Panini

Their lunch is pretty good option in the downtown tunnels… a little off-​putting because it’s not the typical pressed sandwich «panini» you’re thinking of, but Vittorio, the owner, let me know that in Italian, the word panini just means bread and meat or «sandwich». Try the oven roasted turkey panini, it has great flavor and it is served warm and will fill you up!
Ok, their breakfast tacos though… so fresh, so delicious; they really stepped up their game with adding these babies as a breakfast option in the tunnels. I highly recommend the Mexicana bfast taco, it’s grilled peppers with egg and cheese, with a little jalapeño kick to them.
It’s a family run business, don’t be taken aback when a teenager takes your order. He’s so friendly and they all genuinely care about great customer service.
Go get a breakfast taco!

Excellent breakfast tacos… worth the $ 2.25 and great green salsa. The Mexicana is my favorite!

Panini is a sandwich shop. Good bread, good chips. Try the lamb.
My buddy Vik and I shared sandwiches. He ordered a lamb sandwich and I ordered the turkey.
The turkey was ok, although I do not think I would order it again. The lamb was much better. Tender and juicy. I also liked the bread. The ciabatta roll was very good. The kettle-​cooked chips were also tasty.
Not bad overall. There are a few sandwiches I would like to try in the future.

Panini does not serve paninis.

The only reason I don’t give Panini a 3 (average) is because it is easy to make this place a regular despite the negatives. Please note though, Panini makes mostly sandwiches, not «paninis» in the pressed sandwich sense of the word.
Reasons I like it:
1) Some sandwiches are much better than those at Whichwich next door, even though Panini doesn’t have as many customization options. Salmon sandwich, Proscuitto, and Italian to name a few.
2) Awesome side dishes and beverages, like locally bottled teas, salads, huge fruit cups, and desserts.
3) Tons of food per sandwich. I am a mid-​20s male, so I tend to eat a lot and Panini does the trick.
4) Super fast service. Like, impeccably fast.
Reasons I sometimes go elsewhere:
1) Lack of customization; sometimes I like the idea of throwing 16 extra items on my sandwich (see Whichwich).
2) Some sandwichs suck terribly. As in 1) above, some sandwichs are awesome, some others (roast lamb for example) are just really, really bad. Dry, panini sauce (pure mayo), and the like don’t cut it on some selections.

My coworkers love this place. When they first mentioned this place to me, I instantly thought of a press sandwich, however it’s just a regular sandwich. I was not deterred as the eggplant sandwich intrigued me as it sounds like a good concept. I finally went with them ordering the eggplant sandwich on ciabatta bread, however, I was not as easily impressed. The sandwich was good but not the best I’ve ever had. The bread was kind of soggy due to the absorption of the marinara and I couldn’t really taste any basil. Maybe if they toasted the bread, it wouldn’t have been so soggy? All I know is, I definitely try making my own to eat at home rather than ordering one here.

It makes me sad to read the other ratings. This place (however pricy) is pretty damn good. One «panini» fills up a to-​go box and lasts two meals. The bread is really good and the service is quick. They do, however need a name change and a face lift if they want to compete with the tunnels!

They give you big buns.
Look — Panini is not the best sandwich shop in the tunnels, or above the tunnels, or really anywhere except somewhere they don’t have sandwiches. But they are extremely fast and some of the bread is pretty delicious. When I’m having a busy day at work and need some fast (though not cheap) sustenance, Panini does the trick.

Where to begin. When I first started working downtown, Panini was one of the closer sandwich places that I hit off and on during my lunch rush. I wanted to like it, but the place eventually wore me down so much that I simply stopped going there.
First, the name itself is misleading. With a name like Panini, you would expect that you would receive Italian-​style press sandwiches. Unfortunately, what you get is far from that. They simply take some bread and toast it before giving it to you. Toasted bread does not a panini make. The people at Panini should go take Panini-​making lessons at Nundini (now that’s a mouthful).
Back to the bread. The ratio is simply off. Every good sandwich should have a good bread to «stuff» ratio. Here, the bread overwhelms any sort of meager contents you are likely to get with your sandwich. Order a pastrami «panini?» Good luck finding the pastrami. I remember one order where I think I got one tiny sliver of meat to go with my ginormous piece of bread. You need a big-​gulp of Dr. Pepper to try and wash down the dry bread. No thanks. Anyways, with the opening of Which-​Wich adjacent to Panini, I don’t expect the «family run since 1986» Panini place to stay open much longer. Capitalism at work.

I concur with the FTR’s statement that Panini is delicious.
You can a quite large half or whole sandwich, that is stuffed full and made on delicious bread (which, incidentally, comes from the Whole Foods bakery).
For the veggie lovers, there are several options here. My favorite sandwich is the eggplant, which comes with fresh mozzarella and basil. Many omnivores have gotten jealous of this sandwich when I have gotten it for lunch. There are at least two other vegetarian sandwiches on the menu.
They have good kettle chips «Dirty Chips» brand, I think, plus generous-​sized fruit cups and other sides to choose from. If you’re downtown and looking for something that’s just good food, come to Panini.