Panera Bread is a restaurant chain with over 1,500 bakery-cafés in the United States and Canada. The company was founded in 1983 by Ron Shaich and is based in St. Louis, Missouri, location number 1. Panera Bread regularly provides quality food at a reasonable price to its customers.
Ronald Shaich founded the company on November 16, 1983, when he purchased the St. Louis Bread Company, founded in 1931. With his start-up loan of $5,000 obtained from the St. Louis Jewish Community Center, Shaich converted the bakery into a café. The new restaurant offered baked fresh daily goods such as chicken divan and French dip sandwiches.
In 1993, Shaich purchased Au Bon Pain which had been on the verge of bankruptcy and merged it with St. Louis Bread Company to create one large cafe chain serving baked goods and full meals. The new company was named Panera Bread in honor of Panera's patron saint, Saint Honoré (Honoratus).
Along with the new business came Shaich's direction to provide higher quality baked goods such as bagels and croissants.
In 2006, Au Bon Pain was sold to the Jamba Juice Company for $215 million, with Panera Bread receiving a 7.5% share of the new company. In 2012, The St. Louis Bread Company and the St. Louis Bread Company Cafe announced that they were parting ways after decades of partnership and were planning a sale of their companies to a third party at an undisclosed price.
Today, Panera Bread has over 1,500 locations in 46 states. In 2009, Panera Bread acquired a minority stake in Paradise Bakery & Café and opened its first out-of-state restaurant at the South Coast Collection in Costa Mesa, California.
In 2013, the company announced it would begin phasing out trans fats from its products by 2016; the transition was completed on schedule. In 2014, it announced that it would cut sodium by 10 percent 2017. In 2016, the company announced it would also eliminate artificial colors from its food by 2017. It also announced plans to serve organic food at all locations, beginning in 2017.
Panera Bread gives back to charity through its Panera Cares programs, including soup kitchens and food banks.
Panera Bread
Cafe
18020 Bagley Rd Middleburg Heights, Ohio 44130No bagels though. Had power outage during night. But team was awesome. Pastries and HOT TEA was available. You never disappoint.
Panera Bread
Cafe
1941 S Reed Road Kokomo, Indiana 46902Service was Fast and Friendly Food was amazing
Panera Bread
Cafe
847 Boll Weevil Circle, Suite 100 Enterprise, Alabama 36330I had never been to a Panera and I've totally been missing out. It was so delicious. The store was super clean and the staff was friendly.
Panera Bread
Cafe
1837 Homer Adams Parkway, Suite B Alton, Illinois 62002Great place for a sandwich
Panera Bread
Cafe
3611 Plymouth Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105The process for drive-through order pick is flawed. I placed an order using the app and went to pick it up when notified my order was ready. However, I stood in the drive ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
4848 Veterans Boulevard Metairie, Louisiana 70006Very good atmosphere
Panera Bread
Cafe
609 3rd St Davis, California 95616The music sucks and way too loud, I want to enjoy my morning coffee in a relaxed atmosphere, not a nightclub. Please turn the music down
Panera Bread
Cafe
5653 S US Highway 41 Terre Haute, Indiana 47802Food is always rock solid and stale and my order is very rarely correct. I only go for the drinks anymore.
Panera Bread
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2009 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32301Panera Bread
Cafe
2415 Tarpon Bay Blvd, Unit 5 Naples, Florida 34119The pizza sandwich was kinda dry. Customer service was good from cashier. But for whatever reason they never called our order. The bathroom here looks and smells worst th ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
1830 NE Pine Island Rd Cape Coral, Florida 33909Had breakfast fair, great staff
St. Louis Bread Co.
Cafe
20 N Grand Blvd Saint Louis, Missouri 63105Staff was moving at a snails pace with a line out the door. Took 10min to get my bagel and cream cheese. And then they were out of cream cheese.
Panera Bread
Cafe
1740 South Robert Street, Suite 102 West St Paul, Minnesota 55118Update: since leaving this review the manager at the time contacted me and seems to have taken it seriously and fixed the issue. Ive had all of my orders since be correct ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
3404 Nelson Road Lake Charles, Louisiana 70605Youve upped your game on the salads and we noticed!!!!!
Panera Bread
Cafe
1927 Telegraph Rd Monroe, Michigan 48162The best Panera ever!
Panera Bread
Cafe
901 Howe Ave Sacramento, California 95825Well I'm not big fan of bread bowls orglutenoues yeast packed sandwiches. I do love their brocolanc cheese soup bowl and a chocolate drizzled croissant. Excellent mango t ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
10451 Champion Farms Drive Louisville, Kentucky 40241Loved the staff member who kept trying to get me to buy the cookies. He was fun, but I was stubborn!!! Food was great, place was clean, staff was helpful. No lines and qu ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
17177 Mercantile Boulevard Noblesville, Indiana 46060Hard working people here. I know it is a stressful thing to keep up with orders, but they do a good job by doing their job.
Panera Bread
Cafe
500 Winchester Ave Ashland, Kentucky 41101Absolute best experience in my life! Went to a Panera in a different location and had a bad experience so the manager from the ashland location took care of my meal and m ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
10061 W Flagler Street Miami, Florida 33174very good soups, I recommend especially broccoli soup and tikka masala. I didn't like the onion soup - very salty and when it comes to ingredients, it's just onion, but ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
3738 Broadway St Quincy, Illinois 62305Panera Bread
Cafe
23388 State Road 54, Suite 107 Lutz, Florida 33549AC was on very high. At to go outside to get warm. Ok, new crew, lower chill factor! Great staff, too. It's been a long time since I stopped, but things are great. AC was ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
1101 W Bird Boulevard Peoria, Illinois 61615Love the cheesy broccoli soup.
Panera Bread
Cafe
13201 Atlantic Blvd Jacksonville, Florida 32225Great food, kitchen sink cookie is to die for
Panera Bread
Cafe
1241 Point Mallard Pkwy/AL-67, Suite 414 Decatur, Alabama 35601There's never a bad day at Panera, especially during the winter when the squash soup is on the menu! The "pick two" menu option is always my favorite as I can get one of ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
2104 South 3rd Street Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32250Starting 04/04/2024 they have introduced a new budget friendly menu. Green goddess caprese melt & other last seasons sandwiches are now available in half size. Mac and ch ... more
St. Louis Bread Co.
Cafe
1650 Clarkson Road Chesterfield, Missouri 63017Honestly I feel like all Paneras suck now a days, but this one is top of my list. Its dirty and the employees are flat out RUDE. I come during the week, around lunch time ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
500 South National Avenue Springfield, Missouri 65802Everything tastes delicious, and the north Kansas staff is excellent especially the manager in the mornings
Panera Bread
Cafe
825 16th Street SW Rochester, Minnesota 55902Always good , I wish coffee temp would be hotter. They are always clean inside and out.
Panera Bread
Cafe
300 Route 202 Raritan, New Jersey 08869I enjoyed the Teriyaki Chicken bowl for the first time. It was flavorful. I got the whole portion and it was a great size. I selected an apple as my side but it ended ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
3046 Solomons Island Rd Edgewater, Maryland 21037Very clean , food yum. Great workers
Panera Bread
Cafe
5600 A Urbana Pike Frederick, Maryland 21702Love to enjoy Panera here. Often this location is a little dirty, but today was cleaner and there was more staff working. The staff was nice and food was good as always. ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
4800 Whitesburg Dr S, Ste F Huntsville, Alabama 35802The vibe here is absolutely amazing. Manager and staff are friendly and provide excellent customer service. People like it and make it there go to for not only food but s ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
269 Livingston St, Suite B Northvale, New Jersey 07647Delicious Coffee but like warm not hot
Panera Bread
Cafe
3571 N Freeway Blvd, Suite 101 Sacramento, California 95834Worst customer service been waiting for doordash pickup for so long irresponsible stafff
Panera Bread
Cafe
200 Doug Baker Blvd, Suite 100 Birmingham, Alabama 35242Broccoli cheese soup bowl is my favorite.
Panera Bread
Cafe
380 Palladio Pkwy, Suite 301 Folsom, California 95630Come for the breakfast, but have to order ahead when close to 10.30; hate it when the online server doesn't work. I do wish they had diabetic options on the menu. Dietary ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
4600 Frederica Street Owensboro, Kentucky 42301we came to the Panera bread in Owensboro to order. My daughter wanted a green goddess sandwich which is on a baguette. As so was my husband, we went to the counter to ord ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
900 E McGalliard Rd Muncie, Indiana 47303Cold soup when we told them they didn't say sorry just that we have to use the microwave by the tea machines, food all over the floor
Panera Bread
Cafe
1315 E Ireland Rd South Bend, Indiana 46614Get the Sip Club if you come here often!
Panera Bread
Cafe
220 N Burkhardt Rd Evansville, Indiana 47715Great tasting food. Fast service and clean every time I eat there.
Panera Bread
Cafe
6600 Menaul Blvd NE, Suite 1000 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110I literally just came from there. Im mentioning Alex because he was the best part of my visit. I think he was a table busser and he was super friendly and nice and ask us ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
3151 Atlanta Highway Athens, Georgia 30606You can never go wrong at Panera. Love the You Pick Two
Panera Bread
Cafe
181 Tom Hill Sr Blvd, Suite C Macon, Georgia 31210Had a quick lunch with my wife.We had the delicious broccoli, cheese soup.The bread dipped in the soup was delicious also.
Panera Bread
Cafe
2320 Black Rock Turnpike Fairfield, Connecticut 06825Good pizza and sandwiches.
Panera Bread
Cafe
9309 Center Lake Drive, Suite 100 Charlotte, North Carolina 28216I'm a member of the Sip Club so I'm at several stores in several states. All have the same great customer service. Not a bad experience yet.
Panera Bread
Cafe
3409 Erie Boulevard East, Suite 155 Syracuse, New York 13214Great place for lunch. Or just a cup of coffee with a good company. Business lunch. Afternoon caffeine cure. All work at Panera bread.
Panera Bread
Cafe
609 South Perryville Road Rockford, Illinois 61108Fast real food service
Panera Bread
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9717 NW 41st Street Doral, Florida 33178Amazing service!!
Panera Bread
Cafe
650 Main Avenue, (Route 7) Norwalk, Connecticut 06851I ordered the chicken chipotle sandwich and am highly disappointed! I advise everyone that goes here, Norwalk CT location, to double check their order. This is the 2nd ti ... more
