Panera Bread

Convenience is what keeps me coming back to this location. I work downtown, so it takes me all of 5 – 10 minutes to go in, place my order and get to where I need to be.
If you’ve been to one Bread Co., you’ve been to them all. I’ll keep it short… This particular store sits nicely at the corner of 7^th and Russell. The intersection stays busy, so naturally the location gets a lot of foot action. This Bread Co. shares a moderate-​sized lot with Dollar Tree, with parking in the back, as well. For the times I’ve patronized, the lot is super clean. Clean on the inside, too.
The workers are pleasant for the most part. The exchanges back and forth are straight to the point and accurate, which I like. I’m always greeted when I walk in and there’s usually little to no waiting. Before transaction, they’ll ask if you have a rewards card. If not, they’ll make a suggestion for one. IMO, take advantage. It’s a really good rewards program with great benefits — I mean, it costs nothing. Free pastries? C’mon!
Hey 7^th St. store, thanks for making some of my mornings a little brighter!

I live down the street and stop in often before work or when hungover. I always get my food pretty quickly. The only complaint I have is time and time again I’m wishing they sold soup earlier than 10:30. 9am isn’t too early for soup. Disappointed in that until it changes.

I don’t understand how the St. Louis BREAD company can be out of nearly every type of bread before noon. I understand running low at the end of the day, but if you’re running out of your most popular bread before the lunch rush, that I don’t understand. And it’s on a daily basis. Props to the employees for throwing in free items to make up for it though.

I haven’t had a good experience here… Yet. I go here because it’s close but I won’t be back.

Love this bread co

I love Panera, but this one desperately needs new management and a new staff. I moved to Soulard 6 months ago, and have visited this location at least 5 times. They have never made my order correctly, and I do not order anything complicated. The staff is extremely slow, both in comprehending customers, and in making orders. My next door neighbors have even mentioned to me that they have noticed the same problem.
I started going to the other location downtown (the one on 6^th street), and I’d give them 5 stars, so I don’t know why the Soulard staff is so much worse. It is like night and day comparing the two.

Who doesn’t love panera bread?! Food is always so goodnight Just wanted to say Devon, was super nice and friendly. You are lucky to have him!

Worst bread co in the area. No music. No one there and still took 15+mins to get food. Then, it was wrong. Not to mention it was FREEZING COLD and I’m pretty OK with being cold.

Tuesday at 12:30 lunch rush. There are 10 people in line and only one cashier. She makes no effort to hurry or ask for help. I ask if she is the only cashier on duty– she glares at me and does not respond. No manager in sight. I end up walking out, as do several other people. This is not my first bad experience at this location but it will be my last as I won’t be back. I refuse to pay their ridiculous prices & be treated like crap. This store is known for bad employee attitudes and sketchy quality. I eat at Panera on a regular basis, but I just won’t go to this store anymore. Too bad since i work 6 blocks away. They get one star for location.

I am a regular Bread Co customer and have been to several St. Louis locations, but I will not be visiting this one again.
After watching a man who appeared homeless get kicked out of the store for loitering, I was approached by a security guard and asked if I knew about the one-​hour rule. When I asked what he was talking about, I was told that I had to purchase an item every hour to stay in the store. (It’s a business; they need money. I get it.) I had already purchased three items, and I would have spaced them out over the two hours I planned to be there if I’d known about this policy. Also, there were many empty tables. I went to ask the manager why there wasn’t a sign explaining this policy, and she rudely explained that she «had never seen me before» and «hadn’t seen me purchase anything.» I’d only been there forty minutes, and I still had uneaten food sitting in front of me.
Angry about the treatment (I didn’t know Bread Co was a «members only» club where I had to be personally acquainted with the manager before making my purchases), I went to leave. She followed me to my table and apologized, explaining that the one-​hour policy was necessary because of the «homeless situation» and that it wasn’t for people «like me.» She told me I was welcome to stay as long as I’d like, and the security guard had made a «mistake.»
St. Louis Bread prides itself on community service and even has a pay-​what-​you-​can charity store in Clayton, but here special policies are being created to target homeless people. If I can buy a bagel and a coffee and sit for two hours with my laptop, then a homeless man should be able to make the same purchase and sit for two hours to warm up. I ended up staying to finish my work, and a group of six well-​dressed men discussing a book took up a large table for well over an hour while slowly sipping their coffees and were never confronted.
I will not be returning to this location, and I’m seriously disappointed that there isn’t more effort at the corporate level to make sure individual store policies are in line with the community cares message they send out for good PR.

Unfriendly staff. Normally Bread Co’s staff are very friendly and helpful. Not my experience at this location.

So, I love breadco but this one is a little off. The lattes taste like hot milk and there always seems to be some kind of drama going on between employees. The other day, it was the middle of lunch rush, and one guy was working while everyone else was fighting. It was really annoying.

The food is always great and staff always smiling. It doesn’t matter what time of the day you come in, you will always get great service and fresh food. If you’ve never tried the cream of chicken and wild rice soup… well you have to the next time you’re in.

Been here many times over the last year or two. Friendly staff, never too busy. Food similar to any other Bread Co./Panera. There’s a convenient Dollar Tree next door if you need to grab a quick item. This location opens earlier than most.

Panera Bread (i.e. St. Louis Bread Company) is a really decent chain restaurant that serves coffee, soups, salads and artisan style pastries & sandwiches, and they do them well. I usually call ahead for orders at this location. The service has been friendly and seamless. They’ll even deliver for orders over $ 50 (ask for Jeannie).

They have the best diet pepsi… thai salad awesome… bagels great. service great… all around awesome…

This is my favorite Bread Co. location in STL. I come mainly to get writing done so that means I need table space, an outlet for my computer plug, good lighting, and free coffee refills. Free refills is not negotiable.
Of all the Bread Co’s I’ve been to, this is the most comfortable one to write at. It’s the least crowded, good parking, plenty of outlets (assuming you can get a booth), and nice wait staff. It feels clean and safe, too.
However, none of this is true if you come during lunchtime (11 AM to 2 PM). During that time, this place is insanely crowded and deafening. The restaurant transforms into a chaotic hot mess. Not to mention, internet access becomes limited to 30 minutes. Avoid it at all costs! Unless, of course, you want lunch.
If you plan to come here for a couple hours or more, be sure to bring a jacket or sweater – it gets pretty cold.

I have been to several St. Louis Bread Co/​Panera locations and I would have to say this ranks at the bottom of the list.
One of my coworkers is a huge Bread Co fan, and he would eat at them every day, if the rest of us would let him. He, however, does not go to this location even though it is only two minutes from where we work. Instead, he will drive 15 minutes to another location for a better experience.
I like their Cream of Wild Rice soup, and tend to time my visits based on when this soup is available (Sun, Tue, Thur). At this location, I went in one day and my bowl of soup was a giant gelatinous blob with a small amount of liquid around it. I’m not sure how they served it to me without seeing this, but when I took it back up they ended up having about 5 different employees come look at it. Finally, one of the employees that came out of the back room said he thought it looked like something that was kept with the soup before it was mixed to keep the moisture out. He said that it should have never made it into the actual soup, and they replaced my soup with another option.

I do enjoy Panera and everything it has to offer. I don’t think I have ever had a bad anything (service, food, drink, etc). I switch up my order every visit, but there are of course some items on the menu which are a must have! As we all know I am a Mac and Cheese fan and so I always recommend this as it is delicious. I am addicted to the Chicken Frontega when it is cold outside bc it is warm and filling. During the summer months the salads are always a hit. As for drinks, that all depends on my mood and the weather. Again, I switch it up all the time. Chai Tea Lattes are a great choice and during the fall season you can get the Pumpkin Latte which is quite yummy! Oh, and did I mention I have this amazing Panera rewards card? Well I do! I swipe it every time I order and it seems like I almost always get a free bagel or pastry after just 2 or 3 purchases! Free bagels and pastries??? Of course I love free stuff.

I love Panera/​Bread Co just as much as the next yuppie. In fact, I even fly over many great local coffee shops for the reliability of what I consider to be one of the greatest chains in America. This location has many perks, as well. Ample seating. Ample parking. Not too crowded.
But today I had a «oh-no-you-di-n’t!!!» moment there that made me almost scream «I am so Unilocaling this!»
Okay, actually, when I look back on it, I guess it isn’t that bad. Unless you’ve been a «work-​from-​homer» and have had to squat in coffee shops to avoid slowly going insane while working at home, you probably won’t understand. I feel guilty enough spending hours in coffee shops while purchasing the most inexpensive item there to qualify as a «customer». Panera, though, usually has enough seats, even during peak time, that I don’t feel too bad. I also usually order a crap ton of food there, and I try to space it out into one giant 3-​hour pastry fest so that I actually feel entitled to make them my own personal office.
They have a «policy» that during peak hours (11:30 to 1:30) that you only use the internet for 30 minutes. I get it. If you’re gonna mooch internet, you gotta respect the other patrons who just want a lightly toasted cinnamon crunch bagel and a place to eat it. I get it.
I feel that people can be left to their own judgment and it has worked at every other Panera I’ve used across this great country of ours.
But the Panera on 7^th and Russel? No, they felt the need to implement technology that cuts off your Internet after 30 minutes during peak time. I’m sitting there… barely having even made a dent in the amount of work I had to do… 10 dollars of food still sitting in front of me untouched… And bam, no Internet. I look around me… More than half of the tables are empty. Way more than half. There were, like, maybe 6 other parties in the whole shop, 7 if you count the ladies sipping coffee on the patio. So I sacked up and asked the manager if there was a way around it, and he told me I had to wait until 1:30.
I know this sounds like such a white girl problem. I know Panera doesn’t OWE me unlimited free Internet, and it DOES state on the sign to limit usage to 30 minutes… BUT COME ON!!! If there had been a line, or lots of people, I gladly would have left.
But being forced to leave when their store is empty? I am the kind of person who goes to Panera SOLELY to use their Internet. I am guessing that a significant portion of their clientele are the same way, which is why they offer free Internet to begin with.
So ANYwho. Dear Panera/​Bread Co/​Whatever Your Name Is This Week: Please go back to letting customers police themselves. No need to block my IP address just cuz corporate tells you that it’s peak hours. Give your employees a brown bag training on confrontation so that if a customer does exceed the time and it’s crowded, they can politely ask that person to wrap it up, instead of work-​blocking everyone automatically.

I LOVE Panera. I’ve never had a bad meal there. In the winter, it’s the Chicken and Rice soup. In the summer, it’s their veggie sandwich. In between, it’s their chicken ceasar salad and/​or chicken salad sandwich. I’m not a coffee drinker, but their mocha is pretty good. Pastries, such as their pumkin muffin, simply the best!

Don’t get me wrong… I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Bread Co. I go to the one on Grand (where I’ve really never had any problems) so I was excited that finally there was one close to my job.
This place is pretty new so I let a few mistakes slide early on, but if something is wrong every time you eat there then there must be a problem.
The lunch order is usually missing something (roll, chips etc…) and when we get scones in the morning… they are ALWAYS undercooked (orange scones and sometimes cinnamon) so it’s like dough in the center. I did call once to let them know that maybe they need a better timer or something and they were very nice about it and offered to give me a free pastry or some such thing but I was already at work by then.
Then a couple days later and they were the same way… doughy.
Service is EXTREMELY rushed when busy, which can be expected but it’s very noticeable here. We haven’t had too many friendly faces, just «anything else? Anything else?»
I am very grateful that we have a Panera in the neighborhood, but I wish I could say better things about it.
This is the type of place where you REALLY need to check over your order BEFORE you leave. It shouldn’t be this way.
We’ll keep our hopes up.