausage egg and cheese on a croissant from Dunkin Donuts. I just find myself going to Burger King more often for breakfast. I can remember the first time I had the ‘Enormous Omelet Sandwich’. I bit into it and said out loud ‘Oh My God this is amazing’. The Cheesy Bacon Wrapper is yet another item on BK’s breakfast menu that leaves me wanting another.

It features egg, cheese sauce, American cheese, hash browns, and bacon wrapped in a tortilla. The wrap is perfect for those who do a lot of eating while driving. I am one of those people, and have found some breakfast items too messy or hard to handle while trying to drive at the same time. The wrap though wasn’t messy aside from a slight cheese sauce drippage at the end, but that wasn’t too bad.

The first bite gives you a nice surprise with the added ingredient of the hash browns. Usually, you’ll just enjoy your hash brown as a side item, but added to the wrap is a nice touch. Another difference for this wrap was the cheese sauce. This article calls it a ’smokey cheese sauce’ but I found it to be sweet. It balances well with the saltiness of the bacon and other ingredients. Together with the bacon, American cheese, egg, and tortilla, it all works well, making a nice breakfast snack.

The only issue I have is the distribution of ingredients. On both of my experiences, there were problems. The first time it didn’t have a lot of American cheese at the beginning, but too much at the end. The second time (pictured here) gave me bacon at the end instead of throughout the entire wrap. This definitely takes some points off the grade, but overall the wrap was a positive experience.

At $1.49 each, or $4.49 for a value meal which comes with 2 wraps, coffee, and hash browns, I would totally get this again. It is definitely worth trying at least once with such an affordable price. If that’s all you get, you may still feel hungry afterwards so consider it more of a snack then your entire breakfast. I give this wrap a B plus. It would have received higher if the distribution was more even throughout the wrapper.

Price: $1.49 / Website: BurgerKing.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B+

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Nutrition Facts - Burger King Cheesy Bacon Wrapper.

Calories - 390
Calories from Fat - N/A
Total Fat - 24 grams
Carbs - 29 grams
Saturated Fat - 8 grams
Trans Fat - 1.5 grams
Cholesterol - 150 milligrams
Sodium - 1080 milligrams
Protein - 14 grams

Carl’s Jr. has just introduced a new breakfast item called the Monster Breakfast Sandwich. It’s big, featuring two eggs, two strips of bacon, a sausage patty, Swiss and American cheese, all stacked inside toasted sourdough bread. This also begins a new advertising campaign for the company using the tagline “Breakfast as big as our burgers”. The new sandwich will sell for $2.89 on it’s own, or $4.49 as part of a breakfast combo. For more information, or to find a restaurant location near you, visit CarlsJr.com.

When you offer something called “Toaster Sandwiches” using extra thick sliced bread (aka: Texas Toast) it’s important you get the toasted part down. Otherwise you end up with big thick soggy bread, and it’s a turn-off. Over a period of 2 weeks, I’ve tried these breakfast sandwiches at four different Sonic locations, and all but one had the same disappointing result. Look folks, it’s not that good a sandwich to begin with, so when you can’t even toast the bread properly, it makes a big negative impact.

Anyway… moving on. The sausage patties are OK, about on average with many of the fast food breakfast competition. The egg is good, but it’s not asking much to get a decent egg for breakfast. Then again, I thought the same thing about toast. The slice of American cheese sits between the egg and sausage, melting between them and creating a nice cheesy flavor with each bite. It also bonds them together.

The inside of this sandwich would greatly benefit from a properly toasted outside. As it stands, the bread is too soft, and feels like something that I just took out of a plastic supermarket package. Of course I would never use such thick bread in the first place unless it was toasted, and I really don’t think Sonic intends to either. It seems that some employees are just not paying attention, or they don’t know any better.

Imagine biting into a crisp, golden brown toasty bread. Perhaps like this picture of the sandwiches on Sonic’s website. That would be great. That’s how it should be.

After all, this is not a case of exaggerated food photography where the burgers look bigger, vegetables look fresher, and so on. It’s just toast. Come on!

Apparently, they do place the bread over (or thru) some type of heat before serving, so technically speaking it’s toasted, but I would like to refer Sonic and their employees to this page at Wikipedia which explains what toast is, and includes pictures of un-toasted VS toasted bread. Hopefully between that page, and the picture on Sonic’s own website, they can figure it out. Big, thick, plain un-toasted white bread is NOT very appetizing, and it overwhelms the flavors of the other ingredients. My “toast” would have been better with a Bic lighter held underneath it for a few seconds.

The Breakfast Toaster Sandwich from Sonic is not bad, however it suffers from the bread issue, and it’s overall taste is nothing above average. Most fast food places have a version of sausage, egg and cheese. Some use biscuits. Some use buns. Others wrap it up in a tortilla. I was excited about a Texas Toast version, and felt it had a chance to stand out. Unfortunately there was only 1 sandwich delivered to me with the bread toasted beyond the slightest little bit. As expected, it was better that way, and I’m sure it’s the way Sonic intends for the sandwich to be served. I think somebody at corporate needs to create a “Toast 101″ class and get it started ASAP.

Price: $2.19 / Website: SonicDriveIn.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C-

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Nutrition Facts - Sonic Breakfast Toaster, Sausage, Egg and Cheese.

Calories - 630
Calories from Fat - 350
Total Fat - 39 grams
Carbs - 46 grams
Saturated Fat - 13 grams
Trans Fat - 1.5 grams
Cholesterol - 340 milligrams
Sodium - 1380 milligrams
Protein - 23 grams

I don’t eat many breakfast items these days, because I’m usually not awake early enough to visit during the limited hours they are being served. This is not a problem at Jack In The Box because their breakfast menu is available around the clock.

After so many big meals recently, I have decided to eat something ‘light’. I’ve seen the french toast sticks advertised and they appeared to be the item I was looking for. They offer a blueberry version, so I picked those. I got four sticks for $1.69, which is a good deal. They come with a small container of Log Cabin Maple Syrup on the side.

They had a golden crunchy outer layer that caved-in from the pressure of my first bite, revealing a soft and chewy warm center. The taste was similar to real french toast, and the texture reminded me of a cake-donut that had just been cooked. There’s a light coating of powdered sugar on the outside, and small specs of blueberries are barely visible. The problem is there aren’t many blueberries outside, and none on the inside. A couple of my sticks contained hardly any at all. That was very disappointing.

After eating the first one plain, I dipped the next one in maple syrup. That made a big difference, and I found myself flooded with memories of french toast breakfasts from days gone past. These little things are pretty good. They have a genuine french toast flavor, and would make a great snack for any time of day, not just breakfast. Each stick is about the size of a granola bar, but much lighter of course. Plan on eating all 4.

About those Blueberries — Not only were they hard to see, they were hard to taste. There was the occasional lucky bite, but otherwise I would never have known I was eating the blueberry variety. That’s unfortunate, but maybe I got a weak batch of sticks. I will go back again later, and post an update for this review if anything changes.

The Blueberry French Toast Sticks from Jack In The Box are light, tasty and cheap. They have a wonderful crunch followed by a soft chewy middle. They are especially good when using the included maple syrup. Jack has basically turned french toast into a portable snack. My only real complaint is the lack of blueberries, and seeing how these are the blueberry version, that’s a significant complaint.

Price: $1.69 (4 sticks) / Website: JackInTheBox.com

Fast Food Critic Score: C+

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Nutrition Facts - Jack In The Box, Blueberry French Toast Sticks (4).

Calories - 450
Calories from Fat - 180
Total Fat - 20 grams
Carbs - 59 grams
Saturated Fat - 4.5 grams
Trans Fat - 4.5 grams
Cholesterol - 0 milligrams
Sodium - 550 milligrams