Panera Bread

Sandwich, soup, and/​or salad just isn’t for me. My wife loves it. Totally a «chick» place to eat. Not enough food to cure my hunger. The sandwiches and soup are just OK too. Nothing to write home about. There are just too many other much better places to eat in the area.

Employees make and break and establishment. Here’s major props to Morgan a worker (maybe an assistant manager?) who took time out of her lunch break, while she was eating, to help clean up ice water off our table before it spilled on my lap. This simple and genuine act of kindness really made my day. Here’s to you Morgan!

I’ll give this place a 4-​star. Surprisingly, this is the first Panera bread that I’ve ever been to. I don’t know why it hasn’t been earlier!
I got a fairly basic breakfast sandwich, just an egg and cheese. But the flavors were delightful! I like that they had a variety of black coffee options too, making it a nice go to spot for breakfast.
I’ll make sure to stop here again when driving north from Salem. I’ll have to try some more of the food options!

FOOD POISONING!!!
I came to the Keizer Station Panera on Christmas Eve 2015. I had the soba noodle and chicken bowl, and I was the only one in my group to order that item. About 4 – 5 hours later I had horrible food poisoning for about 10 hours. Throwing up, etc. about every 5 – 10 min. I called the manager the day after Christmas to notify them so they could look into whatever happened so no one else would get sick, and this is what he told me: «well just so you know, it takes about 24 hours for food poisoning to set in so you should look into where else you ate. It couldn’t have happened in a few hours. «
Actually dude it can happen in even one hour after eating contaminated food. And it did. That soba noodle bowl was the ONLY thing I ate different then my family in a 48 hour time span. He was rude and quick to dismiss me. If someone calls in about food poisoning I would hope that the response would be much more accommodating, and I would certainly hope they would look into whatever happened to prevent further outbreaks. For the record, I wasn’t calling angry nor was I trying to get anything out of them. It was just a heads up so they could address the issue.
This is also the only poor review I’ve ever written on Unilocal.But I felt people should know since the manager probably wasn’t going to do anything about it once he hung up the phone.

I’ve been to this Panera multiple times, but I never really saw the big deal about it. I went recently with a friend of mine and my opinions about Panera were changed in a pleasant way. I realized that I dislike one of their sauces that they use on some sandwiches (the signature sauce), so I asked the lady at the counter what kind of sauce they put on their sandwiches. One of the chefs came out with a sample of some of their sauces so I could see which one it is that I didn’t like. They didn’t have to do that but it was very nice and helpful. I enjoyed the chicken panini I ordered. It was delicious, and so was the broccoli and cheddar soup. I like that I can get ½ soup ½ sandwich or salad.
My friend and I were there for a long time and one of the employees came by and took our plates when we were finished. And at Panera you usually take your dishes back yourself! Great service!
I also got a toffee nut cookie for 99 cents with my meal. it was amazing and I will be coming back for more of those!

I actually really like the chain in general, I used to live in the Midwest where there many more locations and the quality was much higher. Perhaps it is because this is a newer location but I have not been impressed.
I always use their mobile order app and my order is consistently wrong or not ready. Usually it’s small things like giving me bread instead of the apple I ordered, or a half portion of dressing on a full salad. What really ended it for me was my last two orders haven’t been ready, so I sat in the lobby, assuming they would put it on the shelf any minute.
After about 10 minutes I ask the staff for my order. They get their manager, who tells me it’s been ready just not out on the shelf. And proceeds to «check my order» by pulling everything out of the bag and onto a counter filled with paperwork. No gloves, touching my bread slice and utensils, then repacking my bag.
Obviously if I’m using the mobile order, I don’t really want to interact with someone because I’m on my way home from a long day of work, definitely hangry. The first time this happened I assumed it was a fluke. The second time I realized it must be their policy if the customer’a order isn’t ready. Hey corporate panera… FIX IT! Just have the staff grab my overpriced food so I can get the hell out!

I enjoy going to Pamela bread. Their food is great. And I like that they calories on their menu. I can pick something I know that is good for me.

I am not sure what the big deal is with this chain? The bland food? The obnoxious pricing for that bland food? The slow service? The mistakes they make? Or the POOR quality of ingredients and preparation.
Stopped on my way through Salem for a quick bite after seeing all the commercials and being asked to by the missus (I guess she like P-Bread…don’t know why).
Ordered their Cobb Salad, Smokehouse Turkey Panini, BBQ Chicken Flatbread, and Clam Chowder… all told way more than I should have spent for lackluster food.
Let’s start with the mediocre first. Smokehouse Turkey Panini, meh, it was ok nothing to brag but was OK the bacon was limp and rubbery and the turkey was bland. Also, if there was sun dried tomatoes on this sandwich, they dried all the tomato out of those poor guys because the whole thing tasted like leftover turkey washed in tap water.
Next the not so good. The BBQ Chicken Flatbread, so it was flatbread and I am guessing chicken (though not much of it), but that is where this went off track. The BBQ sauce was more tasteless than ketchup and I ended up putting Sweet Baby Rays on it just so it would taste like BBQ.
I’ll discuss the clam chowder later, however, the bread that was supposed to be included with my meal. The same bread that the drive through clerk grilled about what kind, was so light and airy that it almost seemed like it wasn’t there. Because it wasn’t there, they completely forgot it.
Now the bad… ok, horrible. The Clam Chowder, much like everything else bland, but had the added benefit of undercooked potatoes. So the bland flavor is paired with the crunch of uncooked tubers… Awesome flavor profile by the way. And now the pièce de résistance, the Cobb Salad… not only was it flavorful but it tasted like old lettuce. Mistakenly, I took a few bites without looking at the salad thinking that with all the quality that this chain talks about in their ads, they would back those claims up… WRONG. The salad was indeed old. Possibly harvested last year’s lettuce and included it in this gastronomical nightmare, much of the lettuce was wilted and had brown ends all over the place. So much for quality and taste… NEVER going back to this place. I would rather eat worms than go back to this chain… at least worms might be organic. Both of these items went into the trash partially eaten.
Bonus…After eating what I did from this place, I was visiting the bathroom more than a bulimic fashion model. Only it was coming out the wrong end. Bön Apetit.

The Manfolk really likes Panera. This morning, a lot of other people did too. There were probably twenty people in line when we arrived. The staff opened up additional registers and took our order quickly.
I like the two for two option they have that gives you options of soup, salad, pasta, etc., We both had the turkey avocado BLT. I had the lemon chicken orzo soup and the MF had broccoli cheddar.
The sammys were tasty with large pieces of turkey. Fresh bread, tasty bacon and avocado. Yum. I wasn’t a huge fan of my soup. His was good.
I don’t dislike Panera, but it’s just not that special to me. Their menu is improving and the staff was nice.
Did I mention bacon?

This review is for Panera Bread in general, no idea how they are in business. We went to the new location at the Woodburn outlet mall and it took them twice as long to get us our food as it did for us to be served a real meal at a sit down restaurant the day before.
The food is not very good and there is very little of it. A half tuna salad meal consisted of about a tablespoon of tuna salad on two flavorless slices of white bread. The wait was long to order, the service was inadequate, the food was lackluster, the portions were tiny, the wait to get the food was inexcusably long for fast food, and the price is insanely high for what you get. For what we paid for two half sandwich meals we could have easily had two 6 inch subs at Subway and had better, faster service and much better quality of food.
I’m actually suspicious of the quality of what we were served since we ordered different sandwiches and both of us ended up not feeling well that night and the next day. That was the only meal out we had that day. In short, I would advise avoiding the entire chain, I know I will be. Slow can be situational based on staffing level and number of customers. The quality and quantity of the food and the value for your money are not situational. Paying more for less is just stupid so unless they slash all prices in half and improve the quality no more Panera Bread for me or anyone in my house.

Worst panera I’ve ever visited. Unfortunately this is the only one close to my work, and my five trips have all been awful.

Apparently this is where a the older golfers go to have coffee and a snack. I swear! I am the youngest person by at least 30 years, I’m one of the only ladies and most are wearing Bermuda shorts. I think this is the new place for old men to gather and catch up with one another.

Great food. You feel like you have actually eaten real food. The people are great as well. WiFi is strong. And close to my house!

A wonderful meal as always from coast-​to-​coast The sandwiches are always amazing and the broccoli cheddar soup is always a delight

Took my fam for their first visit to a Panera, on our way home from Keiser Station. Everyone had soup and I tried the new broth bowl with the soba noodles & chicken. Amazing flavors, so much I was craving it again 2 day later… so I went back.

5 stars considering it’s «fast food». Slightly overpriced but very fresh and tasty and much healthier choices than other fast food joints. Always clean, friendly, quick. Have enjoyed the Greek salad (my fave), the Italian sandwich is wonderful. The soups are tasty. Why doesn’t Dallas, OR have one???

They were sold out of chocolate pastries!
Our party of three were ready for lunch. This was a known sandwich/​soup chain and the pastry offerings were a draw. What a disappointment to not be able to enjoy a chocolate dessert. We were not expecting such a limited bakery selection when we arrived shortly after 1:00 pm.
FOOD
Bowl of Vegetable Soup with side of half a baguette
Turkey & Ham Sandwich, whole, with just lettuce, on potato bread
Half sized Chicken Hummus Bowl with gluten free side substitute of a small apple
Our choice of one bakery product at 99 cents with purchase of a soft drink was a cinnamon roll
DRINKS
Cup of coffee and a soft drink
Our food was prepared nicely, breads fresh, soup tasty, sandwich as ordered, nice combination of chicken with the hummus.
While awaiting our food, I walked over to look at the Marie Dorian kiosk sign we passed when driving in, on the footbridge located away from the restaurant’s drive through window. Up close, the sign leads the curious to an information sign. Marie Dorian was a pioneer who actually lived for a time in the Walla Walla and Spokane areas. I did not quite figure out why this special memorial kiosk was located near Salem.

This is a nice Panera Bread. We discovered that they have a drive-​through, which is a nice pit stop on the PDX-​Salem slog. We ordered the kids a hot chocolate, and they were kind enough to split it into two cups for us (saving us money, and keeping the kids’ wastelines in check!). Their wifi is also decent.

I like this spot. Always something that leaves me without the guilt of other options. I really like their new flatbreads, soups and sandwiches. A bit pricey, but worth it to me. I even enjoy their kettle chips. Go early if you want a soufflé!
Will return! The drive-​thru is as efficient as expected and they have good coffee.

Never been to a Panera Bread before. I ordered a cinnamon roll with extra frosting since it was in the afternoon and I assumed rightly that they had been sitting there all day long drying out. After I got the extra frosting on it and nuked it for a few seconds it was back to being just about perfect. It was no Cinnabon, but it was probably one of the best Cinnamon Rolls I have had other than Cinnabon. I would love to come back and try one of their salads or sandwiches.