My First Meal At Panini Cafe In Woodland Hills

I was so excited about the grand opening of Panini Cafe in Woodland Hills that I stopped in for a meal the very first chance that I could.   And, thankfully I brought an appetite.  The manager, Israel, was an extremely friendly and gracious host and my server, Isabella, was excellent and super helpful!

For starters, I wanted to check out their soup offerings.  I ordered a cup of Mom’s Chicken Vegetable with Noodles (a cup is $2.95) and Israel also had me sample the vegetarian Home Made Lentil soup.  Typically I avoid vegetarian soups for fear of blandness, but honestly I was blown away with how flavorful the lentil soup was!  The chicken noodle soup was great, too.  Very hearty and savory.  I really don’t think you could go wrong with either.  What you can’t really see in the pictures is that the soups are also accompanied by a piece of il Fornaio’s delicious bread.  Good stuff!

Israel suggested for my first visit that I try out one of the most popular and most highly recommended dishes, the Charbroiled Chicken Shish Kabob.  I chose the Mediterranean Greek Salad as the salad option, and selected the Organic Bulgur Pilaf as the rice option (as opposed to the more traditional, and also available, Basmati Rice).  Now, this is a dish that is a staple of Mediterranean/Persian cuisine and I’ve had similar many times.  Panini Cafe definitely does a great job here, as the chicken was super moist and tender, and the kabob vegetables (onion, tomato, and bell peppers) were broiled to perfection.  The rice pilaf was also great and very healthy and the side salad quite substantial and also delicious.  Panini Cafe also has very good prices, as this dish is only $12.95.

I had a great meal and a great experience and was pleased to see how busy Panini Cafe is in even these early days of being open.  I can’t wait to try one of their paninis, which really look good.  Hopefully I’ll be able to stop in for breakfast one day this weekend.  I love breakfast!

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