by Bottom Line: While skimpy on the meat, the Spicy Steak Asiago Bagel Stack from Panera is a tasty sandwich, and it brings some heat.
Panera Bread has long been a favorite stop of mine, especially for breakfast or when I’m craving a good bowl of soup on a cold day. They do put out some spicy items from time to time, though more often than not they disappoint on the burn (but I would like to see the spicy chicken sandwich return). So I almost passed on reviewing the Spicy Steak Asiago Bagel Stack, not expecting much heat from it, but I found myself at my local Panera for lunch just recently and decided to go ahead and give it a try–and I was certainly glad that I did.
Here’s what comes with it:
Tender, marinated steak with melty provolone, creamy salsa verde spread, fresh arugula, red onions, and zesty sweet peppers on our Asiago Bagel.
It sells for $7.99 in my area, and that includes a bag of chips, a French baguette, or an apple.
The sandwich is pretty substantial, with all the ingredients stacked on one of Panera’s hefty bagels. When you bite into it, you immediately get the creaminess from the salsa verde spread and cheese, along with the sweetness from the peppers. Then comes the sharpness of the provolone, followed by the herby, peppery funk of the arugula. The steak is tender and thinly sliced and does not stand out too much but still brings some meatiness. The bites with more steak are the best, but there are not too many of those. The bagel has some crunch in the outside, but it is soft and pillowy inside and quite tasty, and the Asiago punches its way through with a slight bit of tang.
Surprisingly—for Panera—the sandwich brings a decent amount of heat, getting close to Medium on my scale. I’ve had the salsa verde spread on other items and didn’t notice much burn, so maybe they’ve amped it up a bit. Or maybe those cherry peppers are doing more of the heavy lifting. But in any case, this is quite a good sandwich and it does deliver a bite.
On the nutrition side, the bagel sandwich clocks in at 590 calories—not bad for a drive-thru meal. The chips (kettle-cooked and pretty good, I might add) only tack on another 150 calories, so you’re not exactly jumping a belt size after this one. And the $7.99 price tag is actually pretty reasonable for Panera, where many sandwiches creep north of ten bucks. Given the light hand with the steak, that price makes more sense—but I’m not complaining too much.
Of course, the Spicy Steak Asiago Bagel Stack is on loan from Limited-Time-Only-Ville, and it has already been around for a few months. So if you want to give it a try, you will need to pay a visit to your local Panera pretty soon. And when that disappears and they put the next spicy offering on the menu, I will not be as hesitant to give it a try.
Nutrition Info:
Calories: 590
Fat: 23g (11g Sat/0.5 Trans)
Protein: 39g
Carbs: 59g
Sodium: 1340mg
