Braeda Fresh Express Cafe

The Miller & Paine special, mac and cheese with cinnamon roll, is a fave since childhood. Soups, baked sandwiches and house salad are very good. Didn’t care for the Reuben, tho.

My husband I had very different thoughts about Braeda Fresh Express. He thought it was great. I thought it was a poorly executed version of Panera. The service was friendly enough and the interior decoration was nice, but the food wasn’t good. The food was lacking in flavor and was not made to temperature.
Next time I’m in Lincoln I won’t be eating at Braeda.

Coffee is like water.
It’s 9:30 am and there are lots of old timers here. Looks like they like the sweet rolls and the bad coffee. This morning they sang happy birthday to someone.
This is a sandwich shop that is clean and the food is bland. They say everything is fresh but my egg n cheese chabata sandwich was made from a packaged whipped egg. The turns out to be over processed white French roll. This plus bad coffee and bacon cost 9 bucks.
The place is clean, warm, and comfortable. There are a lot of people talking but it is at a nice level the carpeted sitting area keep the sound from bouncing around.
One of the conversations I overheard was about Portland and how their city renewal projects were pushing the poor further out of the city. Also talked down our rail system that cost 16 mil and how portlanders will go their own way not considering other options. Interesting to here other voices talk about Portland.

The best way to describe this place is a poor man’s Panera. It’s the same idea, with a little bit less developed of a menu, and less flavor in the menu items.
I wanted a quick and light dinner, so I took advantage of the half & half (sandwich and soup) combo. After tax, it ended up costing $ 9.01.
I had the Southwest Chicken Tortilla soup, and the four cheese roma tomato and roasted red pepper sandwich.
Both were, in a word, bland. They weren’t bad, they weren’t gross. I was able to eat them without any negative feelings, but there wasn’t any positive feelings either. I like to enjoy the eating experience, but this meal ended up being mere sustenance rather than yummy food.