This British fast-food chain is trying to take over America - here's what it's like to eat there

Panera Bread has always been a comfortable go-to spot for me for breakfast, lunch, or dinner while I was in college. The place was right on campus, and I would go there almost twice a day, racking up loyalty points on my Panera card.

Familiar items on its menu - hot paninis, spicy chili, cinnamon-crunch bagels - always offered a comfort factor to what I was ordering.

When I moved to New York, I noticed a different yet somewhat similar popular lunch spot - Pret a Manger.

I wasn't familiar with the company, because it's in just four US cities, but I recognized the sandwich shop from when I went to London. The chain is accelerating its expansion in the US.

So while Pret will likely be familiar to those who have them in their cities - New Yorkers, for example - to a lot of Americans it will be a new place to check out.

Since, to me, Pret is something like the Panera of London, I decided to branch out to try this lunch spot that's a growing rival to Panera. Here's what I concluded after my first visit.