Panera Bread

Salads are small and nothing like the online pictures. The wait is too long and everything is overpriced. I didn’t even get a «sorry about that» when my online order was 20 minutes late. Don’t go there unless you want to spend money to be disappointed.

Very disorganized operation over there. I wouldn’t suggest their catering, they have screwed up our order 2 times now.

I LOVE Panera. I come here almost after every swim practice and I order their black bean soup. The service is great and the food is just great. I really recommend this place.

Decided to get lunch for my mom at work because she likes the broccoli cheddar from here.
This location is in a plaza with Chipotle, Islands, & a Coffee Bean!
My mom really enjoyed the broccoli cheddar soup but the avocado BLT sandwich was just average for her. The soup & sandwich came out to $ 11 & Panera never really disappointed in their quality of food but quite honestly, I can think of tons of other places that offer better lunch options.

It should be a crime to charge the same price for pastas & have such a huge difference exist between the amount you get dining in vs taking out. I love panera but come on.

Listen, there will always be blatant indicators which clearly let you know what you should expect or in this case, NOT expect.
1. When you enter a restaurant with take-​out service or not at prime time and the table occupancy is less than 20% — NOT GOOD
2. When you’re there to pick up a to-​go order and there is only one person in line to order, — NOT GOOD
3. When you mention to the employee taking orders over the phone and at the register that their printed and website menus DO NOT LIST FOOD PRICES and they have to actually look at their neatly printed folded menus because they didn’t know — NOT GOOD
4. When they claim to have «run out» of a soup which is a standard for the day especially when you don’t see an overburden of customers — NOT GOOD
Before I retired early I was involved with developing and building many commercial projects and some of my experience includes developing restaurant chains. Specifically, construction design and even developing and writing the Franchise operating manuals. As such I will not expect this Panera location to last much longer than its minimum lease term.
Without common sense employees, available menu items, listed prices, acceptable quality, and portions comparable to the neighboring competitors they won’t maintain repeat clientele. No customers (probably because the owner is not on-​site & is obviously cheap as compared to other locations) means no growing customer base = failure.
If you’re at this geographical location I suggest you go to Island’s, Jersey Mike’s or Pei Wei instead.

I used a gift card AND a 20% coupon, and I still don’t feel like I received a good value.
Order the pick2 (which although sounds like a «special value» is not). The ½ onion soup ($ 4.09) came out mildly warm, and the ½ roast turkey kale sandwich ($ 5.89) had at most ½ ounce of actual turkey and no kale that I could find.
As has been my previous experience at this location, they auto default to the baguette side option and don’t ask if you would prefer the apple or chips options. umm I just ordered a half sandwich, I probably don’t want bread on the side.

It’s Panera, how could I go wrong? I have 3 panera locations along the way on my way home from work. This one is by fare the worst. Altho the manager is really nice, I have net some slightly too rude staff. Now the food;it’s supposed to be the same everywhere but it is not. Somehow I am always disappointed when I come to this location.
So, in summary, if you can go to a nether location, do it.
Cheers.

I came here on sunday mid day not busy At all. I order yogurt parfait And Its 4.50 When It comes out Its Only 4 ounces! My friend orders a Sandwich with no bacon And gets bacon And veggies looked old And soggy. Not coming back here

Rarely do we have significantly dreary days in the city of Newport Beach, but when we do, Panera is in the top five things that are on my mind (aside from cheesecake, the hit show, Friends, you know, the usual stuff).
This Panera is located in the same plaza as Pei Wei, Islands, and Chipotle and typically has great parking, at least in the times that I’ve been there.
I try to branch out but my go to meal is the Frontega Chicken Panini (hold the onions), a broccoli cheddar soup in a warm bread bowl, and a lemonade. When I’m feeling adventurous, I sometimes get the tortellini Alfredo which is also a very good choice. But this time I went with my standard meal and my
friend for a broccoli and cheddar soup, our meal came out to $ 17.56, not too bad at all considering I always leave there super happy.
No matter how busy it is I’ve never had to wait a significant amount of time for my food, they’re also on top of it so I never have to worry if I just want to get in and out for a quick lunch with a friend.
The only (personal) issue for me is I love to come during the evening and most of the time, the pastry choices are very limited, which I completely understand, just a personal thing.

Sadly Panera has gone to hell, I thought it was just the one in Tustin but I was wrong. The soups have been cold, the sandwiches are flavorless and are all bread and lettuce. I can’t even tell if what I am eating is turkey or chicken plus it’s soggy, why is it soggy I just ordered it?!
$ 14 for a cup of watery cold soup, ½ sandwich, cookie and a drink is a huge ripoff — especially since the food quality is so poor.
The chick next to me can’t manage to chew with her mouth closed or not make smacking sounds — this does not help. Seriously people manners, get some.

Food was lousy. I ordered the noodle edamame dish, and it was NOT at all pleasing to the eye nor the taste buds. I don’t recommend it. It’s a hot ugly mess, bland in taste, and is certainly not the best dish on the menu!

I have found bread heaven. Surrounded by green, orange, and yellow walls among this walls I can enjoy my meal at an ease set of environment. It was very peaceful in there and quite relaxing, it was a perfect time for me and my friends to have a relaxing lunch. I have a Panera back at home and once I stepped in here it reminded me of it so much and it was very enjoyable. I LOVE THIS PLACE.
I decided to order off the Pick-​2 menu and decided to order the Roasted Turkey and Avocado BLT and a bowl of Broccoli Cheddar soup. The lady at the counter was very sweet and took my order right away.
At Panera your meal is brought to you and this young man was so friendly, he made sure that our order was complete and simply said to enjoy my meal. Once my meal arrived at my table my mouth watered up. You could smell the wonderful gooey cheese in the soup and the delicious fluffy bread roll smelled like it was right out of the oven. As for my sandwich you could smell the freshness in the avocado.
The bowl of soup is a dark yellow with tiny chunks of broccoli floating in it, so perfectly crafted. My sandwich looks so soft yet delicious. With the tomatoes as red as they get, the avocado in a perfect shade of green, the lettuce looking like a flowy dress along the sides, the bacon looking crispier than ever.
I took my first bite and it was all heaven from there. The soup so warm and cheesy in my mouth along with the fresh bites of soft broccoli. I then decided to be cleaver and dip a piece the inside of my bread roll into my soup and let me tell you it was a fluffy, chewy, and cheesy heaven sensation in my mouth. Now for my sandwich it was a soft bread texture. I took a bite and the avocado freshness took over along with the cold turkey. Along with all this heaven in my mouth I added a refreshing drink of Raspberry Iced Tea along with my meal. Raspberry tang and sweetness all perfectly combined.
I couldn’t have asked for a better soup and sandwich place to eat that day. Everything tasted remarkable and I will definitely be coming back to enjoy another satisfying meal.

I like this panera. It is less crowded and the server is friendly as well. Love their coffee. It is like unlimited coffee!

I love their order from the app feature! It’s really convenient for me because by the time I get from UCI to panera in my car, the food is ready! I don’t have to wait or anything and it stays warm too.
In terms of the food, I don’t think I would go here if I didn’t have a gift card. It is a little bit expensive for the portion they give but I also think their pick two deal is pretty good and filling. The food is always warm and is pretty tasty. I like their soups but am not as inclined to get the flatbread pocket things again because they’re not as filling. They also have bread bowls!
It’s a good place to go if you’re traveling and don’t want to eat fast food.

Service is great here and there is plenty of parking in the plaza located right off of Bison and MacArthur. Also a good amount of seating inside, but can get crowded during the lunch rush.
Panera is ok for cheap lunches (think ONLY half orders) which range from $ 4 – 6. Not bad for an ok filling lunch. but I would rather go somewhere else.
However, what I got was not what I was expecting. It was almost disappointing. Got the half sandwich with the half salad that comes with a bread roll. (I think think was ~$ 9)
Chipotle chicken sandwich is on what seems to be regular wheat sandwich bread, only the top was toasted and the bottom was limp and soggy with the tomato, shredded chicken (???), and sauce. Underwhelming sandwich that I could have made better at home!
Fuji apple salad. WHY ARE THERE APPLE CHIPS ON IT? NOT REAL APPLES? I DON’T GET IT. WHY. Maybe I should have read the description, but why would you advertise it as an apple salad but it has apple chips that are meant to be served as croutons… I don’t know how to explain how disappointed I was at this salad and how mad I was that they did not have the description on the big menu on top and had to look at the paper menu to find it afterwards.
Bread roll = refrigerated cold. I think this was the best part of the meal even though it was cold.
Meh. I’d pick Chipotle over this a thousand times (and I’m not a huge fan of chipotle!)

I got the Garden Vegetable soup with Pesto today. It was lukewarm, not that flavorful, and I really couldn’t taste or see the pesto.
I guess when a place has the word «bread» in its name, it might be better to order a sandwich. I just may do that on my next visit, and there probably will be one. I often find myself at this and other Panera locations for meetings and such.
It certainly beats Starbucks for such purposes. The coffee is better, it’s self-​serve, and they offer free refills. They obviously have a much better selection of food items, too.
At least this location is convenient, given that it’s right off of 73.
I was here during the late afternoon. The freshest coffee was brewed at 2:50.
If you come in the morning, they stop serving breakfast at 10:30.
There have to be better restaurants with free wifi, which was spotty today.

Nothing negative to say about this Panera. Quite larger yet super clean and extremely cozy inside. Spacious with lots of tables, chairs and small sofa’s throughout where you can sit relax and enjoy a delicious, hearty, and healthy meal. Whether you choose to enjoy a meal with friends or family or if you choose to sit alone and study you will definitely like this place. The same selection of sandwiches, hot and delicious soups, bagels and not to forget to large selection of pastries and yes you will always find fresh coffee and I love that they put the time the coffee was brewed on the little boards to assure that it is always fresh.
Choose their pick two specials and you can choose between a soup, salad, or half sandwich. The options are endless and yes you can add a pastry to complete your meal for just $ 1.00, now how sweet is that. And be sure to sign up for their rewards at
and soon you will be enjoying the sweet freebies.

3.5
Another experience in Newport Beach LOL.
After a long day of doctors appointments in the area we were starving! I’m the type of person that I don’t like to be in a CF of a crowd right in the middle of lunchtime so I avoid restaurants between 12PM and 2PM, so our timing was perfect since the lunch rush was over and it was mild and calm.
The minute we walked in we were greeted by a female manager which was nice since it seems like that rarely happens anymore –_​–
My mom and I were standing in line waiting for the cashier and a stuck up snotty lady had the nerve to say to us «If your not ready I can go ahead of you» SERIOUSLY?! You think I’m just standing here for fun?!! My mom put that lady in check and she shut up real quick with her fake smile –_​–
Our cashier was on top of it when he took our order since its always kind of intricate lol.
This café is setup to be so small, they put the tables so close together you might as well just push them together as a one table, because who really wants to sit inches next to a stranger while your trying to grub?! –_​–
While I was waiting for my food I was looking in the condiment area for butter for my roll and I never found any which is weird since most Panera’s keep butter outside for guests next to the lemon wedges but nothing here! –_​–
When the manager delivered our food to our table and when I asked her if they had butter she looked at me crazy as if I had cursed at her! I’m sure she was probably thinking that I didn’t need butter from the way I look but if a customer asks for something regardless how skinny or big they are its none of your business since your job is to be a manager not your doctor –_​–
It didn’t stop me from grubbing like a mad woman, my food was sooo good and I was starving so I sniffed my food up in 2 seconds! Everything was so fresh and on point! I’ve never not liked my food from any PB that I’ve been to! It’s just so darn good!
To end my meal I took home a chocolate chip muffie I scarfed down on the way home that tasted extraordinary! I’d definitely come back here while in the area for doctors appointments, maybe next time the manager will remember me and not question my butter choice –_​–
^_​_​^

I’d give this place a 3.5 but I’m giving a courtesy .5 star because the server service is great.
I always come to this Panera since is right up the street from the Ayala Science Library at UCI. It can get quite busy around lunchtime.
They are great about bringing your food out on time (within 10 mins) even when they are busy. I love the mac&cheese, it’s light because of the white cheddar and still creamy. I also love to get the chicken chipotle panini and the cashiers are happy to customize if you have any dietary restrictions. I like to substitute avocado, tomatoes and lettuce for any meats. The servers are so friendly and pleasant though their job can get difficult.
If you aren’t looking to have a full meal, the blueberry bagel (light), brownie and croissants (not so light) are nice snacks.
I docked them a star for the wifi. Though they advertise free wifi, it can be shaky. I come here to study and sometimes can’t connect to the internet. They also limit wifi time during lunch. Not that great for finals week, beware!