Croutons

I was really pleased with my experience here! I got a small salad and half sandwich for $ 8.50! The small Greek salad was huge. The perfect amount of dressing tossed with kalamata olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions and feta. It was so good and filling. I only had 1 bite of my Mediterranean chicken sandwich. It was tasty with pesto, sundried tomatoes, basil and grilled toasty.
The daughter got the vegetarian panini on focaccia bread, though it’s listed as ciabatta, it’s definitely not a ciabatta roll. She couldn’t even quite eat half. But she was pleased. The hubby got the Tuscan roast beef panini and said it tasted good but he would have liked more meat on it.
The restaurant was clean. It’s a order at the counter kind of place. They brew a couple of different iced teas. There is a nice patio area. You bus your own table, but for these prices I am ok with that. I want to come back and try several more salads and sandwiches! The variety looked awesome!

I love Croutons! Their panini’s are my favorite and get them every time. It’s on the West Side of Bend near the Safeway and roundabout, and has a good location too. I also have good service and feel the portions are a great size (sometimes I take what I can’t finish home). I enjoy stopping by with my family when I am in town.

Tried Croutons for the first time tonight and I was impressed. The chicken pesto sandwich is large and although it’s just chicken and pesto, it is very good. I also has the wild rice soup which was delicious. A cute little place for a date night! Reasonably priced.

I absolutely LOVE croutons. I come to bend quite frequently, and it’s my go-​to place to grab a salad/​soup. I try to change my order and try new things on the menu– and I honestly don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed. My personal favorite combo is the sundance salad and chicken with wild rice soup. The service has always been friendly and prompt. It’s a great place to go for lunch or dinner and know that you’ll have a filling meal. Most of the combos I get are about $ 10 which I think is very reasonable.

Great pannini’s and salads here. Very crowded at lunch; allow extra time. Worth the wait!

I would shower in their tomato bisque. So bomb… Best salads out too. They only use the Freshest lettuces and veggies. I wish they’d open more locations.

Very rude at the front counter. Please look at the picture I shared to see the culprit. Was my favorite restaurant in town. Won’t be returning because of her. Thanks for the let down and rude customer service

My husband & I always make sure to stop at Croutons when we’re in town or passing through. We’ve enjoyed everything we’ve ever had. Today was a California Turkey Panini for me with Chicken Wild Rice soup. Both were excellent. My husband had a BBQ Chicken Flatini and a Pear & Blue Cheese Salad, both of which he also enjoyed very much. We both commented that both the sandwiches and salads are better than some we’ve gotten lately for twice the price elsewhere. Service is almost always quick and friendly. We REALLY wish there was one of these in our neck of the woods – I would eat there all the time!

Really great choices! Great for lunch! I had the chicken panini for lunch it was amazing good! They serve the sandwiches with boars head meat too bonus!
Great service

With a name like «Croutons,» you have to wonder: «How many different types of croutons can one restaurant serve?»
Honestly though, really enjoyed the salad and soup I received. Everyone else like their meals as well. Service was prompt and polite.
Thinking of salad, sandwich, and/​or soup, you’re looking at the place.
Did I mention that this place is really nicely priced? Well, it is.
Enjoy

I would eat here everyday if I could! My favorite is the Buffalo Chicken Salad and the Chicken Pesto Panini. To die for. A little pricey but well worth it.

Being from out of town, I was looking for a good place for lunch and to work. This is the spot! The food was great, the service was very helpful and they didn’t mind that I set up shop for a few hours. (Well at least I hope they didn’t)
Ask for recommendations– they are happy to help!

Croutons is one of my favorite lunches in town. The chicken pesto panini is amazing, and also their balsamic chicken salad!

Decent Salads.

Hands down one of the BEST Panini’s’ & Flatini’s around in town! Incredibly delicious, great price, and decent sized portions!
The location is awesome, great atmosphere. The whole staff friendly with phenomenal service.
First timer, and now a returning costumer! Thank you :)

Another pretentious and over-​rated restaurant in Bend, OR (who woulda guessed?). I have no idea why anyone likes this place. A third grader could have come up with this menu. Imagine a dozen of the most tired salads and throw in half a dozen boring sandwiches and you have their menu. The main problem is that none of it tastes good. Three of us took a bite of each other’s sandwiches and we all agreed that they all tasted exactly the same even though we all chose different sandwiches. The Caesar salad even sucked (how does a placed called Croutons screw up such a basic salad?). I will admit that the salad bowls are kinda cute. I’ll never come here again.

Really good but sometimes takes a while to bring food out the food I mean come on your a salad, soup, and sandwich restaurant shouldn’t take that long. But like I said their really good and healthy for you like most of us Oregonians try and eat healthy so this is the place to go to! They have the best tomato basil soup I’ve ever had!!!

Good place for a casual meal. We got sandwiches and salads for a concert in town. The soup and Paninnis were particularly good.
They were also very polite and efficient. We ordered ahead, and they had 14 people’s orders ready to go.

The pumpkin lemon grass soup is delicious. I liked it so much I drove straight across the street to Safeway to buy the ingredients to try to copy.

Realizing this is contrarian view to the others posted here, I say I’ve had better. Food: 2, Service: 3, Ambiance: 2.
I’m not so much a fast food fan and while this concept restaurant isn’t drive through fast food, it is still designed to be a mass production salad, soup and sandwich kitchen. With all respect to the folks who cobbled together the concept, I’d say this is about on par with quality at places like Applebee’s. And at least at a place like Applebee’s you get table service (which you do not here), something other than sardine can seating (which is the case here). Still it is sparkling clean and the counter help is friendly.
The Croutons concept was initiated in the San Diego area about ten years ago and is still found only in southernmost California with the exception of this one (franchised) location in Bend. My criticism aside, they’re doing something right as the Bend location typically does brisk business.
So in fairness to the restaurant this is what it is and it is simply that it is not for me. Maybe that means «it’s not you, it’s me…» for the failed connection.
I made several attempts to join in with Crutons fans but about three years ago decided I wouldn’t go again and steered away from it when others suggested it. I’d say, «Croutons? Hmmm. Why don’t we go to XXXXX instead?»
Until yesterday when it was the lunch destination choice of a friend. I said, «Crutons? I haven’t been there in ages. Sure.»
Once there, I remembered why this had come off my list of options some time back.
Here’s the deal.
Go to the counter, order from a wall posted list of fifteen or more standard salad options or a handful of grill pressed (panini or flatini) sandwich options or choose from two or three soups posted on a chalkboard. Place your order. They deliver to the table.
When salads arrive at the table, my experience has been that the lettuce is always crispy, but the other ingredients, corn, beans, tomatoes, «kraft like» grated or crumbled cheese and dressings are «meh» bland. That’s been true no matter what I’ve ordered from the Santa Fe salad to the Pear and Blue cheese salad to the Mediterranean Salad to yesterday’s order of BBQ Chicken (hold the chicken) Salad. Soups (two or three a day I guess) have been equally disappointing.
«It’s not you, it’s me.»
Prices seem $ 8 or under no matter what option you choose and portions are huge, even if you order the half/​small order, so maybe that explains part of their appeal. And in summer months there is a nice deck outside to sit and take in the weather along with the traffic buzzing by on Century Drive.
«It’s not you, it’s me.»
For my Unilocal friends and others who may be using wheelchairs (or those using strollers for that matter), one of the things you’ll almost certainly be frustrated by is that while the restaurant has level in at the door, the seating is so tight (sardine can) that getting from the order counter to a seat or to the outside deck door will likely be near impossible. That’s true even if you’re trying to walk through and squeeze between the seats when they are occupied to get to a table. The photo I inserted here doesn’t do justice to how tight this space is in person. It’s just not comfortable as a result. But I realize that doesn’t dissuade some diners.
«It’s not you, it’s me.»
Here’s my two bits if you’re looking for a more fulfilling «relationship».
If you’re comfortable with the format of ordering at the counter and having the food delivered to your table, head over the The Village Baker, not far down Century Drive from Croutons’ location, or The East Village (owned by the same folks) on the east side of town. For the same price points you’ll have a choice of wonderful salads of super fresh ingredients and top notch housemade dressings, remarkably good sandwiches served on artisan breads, delicious housemade soup and delectable pastries. If you go to the East Village location, you’ll find a nicely accessible space too with lots of room to get to seating and also an outside patio.
After my most recent experience, I’m firmly back to saying, «Croutons? Hmmm. What don’t we go to XXXX instead.» Different strokes for different folks. Isn’t it great there are so many options and we get to «vote» with our feet and wallets about which one works for us.