Panera Bread

This place gets packed for lunch! Came here today to try it out with some co-​workers and could barely find a place to park. I love that there’s a drive-​thru at this location. When comparing it to the one in town, I thought it was awesome they have some self-​checkout tablets. You can go through your order, swipe your panera bread card, and pay with your credit card if you want to skip the line. Take a pager, and when your meal is ready, they will bring it out to you.
The staff was very friendly, place was very clean for the amount of foot traffic they had. My food tasted average at best. Not sure if they just microwave the tortellini pasta or what. I had some that were cooked thoroughly through and others that were a little hard. I’m not a fan enough to visit this place regularly, but it made for a decent lunch. Happy they opened one of these in Manteca.

This is the first time I’ve been to Panera Bread & I was very disappointed. I ordered a panini in the drive thru & first off, the girl was rude & rushed my order. When I got to the window, the girl made it apparent that she really hated her job, something I as the customer should never know. When I got the food home that I ordered, the sandwich was smashed & cold and the inside didn’t look like a sun dried tomato sauce but more like cat food. No way was I paying $ 12 for this meal, so I took it back. To add insult to injury, upon asking the MOD for a full refund & showing him the dispicable food they served, he had the nerve to give me attitude like I should just accept mediocracy & be happy with it! Needless to say, I have never been back & never plan to.

This place is amazing! Glad they finally got a panera in town. Ross hood is the Lebron James of Panera Bread

I stopped in for a sandwich to take to work. I chose the chicken salad. Safe choice, I thought; how wrong could I have been. I know we all have different tastes, so I will review the sandwich itself. First it came on white bread, with flavourless tomatoes and a piece of lettuce. On each half of sandwich was chicken salad only one side of the sandwich. Disappointed

I really like this Panera. I order from my table, and its quick and efficient. The coffee is great too, and always fresh!

This is the worst place to order lunches from for a large group. This is the third time I have tried it and I will never be coming back. I usually order a rapid pick up online and everytime there is a system error at the restaurant. I have a very demanding schedule and they do not have anything prepared at the time promised. The sandwiches are thrown together very sloppy and skimpy serving portions. Nevertheless save your time and order early for Boudin catering!

Love their French baguettes and broccoli cheddar soup. Their green tea is awesome too. Good during their slow times– if going during busy hours expect a wait.

I want to mention a specific person at this location her name is Selena I took my mother to Panera for the first time she had recently had foot surgery and when Selena brought us our food she brought my mom her coffee and asked what she would like in it and then went and grabbed all the items my mother requested and brought them to her so she didn’t have to get up in to her wheelchair and grab them herself it was very nice of her to do that and I really appreciate her kindness to us.

Expensive but worth it. if you havent tried it yet try the green tea. Mac and cheese is delicious as well

This review is specifically towards Panera Bread in Manteca, not towards Panera Bread as a whole.
The Restuarant is by far the worse Panera Bread I have ever been too. 8 out of 10 times, they will get my order wrong. It’s not a big deal the first or second time but after a while it starts to become annoying.
The reason for the two stars is one, it is Panera Bread; and two, the food is okay. Panera Brea in general is amazing, but his Restuarant is really upsetting to me. Not only don they get my order wrong more than that is excusable, but it’s not clean.
Can upper management correct this problem? Someone in management, please address this issue. I shouldn’t have to constantly be disappointed by my order that is incorrect by no fault of mine.

I loooove the autumn squash soup! Perfect blend of sweet and savory, creamy consistency, and beautiful presentation!!!
I do come here every once in a while for lunch, and normally do not enjoy the lack of space both inside the restaurant and in the parking lot. In terms of menu, while not a total fan due to small sandwich sizes, there are some good choices in the salads. But today, I gave this seasonal soup a try, and it certainly exceeded my expectations. I will be back for more of this yummy seasonal treat. Thanks, Panera!

The soup I ordered was Creamy Chicken and wild rice. Barely warm. After we waited 16 minutes for our order. The restaurant was empty. Maybe like 4 or 5 other people who were already seated and had their food. This location took away a staple that I always get at panera bread. French onion soup!!! I also order the BBQ chicken flatbread which they no longer had. Very dissapointed with this location and won’t be returning… I live in Manteca but would now drive to Livermore location instead.
The service staff were friendly and thats why I gave it any stars… Definitely not for food…

First time in your Manteca, CA restaurant (8:30pm on Friday, Sept. 4^th 2015, Labor Day weekend).
Mine and four other tables & two leather chairs (basically every surface within my line of vision) were dirty, garbage on floors and inattentive staff in general. The one lady that worked the dining room seemed to hustle. maybe they were short staffed. (My guest and I looked confused as we searched for the beverage dispenser. The front counter persons socialized as we traveled in circles, finally interrupting them for clarification. Wait staff threw shade when I mentioned garbage on floor should be removed). I don’t like to be overly critical because it may be a managerial or corporate problem. Staff can be overworked or spread thin… etc.
Salad and sandwich filling were excellent, bread was chewy and hard. We took home $ 10 worth of pastry to the family which was stale.) I ate at this location because every other restaurant in the vicinity was crowed and had a lengthy wait.
I like the concept and décor… it would/​should have been a step up from Subway. I might go back just to see if my feedback made a difference.

Bread and pastries are quite good but stay away from coffee like substance.
Visited this morning for the 3^rd time expecting to be pleasantly surprised with coffee. How can a bakery have such poor quality coffee? If you add cream and sugar to your cup the coffee, flavor fades away. If you take your coffee black it tastes like coffee flavored water. Unfortunately we’ve completely given up on panera for coffee. Do yourself a favor: go across the street to Starbucks… or McDonald’s for coffee and get your bread/​pastry at panera.

This is my first time ever having panera and I love it! I got the half kale Caesar and the half Mediterranean sandwich. The salad tastes like a Cesar salad should super yummy! And they let me sub my chicken for avocado since I’m a vegetarian at no charge! It made the salad. The sandwich is great I love the unique taste of the bread and the sauce. Most importantly. The green tea. I don’t know what they did but I was expecting normal green tea. This is amazing! It’s a fruity tropical blend with green tea and that alone would keep me coming back. I’m a total fan of this place now. I look forward to coming back

Good:
–the atmosphere is nice
–it seems pretty clean
–the servers were very nice and courteous
–my salad was pretty good
–the food arrived very fast in under 5 minutes
Bad
–the turkey and avocado sandwiches two of us had ordered had very little avocado which was disappointing so avoid those.
They just opened so I’m sure they’re working out the kinks although that doesn’t excuse the skimpy avocado.

When I first heard Panera was opening in my little town I thought only 2 things:
1) please let there be a drive thru so I can wear my pj pants in the car, keep my dignity intact and get my bagel
And
2) sweet mother of Lorelai Gilmore… I’ll be so close to the Chicken and Wild Rice soup
When construction began, I would drive slowly past the construction site (to the dismay of drivers behind me) to check for the drive thru.
Eventually, the answer was yes. Yes, Virginia, there is a drive thru!
When Panera opened, I drove there immediately after work, went inside and enjoyed an iced tea and an Everything bagel. I forgot how creamy and delicious the cream cheese is.
***pro-​tip*** if you want to eat your bagel to go, ask them to cut it in quarters and toast it. The cream cheese comes in a little tub, so the toasted pieces are easy to swoop in the cream cheese.
Why not the soup? Because it was not served the day I came. Since Panera is not close by, I was not aware that my soup is only served on certain days. Luckily for me, it was available the next time I visited (er…the next day) and I enjoyed it immensely. Creamy, ricey and chickeny. Yes. All was right in the world.
Salad: Fuji Apple Chicken Salad: sweet apples, tangy cheese, well seasoned chicken and a great apple dressing.
Now that it’s closer, I am sure to try new things.
And if you see me early in the morning in the drive thru, please don’t rat me and my starry pajama pants out!

Do not order bakery items for pick-​up later, chances are as in my case, they will not pull the items till just before you are expected. By then they will be out of half the items you ordered and ask you to pick something else or get a refund.
The whole idea of ordering and paying early was to make sure these items were pulled and set aside for me.
My bad for such expectations.
Revising my review from 2 stars to 4 stars even though I’m still upset they don’t pull you order in advanced when ordering loaves of bread or other items that can go out of stock for the day. All my other experiences have been good, and the food is good.

I read some terrible reviews in our local Moms group, but I ate there today and it was AMAZING! I have only had Panera once, years ago in Lodi.
I was VERY pleased with the food and service at the new Manteca location. My best friend also enjoyed her meal.
We will be back!

Panera Bread in Manteca!
This specific location is really nice, has a nice vibe to it both inside and outside the restaurant. There are several tables and chairs, enough to get through a busy lunch or dinner rush. Will definitely be a local favorite for sure!