What Makes A Great Restaurant

Cheryl and I have been looking for the past several months for our new "hang out place". Put simply, a place where we can order some good affordable, food with a comfortable atmosphere. Our new favorite place is the Panera bread store in the Coralville Mall. I thought this worth mentioning because we have visited several Paneras before and I was never quite impressed with them as I am with this one. After much consideration, I pinpointed several things that made Coralville stand out when the other ones fell a little short. One thing is that the tables in the lobby area are always clean (despite being busy!). You might think this is the way things are suppose to be done, but the other Paneras had issues and never seemed to be on top of things. The second is that the coffee, ice, and condiments are always stocked and ready. There is nothing more frustrating that ordering coffee only to have the coffee refill station always empty! Next would be the floor. The Mall Panera is always clean and the people there do not run a vacuum over your toes when it comes time to clean things up. ( did I mention that it is usually pretty busy! Makes you wonder why this Panera can do what other, slower ones can not.) In all, you might notice that I have not mentioned the food. I found this a little confusing because the bagel was good, as well as the coffee, drink and service at the counter. BUT it was the Lobby that made me feel at home and ultimately made me and Cheryl want to come back. So three cheers to the Panera in Coralville, Iowa. They have gained another regular customer.