Shamefully, this is my first time to Panera Bread. That's because it doesn't really exist in Philly (when I was living there). I love the place, love love their breads. It's probably one of the nicest chain restaurant, so cozy and pretty. The food was good and I had a carb feast. I had the 1/2 tuna salad with honey wheat, chicken noodle soup with baguette. My bf had the sierra turkey with broccolli and chedder soup. His sandwich was really good. I think I liked his a little more. Overall, it was a good experience. It's a bit pricy but worth it.
(4)
Julie C.
I'm the biggest fan of Panera, that's why this review is so painful to write. I have been going to this location for some time and notice it isn't up to snuff with others. Today I was in a hurry and needed a quick bite for breakfast. I ordered the power sandwich, this is a relatively simple sandwich to make as it is only egg, cheese and deli ham on two slabs of bread. Which they charge $4.19. After I drove away in kind of a hurry because it took about 15 minutes to receive said meal I realized they didn't put any egg on my sandwich at all. So it was basically a very very sad, expensive ham and cheese sandwich. With no time to return to the location to point out this mistake, I'm left just to eat my pathetic breakfast. Don't go here for breakfast, McDonalds will treat you better.
(2)
jace c.
When Panera Bread first arrived in my area, it was excellent. Not exactly great for vegetarians, but they at least serviced us a little with the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich, one or two soups, and the pastries were tasty. Now, years later, as with most corporate America food chains, they've let the quality slip to make more profit. It shows especially in the veggie sandwich. This is a common tactic of chains. Move into an area new to them, present the best possible example of their chain, with good cooks and quality ingredients, impress the locals, establish a good reputation, and then slack off after a few years, cutting costs, cutting quality of materials and employee training, and generally leveling out at "okay to poor" quality levels. Or, at least that's how the chains do it in the Lehigh Valley. I've watched it happen with all of them. For example, Carabba's was fantastic for a few years, and then became a giant salt lick in 2003. At this point, Panera Bread is more like "healthy fast food", sort of how Boston Market began, decades ago (holy crap I'm getting old), before becoming a salt lick and a sugar pusher (sugar for addiction, salt to sell more soft drinks, which are sugar delivery mechanisms). Repeat chorus elsewhere. I'm sad to come to the point of recognizing Panera Bread has also gotten to this point, though I'm really pretty late to the acknowledgement of it, hence this review. My most recent visit (two nights ago as of this writing) was the poorest yet. Yes, I arrived near closing time, but the experience was consistent with the last five visits. Both of the Mediterranean Veggie sandwiches my dad and I got were completely missing cheese, were badly assembled, and very light on actual vegetables. It was a bread sandwich. Actually, my dad's was barely even a sandwich. I requested cheese for the sandwiches, and the staff was accommodating. The cinnamon rolls were okay once heated in my microwave at home (late visit means dried pastries, I understand that, but they could be stored more effectively than all laying out exposed all day). The black bean soup was fine, as was the grilled cheese sandwich. But that's all I can say positive, since the centerpiece was supposed to be the Mediterranean Veggie and it's just not remotely acceptable any more. I don't know if this is due to bad attitudes in servicing non-meat eaters, or if the meat sandwiches are also regularly of similarly pathetic levels of quality (my dad wasn't impressed with his sandwich on our previous visit, if I recall correctly, and he was still eating meat then). But for me... I think that's the last time I'll be bothering to give business to Panera corporate. Sad. Typical. It's getting to the point where the only places I can reliably expect quality meals are the private independent businesses. I fear for their continued existence and I'm ashamed of the continued tolerance my fellow citizens show in continuing to patronize crappy chains. But it did take till now for me to decide to quit this chain. Maybe I'm part of the problem. [updated for typo corrections, sorry!]
(2)
Mark D.
I know America has this passion with food that appears to be exotic or different or upscale. Panera was one of the first chains to get in on this upscale marketing idea. Many people still think this, about this fast food place. Lets look at the facts. How long does it take from placing of order to getting it. (Fast Food). Look of the place. (McDs has similar themes) Quality ((Burger Crime markets all white meat chicken) So think about it, this is an upscale fast food place. Had the chance to sample some food from this location. Bread was day old HARD. Could have scratched my cars paint. The food inside was tasty. The soup. I have had better and I have had worse. If I knew what it cost my friend I probably would be trashing this place. If you are going to overcharge me and put in a fake fire place then give me a tub of lube before you screw me over.
(2)
Megan W.
As much as I enjoy Panera, I have noticed their quality slipping lately. The noodles in their chicken soup used to be thick and wide (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID) but now they're just these limp, thin things that are always broken into little pieces. What happened to the delicious egg noodles? Also - the frontega chicken used to be made on a rosemary onion foccacia. Now it's just plain foccacia. Such a bummer, because that's what made the sandwich really good. I know the economy is struggling, but it's a shame that they've let the quality on their food dwindle. HOWEVER - I have to say it's still pretty good. I'm just disappointed to see them cut corners.
(2)
Candi K.
My husband hates Panera with a passion, so I must have been a lucky girl to get to go to Panera for lunch today. Unfortunately, so was the rest of the Valley! Luckily by the time I had our order placed, my husband had found a table that had emptied. But then my sandwich came, and in the ten minutes that lapsed between order & delivery, they had run out of chicken noodle soup. Boo. They gave me baked potato instead. It was watered down compared to normal. Finally, about ten minutes after that, the manager brought me out a fresh bowl of chicken noodle. Still not as good as normal, but much better than the baked potato soup. I like Panera. This one doesn't seem to deal with crowds very well, though. Very unusual, as I've been to the Bath Pike location a few dozen times, which is always packed, and I've never had food quality or running out of food issues there.
(3)
Tim B.
I love their soups and sandwiches. I've also purchased fresh loafs of bread to bring home to go with my home made spaghetti. Their bread rocks!
(4)
Beth R.
I don't eat here too horribly often, but when I do, I always order the smokehouse turkey. The sandwich I got yesterday looked like it had been run over by a truck. It was like someone threw the bread across the room. The turkey tasted cheap like it was processed, and it was spicy?! The special mustard was on so thick and soaked into the bread. I was so sad, and starving, I could only eat half of it. BUT THE CHIPS WERE AMAZING!! =)
(1)
Vanessa W.
I"m not a chain person, but love panera bread. It has such a cool atmosphere and great soups and sandwiches. Free wifi too! A great place to hang out on couches by the fireplace and chill.
(4)
Jane G. F.
I agree with Vanessa W. - I don't usually care for chain restaurants, but I moved here from San Diego where the Soup Plantation soup and salad bar was my healthy food restaurant of choice. I searched for a similar type restaurant in this area and was thrilled to finally come across the Panera on MacArthur Blvd in Whitehall. Since then, many more have opened - in Montgomeryville, on Rt 33 - on Tilghman Street. Several years ago, when I was living in one room while house-hunting in the area, I spent nice long afternoons in a soft chair in front of the fire eating great scones with good coffee while working on my laptop. Fortunately, my search for decent bread/bagels also ended when I found Panera - except, darn, no bialys, but great asiago cheese bagels and whole-grain baguettes. The pastries are particularly good also, with the best scones in the area (though a bit pricey) and by far the best pecan rolls.( Starbucks used to have the best scones at a better price, but then they changed bakeries, and now they are not fit to pass these discriminating lips!) Occasionally, the soup has been not hot enough and once in a great while, the lettuce has been limp and brown around the edges, which is worth mentioning to the manager to give them a chance to fix it. I've had a pretty even experience at the Whitehall Panera, though some failures at others, mostly with the quality of the salad ingredients. And I always do the on-line survey in the hopes that I will win the $2000 prize to fund my eating at Panera for the forseeable future! Lest I forget to mention, for those concerned about diet restrictions, you can go online, and they list a breakdown of all the foods they offer in their restaurants - calories, sodium, fat, etc. Panera has some of the ambience that I miss from side-walk cafes in the San Diego area and certainly has the healthiest "fast food" - this is not fine dining, but great for a coffee & pastries break and for a healthy, reasonably priced, good-tasting lunch or supper. The prices for meals are very reasonable - the bakery prices are a little high - $.95 for a bagel, over $2 for a scone (even in Manhattan at the Yura bakery, great scones cost $1.75!), and $2.29 for a pecan roll - but they are so-o-o good that I splurge occasionally in that area. For those of you who come from more cosmopolitan areas, this restaurant is similar to Au Bon Pain (Boston, NYC, Phila. train station).
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Parking : Private Lot Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Alcohol : No Outdoor Seating : Yes Has TV : No Waiter Service : No Caters : Yes
Yi H.
Shamefully, this is my first time to Panera Bread. That's because it doesn't really exist in Philly (when I was living there). I love the place, love love their breads. It's probably one of the nicest chain restaurant, so cozy and pretty. The food was good and I had a carb feast. I had the 1/2 tuna salad with honey wheat, chicken noodle soup with baguette. My bf had the sierra turkey with broccolli and chedder soup. His sandwich was really good. I think I liked his a little more. Overall, it was a good experience. It's a bit pricy but worth it.
(4)Julie C.
I'm the biggest fan of Panera, that's why this review is so painful to write. I have been going to this location for some time and notice it isn't up to snuff with others. Today I was in a hurry and needed a quick bite for breakfast. I ordered the power sandwich, this is a relatively simple sandwich to make as it is only egg, cheese and deli ham on two slabs of bread. Which they charge $4.19. After I drove away in kind of a hurry because it took about 15 minutes to receive said meal I realized they didn't put any egg on my sandwich at all. So it was basically a very very sad, expensive ham and cheese sandwich. With no time to return to the location to point out this mistake, I'm left just to eat my pathetic breakfast. Don't go here for breakfast, McDonalds will treat you better.
(2)jace c.
When Panera Bread first arrived in my area, it was excellent. Not exactly great for vegetarians, but they at least serviced us a little with the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich, one or two soups, and the pastries were tasty. Now, years later, as with most corporate America food chains, they've let the quality slip to make more profit. It shows especially in the veggie sandwich. This is a common tactic of chains. Move into an area new to them, present the best possible example of their chain, with good cooks and quality ingredients, impress the locals, establish a good reputation, and then slack off after a few years, cutting costs, cutting quality of materials and employee training, and generally leveling out at "okay to poor" quality levels. Or, at least that's how the chains do it in the Lehigh Valley. I've watched it happen with all of them. For example, Carabba's was fantastic for a few years, and then became a giant salt lick in 2003. At this point, Panera Bread is more like "healthy fast food", sort of how Boston Market began, decades ago (holy crap I'm getting old), before becoming a salt lick and a sugar pusher (sugar for addiction, salt to sell more soft drinks, which are sugar delivery mechanisms). Repeat chorus elsewhere. I'm sad to come to the point of recognizing Panera Bread has also gotten to this point, though I'm really pretty late to the acknowledgement of it, hence this review. My most recent visit (two nights ago as of this writing) was the poorest yet. Yes, I arrived near closing time, but the experience was consistent with the last five visits. Both of the Mediterranean Veggie sandwiches my dad and I got were completely missing cheese, were badly assembled, and very light on actual vegetables. It was a bread sandwich. Actually, my dad's was barely even a sandwich. I requested cheese for the sandwiches, and the staff was accommodating. The cinnamon rolls were okay once heated in my microwave at home (late visit means dried pastries, I understand that, but they could be stored more effectively than all laying out exposed all day). The black bean soup was fine, as was the grilled cheese sandwich. But that's all I can say positive, since the centerpiece was supposed to be the Mediterranean Veggie and it's just not remotely acceptable any more. I don't know if this is due to bad attitudes in servicing non-meat eaters, or if the meat sandwiches are also regularly of similarly pathetic levels of quality (my dad wasn't impressed with his sandwich on our previous visit, if I recall correctly, and he was still eating meat then). But for me... I think that's the last time I'll be bothering to give business to Panera corporate. Sad. Typical. It's getting to the point where the only places I can reliably expect quality meals are the private independent businesses. I fear for their continued existence and I'm ashamed of the continued tolerance my fellow citizens show in continuing to patronize crappy chains. But it did take till now for me to decide to quit this chain. Maybe I'm part of the problem. [updated for typo corrections, sorry!]
(2)Mark D.
I know America has this passion with food that appears to be exotic or different or upscale. Panera was one of the first chains to get in on this upscale marketing idea. Many people still think this, about this fast food place. Lets look at the facts. How long does it take from placing of order to getting it. (Fast Food). Look of the place. (McDs has similar themes) Quality ((Burger Crime markets all white meat chicken) So think about it, this is an upscale fast food place. Had the chance to sample some food from this location. Bread was day old HARD. Could have scratched my cars paint. The food inside was tasty. The soup. I have had better and I have had worse. If I knew what it cost my friend I probably would be trashing this place. If you are going to overcharge me and put in a fake fire place then give me a tub of lube before you screw me over.
(2)Megan W.
As much as I enjoy Panera, I have noticed their quality slipping lately. The noodles in their chicken soup used to be thick and wide (THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID) but now they're just these limp, thin things that are always broken into little pieces. What happened to the delicious egg noodles? Also - the frontega chicken used to be made on a rosemary onion foccacia. Now it's just plain foccacia. Such a bummer, because that's what made the sandwich really good. I know the economy is struggling, but it's a shame that they've let the quality on their food dwindle. HOWEVER - I have to say it's still pretty good. I'm just disappointed to see them cut corners.
(2)Candi K.
My husband hates Panera with a passion, so I must have been a lucky girl to get to go to Panera for lunch today. Unfortunately, so was the rest of the Valley! Luckily by the time I had our order placed, my husband had found a table that had emptied. But then my sandwich came, and in the ten minutes that lapsed between order & delivery, they had run out of chicken noodle soup. Boo. They gave me baked potato instead. It was watered down compared to normal. Finally, about ten minutes after that, the manager brought me out a fresh bowl of chicken noodle. Still not as good as normal, but much better than the baked potato soup. I like Panera. This one doesn't seem to deal with crowds very well, though. Very unusual, as I've been to the Bath Pike location a few dozen times, which is always packed, and I've never had food quality or running out of food issues there.
(3)Tim B.
I love their soups and sandwiches. I've also purchased fresh loafs of bread to bring home to go with my home made spaghetti. Their bread rocks!
(4)Beth R.
I don't eat here too horribly often, but when I do, I always order the smokehouse turkey. The sandwich I got yesterday looked like it had been run over by a truck. It was like someone threw the bread across the room. The turkey tasted cheap like it was processed, and it was spicy?! The special mustard was on so thick and soaked into the bread. I was so sad, and starving, I could only eat half of it. BUT THE CHIPS WERE AMAZING!! =)
(1)Vanessa W.
I"m not a chain person, but love panera bread. It has such a cool atmosphere and great soups and sandwiches. Free wifi too! A great place to hang out on couches by the fireplace and chill.
(4)Jane G. F.
I agree with Vanessa W. - I don't usually care for chain restaurants, but I moved here from San Diego where the Soup Plantation soup and salad bar was my healthy food restaurant of choice. I searched for a similar type restaurant in this area and was thrilled to finally come across the Panera on MacArthur Blvd in Whitehall. Since then, many more have opened - in Montgomeryville, on Rt 33 - on Tilghman Street. Several years ago, when I was living in one room while house-hunting in the area, I spent nice long afternoons in a soft chair in front of the fire eating great scones with good coffee while working on my laptop. Fortunately, my search for decent bread/bagels also ended when I found Panera - except, darn, no bialys, but great asiago cheese bagels and whole-grain baguettes. The pastries are particularly good also, with the best scones in the area (though a bit pricey) and by far the best pecan rolls.( Starbucks used to have the best scones at a better price, but then they changed bakeries, and now they are not fit to pass these discriminating lips!) Occasionally, the soup has been not hot enough and once in a great while, the lettuce has been limp and brown around the edges, which is worth mentioning to the manager to give them a chance to fix it. I've had a pretty even experience at the Whitehall Panera, though some failures at others, mostly with the quality of the salad ingredients. And I always do the on-line survey in the hopes that I will win the $2000 prize to fund my eating at Panera for the forseeable future! Lest I forget to mention, for those concerned about diet restrictions, you can go online, and they list a breakdown of all the foods they offer in their restaurants - calories, sodium, fat, etc. Panera has some of the ambience that I miss from side-walk cafes in the San Diego area and certainly has the healthiest "fast food" - this is not fine dining, but great for a coffee & pastries break and for a healthy, reasonably priced, good-tasting lunch or supper. The prices for meals are very reasonable - the bakery prices are a little high - $.95 for a bagel, over $2 for a scone (even in Manhattan at the Yura bakery, great scones cost $1.75!), and $2.29 for a pecan roll - but they are so-o-o good that I splurge occasionally in that area. For those of you who come from more cosmopolitan areas, this restaurant is similar to Au Bon Pain (Boston, NYC, Phila. train station).
(5)