RESTAURANT REVIEW: Paninis & Company plates a pretty package

The Reuben Reimagined, with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, sauteed onions and panini sauce on marble rye, is served at Paninis & Company, inside Midtowne Little Rock’s I Love Juice Bar.
The Reuben Reimagined, with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, sauteed onions and panini sauce on marble rye, is served at Paninis & Company, inside Midtowne Little Rock’s I Love Juice Bar.

Woman doesn't live on wheatgrass-kale-spinach-cucumber-parsley-lemon-and-celery juice alone. Or at all.

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A scoop of smoked turkey salad served with gluten-free chips is a starter at Paninis & Company

At least this one doesn't. She requires bread. And meat. And cheese -- lots of cheese.

Paninis & Company

Address: Inside I Love Juice Bar, Midtowne Little Rock, 207 N. University Ave., Little Rock

Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday

Cuisine: Sandwiches, salads, juice

Credit cards: AE, D, MC, V

Alcoholic beverages: No

Wheelchair accessible: Yes

Carryout: Yes

(501) 744-5842

paninisandcompany.c…

Like-minded diners who prefer to chew, rather than chug, their calories probably never had much of a reason to visit smoothie shop I Love Juice Bar in the Midtowne Little Rock shopping center, until now.

Paninis & Company, a sandwich concept developed by Taziki's co-franchisee Tommy Keet, recently opened inside Juice Bar, establishing a menu of sandwiches and salads -- real food, not bunny vittles. There's still a Bunny Love beverage of carrot, apple, ginger and lemon for the juice-inclined. Note: For now, Paninis and Juice Bar items are rung up as separate transactions, but we're told they're hoping to change that inconvenience.

I'm not interested in juice unless champagne is involved. Because Juice Bar just isn't that kind of bar (and because I didn't dare ask for a Diet Dr Pepper in this health-conscious establishment), I stuck with the free serve-yourself water, dispensing it into the Mason jars used for drinking glasses.

Grammar purists might point out that the name Paninis & Company is flawed. The Italian word panini is already plural for panino, hence there's no need for that "s" on the end. But we say, "Non e importante." Let's eat.

There are three starters ($3.99-$6.49), several sandwiches ($5.99-$8.99) and a couple of salads ($7.99-$8.99) on Paninis' menu. There's also a create-your-own sandwich option that starts at $7.49 (one bread, one protein and one cheese; you choose pressed, toasted, wrapped or cold) with additional charges (50 cents-$2) for specialty breads and additional proteins, cheeses and toppings.

Order at the counter, and then have a seat at one of the few tables or booths. Food is delivered by the staff on plates lined with Boar's Head logo paper. Paninis is proud of its meat-and-cheese supplier.

Our first visit, my date and I ordered the smoked turkey salad starter ($6.49). Well, we tried to. The confused worker at the counter kept trying to hand us a salad instead of the starter. She insisted the pre-made smoked turkey salad with greens ($7.99) from the cooler was the only turkey salad they had. Perhaps she was new and didn't realize it came as an appetizer with gluten-free crackers. Two other employees were called in on the counter conference, and we eventually got it sorted. Ultimately the scoop of homemade turkey salad, served with super-crisp crackers, was worth the minor kerfuffle.

His 2+3 Panini ($7.49), described as "kind of a Cuban" featuring smoked turkey, ham, pickles, Swiss, provolone and havarti on sourdough, was not only hearty, it was pretty, wearing perfect press marks.

Admittedly, I had a case of Paninis envy when I saw my less substantial and artful choice.

Considering this was Paninis & Company, I was expecting my pimento cheese sandwich ($6.99) to be grilled to gorgeousness too, but rereading the menu, it was a sandwich, not a panini. And it was served on shrunken bread. The gentleman who served it offered an unprompted apology that the gluten-free bread is smaller. Wait, I didn't request gluten-free bread! Upon looking at the receipt, I realized I was charged an extra $1 for it too! Hmph! Still, the sandwich of sharp cheese spread, accented with lettuce and tomato was satisfactory, just simple.

A vegan co-worker who visited Paninis & Company for lunch also experienced receipt confusion.

"After gobbling down the #vegan sandwich on pleasantly grainy toasted wheat bread ($6.49), I noticed a lingering aftertaste that didn't remind me of the ingredients listed by the menu: hummus, red onion, avocado, cucumber, lettuce, tomato. Then I noticed that my receipt tape, under the sandwich name, also listed 'havarti-cream.'

"I have reason to dread dairy products. So I called the shop and spoke to a staff member, who was confident they hadn't put cheese on my #vegan, and that it was a cash-register glitch: The #vegan is in a data field formerly occupied by a vegetarian sandwich, which did use havarti, and they haven't figured out how to delete its cheesy line item.

"'There are only two of us cutting sandwiches right now, and we know not to put cheese on a vegan,' he promised."

I was determined to order a show pony of a sandwich when I returned for lunch with a friend. This time I'd get the Reuben Reimagined ($8.99). I'm not quite sure what the "reimagined" means, as what I got was a rather straightforward corned beef sandwich (turkey is another option) on marble rye with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, sauteed onions and panini sauce. Maybe it was too straightforward. It was a bit too tidy and subtle in flavor. Reubens should be salty and sloppy.

My friend ordered the tasty THA Sandwich ($6.99), which stands for turkey, havarti and apples. The sandwich -- or THA Sandwich as some staff members call it with emphasis on the "a" -- slathered with mustard and pressed on sourdough, she says, "was a nice lunch portion. Too bad the chips are extra. C'mon folks, nobody wants a sandwich without chips. That would be un-American, and we can't have that craziness. Americans like sides with their sandwiches, even if the sandwich is Italian."

Truth. We each added a bag of crunchy kettle-cooked Dirty brand chips ($1). I chose the hot Jalapeno Heat. She selected the Funky Fusion, reporting, "I couldn't peg exactly what they were supposed to taste like. To me, it was a mix of salt/vinegar and a light barbecue flavor."

There's not a Berry Good chance we'd return just for a blueberry-banana-cashew-lemon-coconut-milk smoothie, but there's a very good chance we'll return to the cheery spot for carryout or a quick bite while shopping.

Weekend on 02/23/2017

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