Panera Bread

Portion size: tiny. Prices: high.
I like this location only because there is a lower level with adequate seating, and is very clean. It’s a great place to study or hang out for a while. There are kiosks to order your food with a computer, so you never have to speak to anyone which is an added benefit.
They don’t offer butter for the baguettes they sell, which makes no sense.

REALLY sweet employee armed Renee there gave the 3 kids in our party free iced green tea!

Today is Sunday December 20^th. I’ll cut straight to the point.
1. Soup autumn squash no seeds, w/​e happens
2. Turkey avocado blt, ice in the avocado. Frozen sandwich.
3. My order was to stay, it was packed to go.
4. End

I’ve had more bad experiences here than good but I come back because I like their Asiago bagels for breakfast.
Long story short, today I got my usual from the kiosk and decided to get mini chocolate chip cookies. As I was waiting for my order many customers were waiting for their coffee. Some lady was so upset that they had 3 empty coffee canisters and didn’t want to wait anymore for the coffee to be made. I didn’t blame her. The manager said the coffee was still brewing. Apparently this location didn’t keep up with the coffee making during the busy morning rush. When I got my order the lady told me they ran out of the mini cookies and that I can get two big cookies which would come out to the same price or get a refund. I opted for a refund. I was shocked that the cookies were sold out. It was 8:50am. Who the hell bought all the cookies?!
Last few visits was a bummer. One time the kiosk I used didn’t work when I tried to pay. I told the cashier named Eric and he said to just order from him. He wasn’t very nice and didn’t inform a manager that the machine needed to be fixed. I wanted to order from a kiosk because I obviously didn’t want to talk to anyone and it was easier for me to customize.
Another visit I got chicken bbq panini and a damn Gouda cheese rind was in it along with chicken that was pink. I tweeted panera my problem and told the manager. The manager said the chicken is suppose to be pink because it was smoked and just picked up the Gouda cheese rind with his fingers and said he would give me another sandwich and said he can give me another kind of chicken. Panera tweeted me back right away and offered me a gift card for the problem. Thanks Panera!

Kinda slow for lunch in midtown Manhattan, but slow is to be expected in NYC. My Quinoa/​Lentil broth bowl was mainly just broth, and barely any quinoa or lentil. Probably won’t be going again. The staff was friendly though, so that’s a plus.

I really want to like this place but pretty much every other time I wait to find out that they don’t have what I ordered or the workers are too busy chatting to notice they’ve burned my grill cheese. It’s as annoying as the vendors who are constantly flooding the surrounding area trying to sell tickets to Empire State Building.

This location is particularly clean and the staff are very attentive.
I ordered their $ 7 Tuesday Baker’s Dozen of bagels for online pickup. I arrived about 30 minutes ahead of schedule and the staff were really accommodating of that instead of having me wait.

Panera Bread was one of the chain restaurants that I often gravitated towards when I was living in Rhode Island. Anytime I had a craving for their salads or sandwiches, I went straight there and was a very big fan of their You Pick 2 combos.
For some strange reason (nostalgia?) I decided to try out Panera Bread again when I passed by this location not so long ago, and got very hooked on their Tomato Mozzarella Flatbread sandwiches. I got so hooked that I decided to try other locations in Manhattan, and I think this one is the best.
— There are so many seats here.
— The food is usually pretty consistent.
— Picking up your order involves checking your name on a giant screen and waiting for your name to be called.
— An entire wall by the entrance is lined with self-​checkout screens meaning you won’t have to talk to a single person during your entire time here. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on who you are.
Likelihood of another visit:
If I ever work in this area and need a quick lunch, I’ll be sure to stop by. Otherwise, it’s not really *that* special to go out of your way for. That said, they do have a couple of things that I have a soft spot for – their lemon orzo soup, the strawberry poppyseed salad, and the tomato mozzarella flatbread.

Panera bread. How can you mess up this badly. Serving RAW CHICKEN is unacceptable!
I’ve been to this panera location several times since its on the way home. Food was never stellar, but was an easy on-​the-​go option and much healthier compared to the nearby fast food chains, so I was always happy to get panera once in a while.
I decided to try their chicken tortellini pasta today, and was disappointed to see that my chicken was RAW. That is disgusting and unacceptable! This should not happen at a reputable food chain like panera. Not to mention their prices aren’t exactly cheap either… I should get an at least EDIBLE meal for those two reasons alone!
Tempted to give 1 star but decided to be nice and assume this is a one time error. But I’ll most likely never order their pasta again.

They had really cool kiosks that made ordering great if there’s a long line, but to be completely honest, you might just be better off ordering from the counter. Also, the kiosks go directly to a take-​out option so your food comes in cardboard boxes and a paper bag. I’m not entirely sure if take-​out is the only option, but if so, it seems as if they skimp on the food compared to other panera bread’s I’ve been to.
The food at this one was pretty typical of all the rest, great if you want something quick, though I wouldn’t say the price was worth the food.

Been to this one a few times during lunch break. I like the double option they offer for a fairly decent price. I got a chicken Caesar salad where they give plenty of chicken and paired it with broccoli cheddar soup. Lines move quick and there is plenty of room to sit. Free wifi too so that’s a plus as well

This review is 50% a review for the place and 50% generalizing all panera breads.
This place is big, you can order your food on a kiosk or with a live person, you wait with 100 other people waiting for their food, but you never wait too long. Down stairs is the eating area where you have a what i call a «family» table and other individual tables.
Okay so about panera bread
I have a love-​hate relationship with this place for two reasons:
1. this place is over priced for a sandwich and a drink you could spend anywhere from $ 10+
2. I think everything except the chipotle chicken sandwich and mac and cheese are awful.
Everything else are salty cold cuts. their pastas are also loaded with salt.
Their salads aren’t good (personal opinion)
I come here when I’m craving only that sandwich other than that, i wouldn’t know what else to order.

This review is only for this location. I’ve been to others Panera and my experience has been different. I ordered a Asian chicken salad, old lettuce, frozen chicken and nothing else (see picture) not sure how can someone messed up a salad so bad. I went back to complain since the chicken was just a piece of ice and asked for a cup of brocoli cheddar and they gave me chicken noddle. I understand it was lunch time and the everyone was so busy but how hard is to make a salad or scoop a cup of soup? Smh

One of the best places to sit around and study for a long time in mid-​town.
Lots of seating downstairs with lots of electrical outlets. I never had an issue finding a place to settle in with my laptop and notebooks.
Food is pretty much par for Panera bread.
I think they keep the temperature to something just below 70 degrees in the seating area so make sure you have a jacket of some kind. It can feel pretty chilly.

This place is great because downstairs there is a huge study space with a lot of outlets and tables, but besides that, this Panera is one of the worst that I have been to.
First, I got the Thai salad and instead of chicken breast, the chicken was all cartilage. gross. The salad was not very fresh either.
Second, the management here is SO RUDE. if management is like this I am assuming that they do not train their employee’s on customer service either.
Third, their bathroom was soo horribly dirty
If you’re just looking for a place to study this is great but as for customer service and food quality this place gets 1 star from me.

Electronic ordering and pick up on a shelf — so convenient! A good amount of seating downstairs with lots of outlets, and it seems very cozy and private as well. The wifi worked just fine, and it was at a reasonable noise level, mostly quiet. This is one of the nicer Paneras I’ve seen.

This place is a Panera, so I’m really not going to comment on the quality of the food (which, without fail, is quite good). What I’m so impressed by is the incredible efficiency of the place. I always go straight to the automated ordering system. Don’t know why everyone stands in a line that is usually pretty long when they can order right away using the computers. Even when they’re extremely crowded, I can pick up my order within ten minutes.
There’s also ample seating on the lower level and you can always find a nice place to relax and eat your food. It’s such a wonderful environment. Coming from the suburbs originally, I was disappointed when I arrived in New York and found that so few restaurants had enough seating (especially the Panera that’s closest to my apartment — I go to this one on lunch breaks from my internship). But this place has enough tables that I never worry about whether or not I’ll find a place to sit.
Overall, a nice, relaxed environment, good food, and efficiency. What’s not to like?

Love their down stairs seating area a lot!!!
Spacious & relaxed after zipping thru crazy outside.
Staff here are very nice & friendly, express system is pretty convenient!

Seating area is downstairs. They have an elevator.
Staff here is kinda rude and seem miserable and they will give you an attitude.
Clean place. Its good food, but its chain food so theres not much else to say.

I try to avoid going out and physically picking up my lunch rush because I don’t want to waste it standing in line with the other lunch goers impatiently tapping their feet and staring at their clocks trying to rush back to work on time. Thankfully Panera has created a system to help alleviate some of these pains. This brand new location located so conveniently in Midtown has found and utilized yet another way that technology can assist us in making our lives better.
As soon as you enter Panera, you will notice that there are two separate lines one leading to the row of smiling cashiers ready to take your order or if you choose the futuristic approach you are led to a long row of mounted iPads where you are in control. These iPads quickly and efficiently allow you place your order and it allows your customize as you please. On this day however I opted for human interaction. Each cashier is equipped with a large monitor in front of it the register that clearly spells out what you have ordered and even has a breakdown of the ingredients in your order are.
In my opinion the best option on their menu is their You-​Pick-​2. This allows you to not only diversify your meal but the portion sizes are just right so you don’t overfill on their dishes. I got the Greek Salad and the Mac & Cheese with a French baguette on the side. After paying for my meal, I was given a receipt I was directed toward their backroom. This is my favorite part of this establishment, there is a long bench where you can sit and wait for your meal. On the wall there are two vertical flat screen TVs that have two columns, one for placed orders and the other for ready to pick up orders.
They provide full transparency of when your order was placed, when it’s in production and you are told exactly when its ready for pick up. Love it! This is obviously different so naturally there were a lot of confused fellow patrons walking around the area confused and they were met by a smiling employee to help them along.
Seriously, everyone here is so nice! My first time at this location was actually a few weeks back when they had their training day and patrons were able to come in and make place their orders and got their food for FREE (thanks Panera!). But anyway, even on that day, all the employees were just so happy and helpful, not once did I get the feeling that they were unhappy with being there or annoyed by the big crowds.
My Mac & Cheese was still piping hot when I returned to my office, honestly I don’t see how anyone can get this comfort food wrong. The cheese sauce was creamy and not overbearing and their choice in pasta made a good combination. My go to here is their Greek Salad, I love the herb vinaigrette that accompanies it, it is light and flavorful and the portion of dressing they give is perfect, not too little not too much. They add the perfect amount of feta on it, I am not a fan of their peppers they are a little too hard and bitter for my liking. Other than that YUM!
Panera is a great option for take-​out but if you have time check out their sit in space. It is located down stairs and its HUGE, especially for its location. There are many option in tables, from booths to stand alone tables. Also, also my favorite part is their disposal area, separated into different containers, one for trash and recycling. YAY! All in all a great well run restaurant.
If you are a regular or even if it’s a rare treat, sign up for the Panera card. Its free and it awesome, each time you make an order you can give them your number to access your account. Each purchase racks up points towards free pastries, free drinks, discounted salads, etc. They pop up for me almost every month!