Panera Bread

I am obsessed with the broccoli cheddar here. But sometimes they run out of bread so it makes me sad. The whole dipping your bread in is the best part! Their pumpkin muffin is amazing. Im not a fan of their pasta or sandwiches but i do come here for the delicious pastries and soups!

Great staff, good food. And there is always a place to sit. Way better than going to the Starbucks that’s right across because there’s never anywhere to sit over there. The reason I give them 4 stars and not 5 is because their wifi situation is comparable or perhaps worst than dial up. Starbucks always has reliable wifi. Panera if your wifi was better this place would be the best ever to come for homework, group planning’s, work etc.

I stopped by today and had a Chicken Avocado BLT. The sandwich was not put together very well and the chicken was ice cold! The pickle and chips that came with it were good. I was just expecting a bit more.

Me and my wife love Panera Bread
We frequent this location a lot as there are no locations in the Durham area
We always go for the Bacon Turkey Bravo
Cannot go wrong with that sandwich
I also tried the Italian and it’s not bad either
Love the large cookie you get
The cinnamon bun is quite yummy too
Can’t go wrong here for a lunch or small dinner

Not sure what the other people are talking about, this location is amazing and always delicious. That goes for all locations in Ontario. Just delicious. Panera bread is my absolute favourite place to eat, my hubby is from New York and I would always get it there and when I found out Ontario had a couple locations it was the best day of my life! There are none even close to me and I always take the drive just to get it. I usually get grilled cheese but everything is fantastic here. Someone posted that the Mac and cheese is soupy, that is a straight up LIE. The Mac and cheese is creamy and delicious and I LOVE it! If you like soup and sammies you will love this place. Also they bake their bread and pastries and you can by whole loaves and bagel. Lastly, they make the absolute BEST brownie I have ever had (and I’ve had a lot). I buy like 10 at a time to last a couple days :):)

They got my order completely wrong. Gave me soup instead of the Mac and cheese I ordered and gave me an avocado and chicken sandwich when I ordered a southwestern. Two thumbs down.

This is the only location we have frequented, and it is probably the most inconsistent in their service/​offerings.
Sometimes they get my order right, sometimes not, and sometimes absolutely wrong. It’s really disappointing when you come here, pay lots of $$ (for soup and sandwiches of all things) and they can’t even get your order right.
I love their soups, I think they do them really good. I find their customer service a hit or miss. They don’t seem to double check if they don’t understand something they just go on and punch the order in. When I request to have something modified, most likely will find that they didn’t follow through with it-​resulting in going back up and telling them. I like coming here but I’m quite prepared to say something about my order. It is quite costly considering it’s a fast food kind of place. Soups are tasty, and their sandwiches are good too. Sadly, they might run out of BREAD. I don’t know HOW considering their brand is bread. *sigh
It’s a hit or miss, but if you want soup and comfort food I’d come here.

My lunch spot today. Mid-​Summer. I had a Turkey Breast Panini w Bacon & Mustard. Decent flavour combo but the sandwich looked like a dogs breakfast. It was all lopsided & over cooked on one side you could clearly see that it was just slapped together & rushed. The place was busy but not busy enough to warrant that type of poor quality. I would have complained but it was a business lunch so I just ate it & said nothing. I’ll know for next time!

Horrible service. Placed online delivery order for 12 people and they showed up 30 mins late! Only explanation given by manager was out delivery service left at 5:15 when I needed the order to be delivered by 5:15!

I’m writing this as I sit at the Don mills location café 0009. What the website promised vs actuality was night and day.
My wife got oatmeal and crossiont
What she got could be described at best was, looked like dry thick undercooked rice porridge… which she returned immediately… crossiont was cold. and she had to heat that up as well.
I got the pick two. Mac n cheese and french onion soup.
Soup was a tad bit salty. I can overlook that however bread was COLD AND TOUGH. Being a bread place expectation is that the bread is always fresh, warm and soft. Mac and cheese I will describe as bland noodle soup.
We didnt finish our food and are going to the nearest tim hortons for some lunch.

My fondness for this place stems from the memory of enjoying my first bread bowl. From that moment on I was a changed woman. Until then, every soup I had was missing something and that something was a carbohydrate-​packed exterior that I could devour. Their other things are good — paninis, sandwiches, and pasta but it’s the bread bowls that keep me coming back. This is a decent location but seating can fill up fast.
Some of my favourite soups include Mushroom with truffles, Broccoli cheddar, French Onion, Garden vegetable, and Turkey Chilli. Don’t forget to ask for it in a bread bowl! Also check out their selection of pastries and desserts which are absolutely delectable.

It’s got a nice patio and a few comfy chairs inside. The wifi works ok and it’s a big space. I just had a breakfast bagel which had no taste. It wasn’t what I would expect here as in the U.S. the Panera were quite good. They should at least try to use better quality food. Very disappointing.

Pricey but the meal and drink options are quite good.
The chai latte is really awesome and some of their smoothies are wonderful as well.
Both the butternut squash soup and creamy tomato soup taste great.
Downsides are that it is quite expensive and the wi fi is horrendous. Might be the slowest WiFi in Toronto. Might as well not even have wi fi honestly.
Sometimes can get really crowded. It is much more comfy inside than Starbucks or aroma in my opinion.

I tried their new broth bowl. There is a lentil quinoa option with a choice of hard boiled egg or chicken. There is also soba/​buckwheat noodle option with a choice of edamame mix or chicken that I had. It seemed like beef broth made from a bouillon cube with gobs of black pepper and some soy sauce, so that was disappointing. The soba noodles were cooked properly, but they tend to crumble in your mouth compared to traditional wheat noodles. There was some shredded carrots, sesame seeds, and a few fresh spinach and cilantro leaves. The chicken breast slices were overcooked, which probably happened because the broth cooked them further. They piled slices on top of the mound of noodles to help prevent some of this. If I ate the chicken first instead of mixing it into the broth, it probably would have been better.
You can add a salad or half sandwich for a few dollars more. The meal comes with bread, apple or potato chips. Now they have a wonderful soft white dinner roll which used to be a hunk of a baguette until maybe mid 2014. You can still get the baguette, but we also noticed another dinner with a whole wheat dinner roll that had oat flakes sprinkled on the outside.
I doubt I will order the bowl again. The salads and paninis seems to be their forte.
I still find it really lengthy to decide my order at Panera. The menu board is massive and there are basically no menu descriptors since there is no room. Still, one of things I love is that they have a wide variety of offerings.

Being from the US, I was expecting a similar feel when I stepped in. The initial cookie cutter look was there and that is where it ended. The bagels are «OK» and soup was warm, not hot. The coffee selection seemed a little light (where’s the dark roast?) With the usual selection of teas. I miss the couches that surround the fireplace and smell of baked goodness. One more issue was that the power outlets were placed in not so acessable areas with the WiFi dropping every few minutes. I will give this place another try later on and see if I was here on an off day.

Was here on an impromptu visit with my girl who has never been. I used to frequent the one in Richmond Hill back when i used to work there and this one is the closest. We came on a Wednesday night and there was no lineup but quite a few people inside the seating area. I got the pick two, which was the mac and cheese with a tomato soup. I got a hot chocolate with it and a cookie for 99 cents. It came up to a whopping 16 bucks but panera is not a cheap chain. We sat down waiting for our meal as they serve it to you. It took a bit of time but luckily i wasn’t starving. They forgot my hot chocolate but promptly brought it. It was ok. A bit salty, no croutons in my soup that i love and they even asked me if i wanted to put them in. I think the location in Richmond Hill is better. The hot chocolate wasn’t too bad though and not overly sweet. I may go back to this location but not out of my way. 2.5 stars

I used to go to this Panera every week since it was between work and my beach volleyball place! The ambiance is very chill and perfect for laptop studying and work which is mostly what I did. At the same time I kept of log of the things I ate and rated them… they change their menu all the time so some of this stuff might not be on their menu anymore. Food is ok, coupled with the environment I give it 4. Food alone probably 3.5. Wifi not the fastest though which was only negative on the environment.
Name of item, rating (10 being highest), my comments.
Soups
Cream of chicken wild rice, 8, The cooked wild rice adds a umami savoriness to the soup and feels like it dillutes a typically rich creamy soup. The dillution is in no way a negative criticism but actually a compliment of an intelligent balance of flavors that makes this soup taste healthy yet satisfying. It has a taste that most resembles the filling of a chicken pot pie.
French onion, 8, lots of cheese! Pretty good, not too salty, most french onions I find too salty croutons were a bit burnt, clearly a cheese bread in its previous life; only complaint is that its pretty greasy even for a french onion. Thickness and texture is pretty good. not too runny
Turkey Chilli (Signature), 8, Pretty good chili; turkey is not very plentiful but nice mixture of beans and veggies; lima beans, etc.
Garden vegetable with pesto, 6, Pesto taste is nice but not nice enough to mask the overcooked tomatos and acidity
Country mushroom (with truffle), 4, Can’t describe the taste but not very pleasant.
Vegetarian creamy tomato soup, 5, Panera is not capable of making tomato anything. There I said it. Taste is burnt.
Low fat chicken noodle soup, 7, Chicken chunks were better and were real
chicken. Less watery than last time but still watery… salty too. Texture of all the ingredients was baby food level soft. Still — ok soup. It’s chicken noodle after all.
Baked potato, 7, Tastes a little like clam chowder with potatos; bacon flavor helps to give it that baked potato feel
Sandwiches
Sierra turkey sandwich, 8, good solid sandwich
Fontina grilled cheese, 7, For those who like their grilled cheese greasy this is right up your ally. Nothing special but cured meat is a nice touch though you’d almost expect it at the price!
Napa almond salad, 8, Nice springy salad task, sliced grapes are a nice touch, overall and pretty good. Could have used less dressing; was a little watery and messy.
Asiago steak, 8, Pretty good sandwich. Steak is well done.
Bacon turkey bravo salad, 8, Good sandwich. Bread was especially good today; has some herbs like sundried tomato/​roasted red pepper infused; honey mustard works well too and not overpowering
Smoked Turkey, 7, As regular as it can possible get. I can make this in 2 minutes. Nothing special about any of it.
Pasta
Rigatoni san marzano, 7, The rigatona was well cooked and hard to the tooth. Sauce was decent and not too runny. Pretty good pasta dish.
Mac and Cheese, 6, Way to salty and too much cream — though the cream was watery. Bearable with bread to dilute the
Sides
Baguette, 9, Their namesake is their strength. Good healthy softness with just enough integrity and hardness to the outside.
Chips, 8, «Kettle» cooked chips. Good solid chips for when you need that greasy sodium fix.
Drinks
Chai Latte, 10, Not usually a latte fan, but this is super! I don’t order anything else.
Salads
Mediterranian Cous cous Shrimp, 8, Panera’s salads are always pretty tasty, this is no different; tangy and crisp; shrimp is nice; spinach and lettice mix with beans, cous, feta, and a few roasted red peppers and olives
Spinach power salad, 7, Too much dressing, was kind of soggy. Probably due to the mushrooms. Was ok taste, sweet and salty. Bacon is always safe bet. Only half an egg… kind of stingy?
Classic chicken, 7, Chicken with salad. That’s all.
Panini
Chipotle Chicken Panini, 7, Pretty good panini, nothing special; it’s a bit spicy which is nice. The bread wasn’t grilled the same on both sides which was weird. Overall decent taste.
Forcata Chicken Panini, 7, Bread was slightly burnt, but nothing to do with the sandwich. Chicken was kind of tasteless and in chunks that were a bit too big. Sandwhich was all over the place. Mostly could only taste the cheese; tomato was nice if it stood out more… but it didn’t

I’m the type of person that LOVES restaurants who support different «healthy» food options. That being said, I am a low carbie and I feel that though it sticks me in the stereotype of «dieter» or «hipster» — I actually actively try NOT to hassle restaurants with my personal choice of restrictions.
I am often on reddit’s /​r/​keto and fellow dieters told me of a «Hidden Menu» Panera offers to its customers. I was delighted! I didn’t want to hold up the lines or look silly so I came prepared with the website’s secret menu on my phone. Having my phone at hand I got to the counter and asked for the Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad. Instantly, the waiter looked at me as if I was causing problems at the restaurant. She huffed and said «no no no». I held out my phone and showed her what I wanted and she kept shaking her head. I mean really? They didn’t even try to figure out what I wanted to order.
If that wasn’t bad enough I felt so rushed and it wasn’t even busy! I quickly asked for a Caesar salad without croutons. It came out with. The portion was disappointing and I just felt sad at the end of my meal. I’m not sure if I can post links in my review, but if you take the time to look at the Panera website you can find the not-​so-​hidden «Hidden Menu» very easily. Those options look so good!
Perhaps it was just this location. I’ll try out the one on Younge and Dundas next time.

I came to this location on a busy, Sunday afternoon — and perhaps that is why I didn’t enjoy Panera as much. I haven’t tried their breads/​sandwiches, but I am a total fan of their healthy fruit smoothies made with yoghurt. I had the Berry Shake and it was delish. My boyfriend and I also decided to share a Carrot Cake, and a lady soon brought us a big slab of the sweet thing.
The concept is part fast-​food (you order food at the counter) and part restaurant (other than drinks and immediate baked goods, someone brings you your order). This location can get pretty packed and it’s not a pleasant place to be. When I came in, the line was close to the door, and the seating area was filled with strollers (that took up the walking space), small tables with 10 chairs around it, or a huge booth with one person sitting. Not that I have anything against strollers or chairs, but its a point to make that the space is designed narrow.
By reading other reviews, the food seems pretty good so I would do a takeout rather than sit in. I wasn’t too keen on the «hectic» atmosphere of the place, but perhaps this is due to the day (Sunday) and not necessarily the fault of the restaurant.

I love Panera! The soups and salads are pretty good — you can’t go wrong. Baked goods and pastries are really tasty as well. You get a lot of choices, which are all really tasty for a very good price. Service here was excellent; I also like that you can substitute a lot of things without having to pay extra.
This is the closest Panera to my place that has free parking so I will definitely be back.
Good for: lunch, dinner, snacks