Review: Panera - Margherita Flatbread Pizza

Panera's Margherita Flatbread Pizza features a flatbread crust topped with topped with a Fontina-Mozzarella cheese blend, Market Tomato Sauce, basil, fresh mozzarella, and red grape tomatoes.

I paid $9.29 for one. It has an elongated oval shape and seems a little bit bigger than the 11-inch pizzas you get from one of those fast-bake pizzerias like Blaze and Pieology.

Between the 10 minutes from ordering the pizza through their app and arriving at the restaurant, my pizza was warm-to-lukewarm, which makes me think that they have pre-baked flatbread that they quickly top and toast in the oven.

With the airy flatbread crust and the fairly minimal toppings, the Margherita Flatbread Pizza felt pretty light for a pizza of its size.

The crust was thin overall and crispy at the edges but softer and chewier towards the center. The fresh mozzarella provided a nice, creamy contrast with a stretchier, moister, more yielding texture versus your standard shredded pizza mozzarella.

The red grape tomatoes were a little uneven in their distribution with two or three halves on a few slices while one slice had none at all. They were quite light in flavor. The basil, on the other hand, came through quite nicely as it had little to compete with on the crust.

There was only a very light smearing of sauce on the pizza, which largely left the pizza without tangy and sweet notes.

Taken altogether, Panera's Margherita Flatbread Pizza was a mixed bag for me. I didn't mind the temperature issues as it heated up well and quickly in the toaster oven but the relative dearth of sauce pushes it a fair bit into the cheese bread category. Even a spoonful or two more sauce would have made for a much nicer pizza. The crust turned out pretty well though and the fresh mozzarella and basil stood out in my mind.

Nutritional Info - Panera Margherita Flatbread Pizza
Calories - 760 (from Fat - 260)
Fat - 29g (Saturated Fat - 15g)
Sodium - 1860mg
Carbs - 89g (Sugar - 6g)
Protein - 36g