Cosi

RIP, Cosi. Sorry to see you go…

Bleh…
We decided to come here while out running errands in the ‘burbs. This was our «healthy» option after we decided to pass up Texadelphia.
I ordered a custom made sandwich, my wife ordered the bruschetta salad. We found both to be fairly bland, lacking in any distinct flavor, and definitely not worth a return visit. Too bad, because the concept and atmosphere in the restaurant were a notch above most chains in this class.

I’m all for eating local — but sometimes your hunger decides to pressure you into exploring chain-​restaurant territory. Don’t panic. The only thing to do is venture to a delectable and charming eatery called Cosi. What began as a small shop in Paris, France has expanded to a cozy restaurant all over the United States.
The inviting atmosphere makes Cosi perfect for lunch with friends or intimate, yet casual dinners with dates. You can choose from a variety of soups, salads, pizzas and sandwiches — all served with some sort of warm flatbread baked fresh in front of you.
For those trying to lean on the healthy side — the options are endless. Whole-​grain flatbread, baby carrots instead of chips, numerous vegetable toppings, etc. You’ll need to keep your meal light because the real treat comes during dessert! It’s all about the S’Mores — which add a fun exclamation point to the end of the already delicious meal.
I recommend the Turkey Light on whole grain flatbread, with tomato & lettuce and a side of baby carrots. I’ve had friends try the personal pizzas and they raved. about them.
Cosi also boasts free Wi-​Fi. So grab a cup of coffee and unwind in an atmosphere unlike the normal «Austin coffee shop».

This is one of those 3 ½ star situations… would be nice to have it, but I guess I’ll just have to round up.
I was having a particularly rough day the other day and I decided that I needed some comfort food. I had never made it to Cosi, although I had heard good things, especially about the desserts. So, I dragged my boyfriend to try yet another new place. He ordered a sandwich, which was incredibly tasty and I ordered the meatball/​pesto flat bread (aka pizza). It was ok, a little flavorless, and cold… after reading the other reviews it seems like I wasn’t the only one to suffer the fate of eating cold Cosi pizza.
Then came dessert. We decided to get the S’mores and mix it up a bit with ½ graham cracker and ½ oreo (my BF loves him some oreo goodness.) We only lit one small thing on fire and no burns to speak of. More importantly, the S’mores were yummy, gooey and just plain good. If I could just rate the S’mores, I would definitely give Cosi 5 stars.

My youngest was getting pictures taken and my oldest was complaining he was hungry. I figured I would pop over to this Cosi place because it looked like it had «kid friendly» food. This is what the Cosi website says about their restaurant:
At the center of Cos is our hearth, an open-​flame stone oven prominently displayed in each restaurant, reminiscent of a comfortable gathering place where people have met for centuries to enjoy good food and conversation. Our signature flatbread is based on a two millennia-​old recipe, similar to the breads first produced by the Romans. Cos’s sandwiches are made to order with fresh and flavorful ingredients nestled in our signature flatbread. But we’re not just about sandwiches. Our distinctive menu offerings also include a wide variety of salads tossed to order, pizzas, soups, bagels, unique gourmet beverages and desserts. Something for everyone to enjoy — any time of day.
I ordered a sandwich and a kid pizza and two drinks. First of all, lunch should not be almost $ 20 for an adult sandwich and a kid pizza. Secondly, they have free wifi. Woo hoo. this is Austin ya know? Free Wifi should be a standard. Third, they have a stone oven. Gee, are they trying to rip off EZ’s or the Brick Oven? Fourth, the food was decent. The bread was Ciabatta-​like. It was hard on the outside and chewy on the inside. The chicken was cut but was cold. You would have thought if they were going to have this brick oven, why not heat the sandwich? The pizza was good. The sauce was not real tangy. It was a little sweet. My son did not care for it at all. I thought the pizza was good. The chips they gave with the sandwich was just plain Lays. Come on people, how about some kettle chips? Give me my choice of chips, do not just hand me Lays plain.
Service overall was ok. There was a manger who complained the who time because he, «had to work with a bunch of women». I believe his name was Marshall. The young woman who was in training to ring me up was very sweet and courteous. Service over all gets a B– because it could have been much better.
The food is way overpriced. If you want a good sanchwich, hit up the Quiznos or Whichwich which is in the same shopping center. Food was in big portions which was great because it was enough to where I did not need to eat dinner since I had a late lunch. If you are thinking about going, skip this place. There are plenty of other places you can get a good sandwich and not break the bank.

While Cosi is very much a chain, I think the décor is cool and comfortable, and the menu is interesting enough to keep me coming back to try different things. I had a sandwich special, the mole chicken. It was fine, but not all that exciting for a town steeped in innovative Mexican food. My husband had the Tandoori sandwich, and that was quite good.
I really liked the flatbread, and also the baby carrot option for a side instead of chips.

My review: «Meh.»
By «meh,» of course I mean that when it comes to Cosi, I could takes it or leaves it.
I ordered one of their pizzas on their flat bread, which would have been good had it actually been hot. That’s right. Cold pizza — straight out of the oven.
Or instead of a oven, it could have just been a metal appliance with a door that you store pizzas in until someone orders one.
On the flipside, I totally dug the community seating thing. I also appreciate the «out of the box» approach they took to the booth seating which was more couch than booth. Niiiiice.

I finally got to Cosi yesterday for lunch, and while the décor wasn’t as inviting and cozy as the ones I have seen on the east coast, the food was just as good. The signature salad was amazing as always, as well as the flat bread.
I read the reviews below and while we were there, no one came up to us asking if everything was ok. I would assume that was because the location has now been open a period of time and they have some of the kinks worked out. Anyone that did not enjoy Cosi the first time around may want to go back again after it’s been open a little bit longer.

Tried Cosi earlier this week… Food gets a solid 3.5, service and atmosphere? Not so much.
First, the stuff I liked: I had the buffalo chicken sandwich on a «rustic» multi-​grain flat bread (they have two kinds — this one sounded more interesting). The buffalo chicken was quite tasty — chunks of chicken in a sauce topped with bleu cheese pieces. I would have preferred a little zingier sauce, but that’s just me. And I really liked the bread too! I didn’t know if it would go with the chicken, but it was good. The sandwich is not huge, but I didn’t think it was small either. Sandwiches come with chips or baby carrots. LOVE that there is an option besides chips! I would have preferred a fruit cup or grilled veggies or something, but I’ll take the baby carrots. So thumbs up for the sandwich.
The menu is pretty big (or at least it looks big because when you walk in it is plastered on the wall). A lot of sandwiches and salads but also pizza like things and for dinner they seem to offer things like pork tenderloin or something? It seemed out of place.
And this segues into what I didn’t like so much about this place… To me, it seems like it doesn’t know what it wants to be. Sandwich and salad place? Comfort dinner food place? Coffee shop? Breakfast place? The menu is a little of all of that. The atmosphere is also an odd collection — booths mixed with cocktail tables mixed with high-​backed arm chairs… This combo COULD work, but all the furniture looks so restaurant supply store (or cafeteria supply store) that it doesn’t. Also, I would expect cozy lighting if they were trying to go for that, but no, it’s pretty bright. Being in there just felt really blah.
But what really drove me crazy? The service. First, it’s counter service — you walk in, stare at the large menu for a long time, then walk up to the counter and order. Then they bring you out your food. And I am 100% fine with counter order service BUT if I am at a counter service restaurant, please don’t check up on me literally 3 times during my meal! If I wanted that much attention I would go to a full service restaurant! I was dining alone and really was happy that way, but every couple minutes having someone come up and say — can I get you something? More napkins? (Speaking of which, napkin dispensers on the tables would be nice… maybe salt and pepper too?) How’s the food? etc… UGH!!! I don’t want to be fawned on at a place like this! It may be because they were new and they think all this «personal attention» will help their customer base. With me, not so much. One last thing and I’ll stop my rant: it’s the kind of place where it is not obvious if you are supposed to bus your own table or they do it – my sandwich came out on a pizza tray and the drink cups are paper — easy enough to dispose of myself, right? No one had left while I was there so I took my stuff to see if I was supposed to dump it somewhere, but I ended up just taking it back to the counter. So no, you don’t bus yourself.
Anyway… I did enjoy my sandwich but I did not enjoy my experience. I don’t think they can change the atmosphere much so I guess that will just keep sucking, but if they could tone down the over fawning service, I could maybe deal.

This place just recently opened in my Hood and I have been eager to get myself here. So, tonight on my way home from work and too tired to cook or shop at HEB I pulled in here and ordered me a very tasty Wasabi Roast Beef.
I will definitely be back to explore more of the menu…

I went by here on Saturday to see if they were open yet and guess what happened? I scored a free lunch!
I just happened to stop in when they were doing a trial run with the staff and were offering a limited menu for free. Instantly I became a Cosi fan. Being in diet mode this weekend, I just went for the Lite Turkey Sandwich, which you have your choice of rustic or whole grain bread. The bread is great. The Lite Turkey sandwich wasn’t anything remarkable though, just turkey, lettuce and honey mustard dressing (that was a little too strong on the mustard). Next time I will have to go for a salad or pizza.

I hear that, Allison P: they say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and that’s not true. Certainly not if you lucked into stopping by Cosi on Saturday. It was a pretty cool setup, albeit one that I’ll have to try again by virtue of the way that the whole thing went down. Which, if you were wondering, went something like this: you go in, Manager greets you and asks if you would to eat for free today.
‘Hell Yes!’ you say. Manager then explains The Rules. The Rules were that they would let you choose a laminated card that represented one particular part of the menu. I chose sandwiches. You then order, they bring you said sandwich. You eat it.
Now, interesting thing about eating for free: I was tempted to try something that I usually wouldn’t get, and that, in this case, was the Tandoori Chicken. Now, I love me some Indian food. And I loved the pita like bread this sandwich came in. And the chicken was okay, but not as killer as the killer chicken I prefer. Why the four stars then? Well, exempting the fact that the sucker was free (!), the way that the manager explained The Rules was that this was there was of learning how to make everything on the menu to the best of their ability (and to the customer’s standards, right?). So while this sandwich wasn’t everything I’d hoped it would be, there were plenty of other things on the menu that I haven’t tried yet. And as I got to experiment on Cosi’s nickel, all the more reason for me to stop back by, and get cozy with Cosi again.

Today is a remarkable day. «Why so special Courtney?» you ask. It’s because, dear Unilocal!friend, Austin finally has it’s very own Cosi!
That’s right, East Cost sandwich shop chain Cosi has finally brought it’s delectable delights to Texas. Austin must have done something right because we’re one of only two (and honestly the only respectable one…) Southern states to be graced with a Cosi location. The other state is Oklahoma. Yeah… I don’t know why there’s one there either. It’s probably beside a trailer park.
Cosi has breakfasts. It has a coffee bar. It has bodacious sandwiches on baked-​fresh, bitchin’ flatbread. It has wireless internet. It is the quintessential place for «Simply Good Taste.»
They aren’t a Panera Bread. They aren’t a Which Wich. They are deserving of their own category.
Here’s a small sampling of all things Cosi that I love:
==Sandwiches — T.B.M. (Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella w/​vinaigrette), Tuscan Pesto Chicken (both cold and melted),
==Salad Bruschetta (Grilled chicken, cannellini beans, basil, tomatoes, red onions, cracked pepper, Romano cheese & mixed greens with balsamic vinaigrette)
==Pollo y Pasta Soup (it’s got couscous!)
==On any given day, I’d unabashedly make sweet love to any of the selections from their Dessert Menu. Particularly their «S’MOOOO Oreos» (Oreo S’mores)