Saint Louis Bread Co.

On Chippewa there is a Starbucks across the street from St Louis Bread Co. I normally choose to go to Starbucks just because they’re the coffee place, not that I don’t like Bread Co I choose bread go for my lunch. Today when I was going for coffee I chose Bread Co I chose Bread Co over Starbucks because the line was shorter. I was happy to try their coffee at Bread Co. The price of Bread Co’s large latte is slightly more expensive than the cost of Starbucks coffee which surprised me a little. So when I got home and tasted the coffee it tastes like steamed milk and hardly any coffee at all. After spending over $ 9 on two large lattes that were not so good, I decided to call and speak with the manager. Her first reaction was to be defensive and said I know just who you are I waited on you, and then said you did not order large lattes. I said yes I did, and she asked me if I got almond milk to which I replied I did not. So I asked how many shots of espresso are in a large latte, she said there were two. I said our lattes were not very good they tasted just like steamed milk and after a long silence she said well I’m sorry and we ended the call. I’m not one to call and complain in fact I think I’ve done that maybe twice in my life but I’m a little surprised at Bread Co’s lack of response. I get coffee in the morning fairly often and I won’t make that mistake twice from now on I’ll wait in the line at Starbucks because it’s worth it.

I keep trying to find a way to be on board with this place. Got the Thai chicken salad again today to go. Salad seems to be lacking chicken and again contained rinds. Maybe I should try a different location, as I still have money left on the gift card I received. The person at the ordering section was a delight, but the guy who gave me my food, was rude. We are going to a different location next time.

Overall I like St. Louis Bread Co. The menu, coffee, tea, etc are a good product for a decent price. It could be a little bit more affordable ($ 4.83 small coffee, bagel and spread). I think charging 3.00 total would be a fair price but oh well. They have free wifi which works great but if you spend some time there such as working on a paper or searching the internet, they keep the music very loud and temp very cool. I think they do that to promote turnover of the tables. I requested they turn down the music and they did not do so.
This location has a drive-​thru which is convenient but if you order online they refuse to give you your order in the drive thru. You have to go in even if you request on the special comments section that you would prefer to use the drive thru because you are sick and do not want to get their other patrons sick. (true story).

This review gets a 5 because of Nancy who took my order today!
I went in for a work lunch. I’m doing the Whole 30 eating plan so that makes it hard to eat at restaurants — no dairy, sugar, legumes or bread! That eliminates almost everything. Nancy took my order and I told her I’d have the kale Caesar salad with no cheese. I told her of my restrictions (I expected the dreaded eye roll for the time it would take to tweak my whole order). She enthusiastically jumped in to tailor it to fit my needs. She took out what I couldn’t have and added In some veggies to replace them. She was very sweet and helpful.
Thanks Nancy for making a difficult situation easy!

Pros: they make great souffles at this location, and half of the staff is really nice and exudes great customer service.
Cons (and its a BIG one): The training. It’s very clear that newer employees are not adequately trained.
One woman, who typically works drive-​thru, has managed to mess up my order ALL THREE TIMES she has been working there while I’ve gone through. And people, I don’t order anything complicated. Sandwiches as is, coffee with nothing in it, etc.
Look, I’m not hard to please. I worked fast food as a teenager. I know it’s hard, and I know it can suck. BUT THREE TIMES, EVERY TIME. She either needs a hearing aid, or better training. Also, keep in mind that I’ve lived all over the country. I speak completely standard American English. No one knows where I’m from. I am easy to understand. Moreover, she gets testy with me when she’s the one who messed up my order. Buying breakfast is a luxury, not something that is supposed to cause me more stress than my already very stressful life. It makes me not want to go there again, but they’re the closest one to my house. I would take it to twitter, but I’m really not trying to get this woman fired. But she needs more training, or to be moved to working up front.
Keep in mind, the first several times I went through the drive-​thru, I had no problems. As I said, I think with seasoned employees, they’re great. But the new employees are not given proper training.
Another fun example: a few days ago, I went to order some food inside because I didn’t feel like dealing with testy/​badly trained drive-​thru employee on my birthday. Instead, I got to deal with easily frazzled, poorly trained front cashier employee. Lucky me. She, again, messed up my order several times, forgetting to apply my coupons that I had specifically stated I wanted applied several times, and putting the wrong sandwich in. It got corrected. She wasn’t mean or testy, thankfully, but she also didn’t apologize, and it held up the line.
I frequent Panera locations at many places, and I have a very mobile life in the STL area. The Bread Co/​Paneras on Broadway in Soulard, on South Grand in Tower Grove, in Eureka, and in Wildwood have never made me want to complain to anyone. I’m not picky. Just stop messing up my order, and train your employees halfway decently before you have them working independently.

Ordered a strawberry chicken salad in the drive thru last night… got home… no chicken.

Their opening crew needs to be taught some customer service. I walk in and the woman at the register is talking to a co-​worker and completely ignoring me. After about 2 minutes she turns around and says «What?» I reply «Excuse me?» Then she says «What do you want?» I experience this level of service, each time I come here. It’s nothing like I have experienced at other locations over the years. Pretty sad…

BreadCo is a good old standby for me. I love most of their sandwiches, their salads are delicious, and the soups are hearty (go for the bread bowl!). Growing up in St. Louis, I rarely call it Panera like the out-​of-​towners, and I have many a fond memory of Sunday breakfast with my family, getting the cinnamon crunch bagel breadsliced with honey walnut cream cheese.
These days, I’ll opt for the bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich on asiago. I’ll typically get their carmel latte, which is a little sweeter than I’d like but still super good. The other things I really enjoy are the frontega chicken sandwich You-​Pick-​Two with the mac n cheese, always with a baguette as a side.
Salads at BreadCo are pretty standard. I stick with the Greek salad because the dressing isn’t too overbearing and they put plenty of kalamata olives and feta cheese on it.
On the bakery side, I really like their chocolate cake. It’s always moist and dense and the icing is just the right amount of firmness. My favorite pastry is the chocolate croissant — flaky croissant with a melty stick of chocolate in the middle. Get them when they’re fresh though, because the more melty the chocolate, the better.
This particular location is great because it’s convenient to my work and I love their outside seating. It’s on a busy street, but they have a privacy wall that creates the sense of privacy and blocks some of the noise. The service is always prompt even though I’ve been there multiple times when they’re really busy. Will definitely be going back for more.

The food is not too bad. I like the pastries better. The only entertainment I got from my visit yesterday was my wife found a curly hair in her chicken cobb salad with avacado. She took it in to echange it. Now I get to poke fun of her and say «How was your pube hair salad?» :D

Bread Co in general is great. The prep staff at the St Louis Hills location this morning apparently woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I’ve not heard this much clattering and crashing since Jackie Gleason opened his closet. Poor attitude for an otherwise pleasant neighborhood anchor.

I am not about to write a review on the food at Panera/​Bread Co. This is St. Louis– unless you’ve been living under a rock, I imagine you’ve had your fair share of food at one of the MANY Panera restaurants across the city.
I am writing about the service– it’s excellent! I live in the St Louis hills area and frequent their drive-​thru. It moves quicker than McDonald’s! They’ve never gotten an order wrong and the attendants are always so nice.
This location is always slammed but parking never seems to be an issue.

I eat here almost daily because it’s relatively healthy, always delicious, and great service.

This is a really quiet Bread Co for a Sunday afternoon. Good for getting work done, free wifi and a few outlets. Turning in is a little awkward but there is ample parking once you get in the lot. My favorite things from Bread Co are their pastas, asiago bagels, and iced chai lattes. THis one is consistent with the brand!

The food quality/​quantity to price ratio isn’t too bad. Got a signature sandwich and broccoli cheddar soup. Both were pretty good but the sandwich could have been a bit more fresh. They have some really good tea though.

St. Louis Bread Co (AKA Panera) is one of my favorite chain restaurants. Sandwiches, salads, bagels, coffee, and pastries are their specialty and they do it well. They offer free wi-​fi, they’re fairly efficient and they have a drive thru at this location. Last time I was there, the guy in front of me paid my tab for no reason other than to be nice. Gotta luv the Bread Co!

cough: drivethru:cough.
Pretty much all you need to know, other than the fact that this is the busiest Paner… I mean BREAD CO I’ve ever been to, and if your boss sends you there to get some boxes of coffee, you will be waiting for an hour (unless you call ahead of time). This Bread Co is super efficient, though, and is used to being slammed all the time.
Today when I went to pay in the drive thru, the clerk informed me that the gentleman in the car ahead of me had paid for my food. I was all like damn, I’ve still got it! Dudes, even through tinted windshields and sun glare, are drawn to me and want to Sugar Daddy me. I was about to explain this to her when she said, «It’s a chain.» She told me that they had some sort of «do gooder» chain going on where people were paying for the car behind them. She asked me if I wanted to pay for the car behind me and keep the chain going.
I picked my ego up off my lap, brushed it off, and said ohhhhhhh… Ummmmmm…
So many things were running through my mind. What if the dude behind me had lunch for his whole office? Would it be tacky to ask the cashier how much his order was before deciding if I was going to pay for it or not, kind of like when I say no to adding a dollar to save world hunger?
Feeling pressured to «do good», I said yes. Luckily his total was almost the same as mine. I know. I’m such a selfish bastard.
I drove off all annoyed. Is it too much to ask to just pay for my own lunch? How is this chain doing anyone any good? Is this sort of like Panera’s «pay what you want» model? Does the owner of Panera smoke a lot of weed or something?
But considering the fact that I’m still thinking about it 8 hours later, and I’m still smiling about it, I’d say that the pay chain at least made a few people laugh.
Except the dude in front of me who paid for my ten dollar meal after probably only ordering a one dollar coffee, and then who didn’t even get my number. Dude, if you’re out there, thanks for lunch, and by all means, message me for my phone number. Pay chain or not, I know you want me.

This is not my favorite Bread Co., but it’ll do in a pinch.
I needed to spend a couple of hours writing somewhere beyond my usual haunts. I had already run a few errands around St. Louis Hills, so I figured I’d swing by the Bread Co. on Chippewa, do some work, and enjoy both a late lunch and an early dinner (told you I’d be there a while). I also needed to meet with someone, and this was an area convenient for both of us.
For lunch, I had the «You Pick Two» deal with mediterranean veggie sandwich and a cup of black bean soup. I’ve had both of these items before, and they were fine as usual. The soup could use a bit of spice and the bread for that particular sandwich tends to rip the roof of my mouth, but I knew that going in. It was all fine and dandy.
For dinner, I had a bowl of the black bean soup. Yes, I realize that I just lightly complained about it in the paragraph above, but 1) I really needed the beans for protein and 2) I’m vegetarian. I also had a small baguette.
When ordering/​checking out, the cashier asked if I had a Panera card. I replied that I did but that it wasn’t with me and asked if she could look up my card by inputting my phone number. She did that and told me that it wasn’t coming up. I asked her to please try again, as it had worked in a Bread Co. just a few days prior. She sighed, punched in numbers and said «It’s not in the system.» I said that I didn’t know what that meant, and she shrugged, gave me my change and receipt and asked the next customer what she wanted to order. I was too stunned to do anything.
I had a heck of a time finding outlets for my laptop that day. The place was crowded during the expected mealtimes, but it was difficult locating outlets even when the crowds went away. There just aren’t as many outlets at this location as there are at other locations. I really hope the company just starts building them into the floors instead of along walls from now on.
Moreover, this location was very chilly. I find many Bread Co locations to be on the cool side, but this one was legitimately blowing cold air instead of heat where I was sitting. I spoke to a cashier about it, who promised to talk to a manager. The situation improved slightly for a while, but that was because the air turned completely off, not because there was heat. Cool air soon began blowing again, and I talked to a different cashier. She also promised to figure out what was going on, but the same thing happened. I spoke to a third gentleman who came by collecting dishes, and he ran off to fiddle with the system, returning to see if things were better. Again, the cool air had stopped but there was no heat coming from the vent. Naturally, the cool air began blowing again 20 minutes later.
I tried switching seats when the crowds vacated, but though I got out of the direct path of the air, I could only move within my section. I don’t know if other sections had the same problem with cold vents. Unfortunately, I was forced to put on my heavy coat while eating and typing, as I still was waiting for my meeting partner to arrive after he had trouble driving in that day’s very heavy winds.
I’m going to have to start keeping a hoodie and fingerless gloves in my car at all times for Bread Co., Starbucks and some other chain cafes that seem to keep the thermostat set to 60 degrees year-​round. Granted, I should be stockpiling clothing layers during the winter anyway for emergencies, but I’m disappointed that it’s now necessary for coffeeshop tolerance.

Just your average STL Bread Co with a bunch of super sweet employees. The new patio is pretty rad too. Super busy location with the bonus of a drive through! What?! WHAT? I predicted this in my earlier reviews of Bread Co. Love the convenience.

How lucky did I get that the Bread Co closest to my house got a DRIVE THRU! Yep, I said it. A Bread Co with a drive thru.
I was skeptical at first, but I gotta admit, I’ve tried it twice so far and both experiences have been great. Amazingly, they were super fast, efficient, and over-​the-​top polite. Not what you expect out of a drive thru!
Their hazelnut coffee is my latest obsession… and now it’s gotten a little easier to get my fix.

The Jalapeño Cheddar bagel strikes again! Still as good as I remember. I always get my bagels bread sliced, it seems to last longer and I find it easier to eat. I enjoyed my bagel with a cup of their Hazelnut coffee, which hits the spot every time.
This location is large with plenty of seating, free WiFi and friendly staff. I started a Panera rewards account too. They have a computer station where I could activate my card right away, or I could have done it at my leisure at home anytime. I go to the Bread Co a lot, or Panera as I grew up knowing it, and now I’ll start to get something back in the form of free bagels or pastries that will be credited to my Panera account. The only catch are these freebie items are only good for a limited once they are credited to the account.

Need a fast breakfast? Go to Bread Co., it is far better then a sausage biscuit from a fast food place. The breakfast sandwiches are totally awesome, as are the small quiches.
We can never make up our minds so we share several items to get a taste of our favorites. We’ll share a sandwich, quiche and a scone (for something sweet).
The customer service here is down home friendly. I’d highly recommend this be the location used for training the staffs of other STL Bread Co’s.
My only negative of this location is that they are putting in a drive-​up window. I know it’s weird, but I just don’t like drive-​up windows. I prefer to park, go inside and experience true customer service in person and not through a speaker box and window.