Panera Bread

People complain too much, if you are looking for Panera, good soup, salads, sandwiches and a fresh bakery — you have found it! Yes, it is the same as every other Panera — consistency is ideal with a toddler.
Also, we LOVE that twice per month on Tuesday the kids can register through the library for story time here. The kids do story time, like at the library but then all get to do a craft or color together. Panera provides the kids with milk and cookies, FREE. What a great thing for busy parents and to bring the community together!

I have been sick this week and Monday night I wanted some soup. I used the online ordering to order a large soup from the Panera on Caton Farm Rd. I got a confirmation, went out there, and was told they didn’t have my order. I checked the confirmation and the address was for a different location but the phone number was for this one. Irritated, I drove 15 minutes into Plainfield to the location listed in my email. They also did not have my order. At this point, I was very frustrated. Alison, the manager, took pity on me and called the Caton Farm location to cancel my order. She rang me up there and gave me a free cookie. She also said if my charge was not reversed to go back into the Caton Farm location and their manager Sarah would take care of it. So far the charge hasn’t been refunded, but I am waiting a few more days. Panera, get the correct information for each location on your online ordering function and things like this can be avoided.

Could not be more awful– worst food, I used to love Panera but they have lost a customer for good/​worse than high school cafeteria food

I came back and I was impressed. They had lots of bagels and I was a very happy customer. I will be back again. Thanks for listening to the feedback!

This is a really nice place to hang out when you’re stuck somewhere for a few hours. I went here twice while my fiancé was taking a class and I wasn’t able to hang out in the hotel room.
The place itself is great. There’s a back area that’s offset from the main front area, and it’s very quiet — ideal for doing work and keeping to yourself. My only complaint is that I got cold after a little while because the air conditioning was blasting, but outside was warm and humid, so I was fine once I stepped outside.
My favorite part of this experience was the staff. They were incredibly friendly and made sure to check to see if I needed anything every couple of hours. It wasn’t so much attention that I got distracted from my work, but enough that I felt happy with their service.
I really like Panera for their affordable breakfast options. Cheaper and better than Starbucks, in my opinion, and their coffee is refillable for as long as you’re there. Perfect for my situation at this particular time. Also, I love Panera’s You-​Pick-​2 option for lunch. I like having some variety in my meals, so being able to have a half a sandwich and a cup of soup is the best. I have never had a panini from here that I didn’t like. And my favorite soup is the garden vegetable — flavorful, but light. Obviously, it’s not amazing food and it isn’t incredibly cheap, but it’s reasonably priced and decent for what you pay.

In for a quick dinner on the way to Binny’s down the street, because Red Robin was a 30 minute wait, we hit Panera Bread, which was a nice 1000 step walk down the strip mall.
We were able to order immediately, and tried out what they had. I picked up a Steak and White Cheddar Panini, which was cooked nicely, and had some wonderfully spice horseradish to really make this one snap. To round it off, I grabbed a bag of Panera chips, and a Wild Berry Smoothie, which was so good that I wanted to lick the cup. But couldn’t. In public.
My wife on the other hand, went with their half sandwich and bowl special, selecting their Tomato mozzarella panini, and a Soba Noodle Chicken Bowl. For those of you who have found yourself prospecting for chicken in your chicken soup, trying to find that one small morsel of white meat that allowed the purveyor to actually call it chicken soup legally, well, you won’t have a problem here — the chicken was cut into large strips and layered right in the middle of the bowl. This was like a chicken bonanza — the bown was a meal in itself.
The location has Free WIFI as well, as usual. It’s almost redundant to say that with a Panera.
We left well-​satisfied, and headed down to Binneys to pick up some nice wine.

A few winters ago, the billboard across the street for the «grown-​up» grilled cheese and tomato soup reeled me in. But the «grown-​up» grilled cheese was actually really disappointing. I’ve made better grilled cheese with generic bread and American cheese slices. Oh well, I learned my lesson: stick to what I like.
The Tomato & Mozzarella panini, Cuban Chicken panini, and the soups are always consistent. I really like the tomato soup, it was creamy and had a little spice to it. The croutons are a bonus.
When I’m craving a salad or just on a healthy kick, their Strawberry Poppyseed & Chicken salad is my favorite salad from anywhere. The Mediterranean sandwich is a favorite as well.
The food is always consistent and so are the employees. There aren’t a lot of independent places in the neighborhood, so Panera is one chain I can get down with.
There’s a lot of room to relax here, whether you want to read, suck up the free Wi-​Fi or chat with a friend. This Panera doesn’t get as busy as the Naperville location near 95^th Street. It’s always chilly in here, so if you plan to stay, bring a sweater.

Good for a quick meal. Not so good if this is your main meal for the day. The service is always average. Very busy at lunch and the seating is not so good, as you are so close to the next table. The food is expensive for as close to fast food as you can get. I do like the breakfast sandwich, had one on vacation and it was just enough.

If you’ve been to one Panera, you’ve been to them all. Nothing extra special about this one. My only complaint is that I went in the evening after «dinner rush», and the service was very slow. I was the only person in the entire place and it took almost 15 minutes to get 2 pinions made, and 2 bowls of soup. While I was waiting to get my sandwiches and soup, I walked over go the bakery and ordered a dozen bagels. I was a little disappointed by the selection. There was only 3 to choose from. My food still wasn’t ready, so I ordered a coffee. After getting my coffee made, I walked back over to see if my food was ready, and they were just bagging it up. If they are this slow when I’m the only customer, I’d hate to see when they’re busy.

I get lunch here at least 3 times a week. The staff is always friendly and the reward card has been very rewarding!

Standard. If you’ve been to one Panera you’ve been to them all. It’s never the GREATEST FOOD OF ALL TIME and you don’t want it as your last meal but it’s all really good and you would totally eat it again and again and again. Why? Because it’s tasty and fresh.
This locaiton seems fine. Cashier was friendly but nothing to write home about. The cleanup seemed a bit slow though. People left their garbage on a booth table when we first got there and no one cleaned up up until we were almost done eating. Oh well. It’s not like I was waiting/​dying to sit there. Just sayin’.
Also — families come here. With children. Ones that probably like to run around and be loud. You have been warned!

Most of the time my family finds its food here to be standard Panera-​quality food. Good salads, sandwiches and soup. We like it, and we eat at Panera restaurants at least once a week if not more.
I like the fact that it’s much slower at this location than the Naperville location just north on Rt. 59. Parking’s decent out front, and since they’re right next to JJ and Panda we can pick up a few lunch/​dinner options with just one easy car trip.
Here’s my complaint though about this location: why do they accept phone orders when they don’t start preparing my order until I arrive? The whole idea of calling ahead is so that they can start cooking the food before I arrive so my time in the restaurant is minimal. I can’t remember the last time my simple order (usually a kids grilled cheese for my always-​starving 4 year old) was ready when I arrived at the cash register. It’s two slices of bread and cheese… is the risk so great that I might not show up after placing my order? Maybe they can use CallerId to minimize their risk here so the rest of us can get the intended benefit of calling ahead…

I’ve been here a few times for lunch. I would say that this is not the best run Panera in the world or in Plainfield for that matter. My french onion soup had a nice large piece of plastic in it from the container of frozen soup which they mark up by 400% no doubt. The manager made it right, but my appetite was gone. The apples are extremely small. The sandwiches still are good. I think the overall quality of Panera has gone downhill anyways. They need a facelift — this location especially.