Did you ever know that you're my hero? Â And everything I would like to eat?
I really loved my panini sandwich....you are the bread beneath my wings.
Picture the scene: Â A flash thunderstorm while walking along the shorefront. Â Dashing toward safety, I need a place to eat. Â Out of the shadows of the rain (and thanks to my Yelp app on my phone), I find Panera...a warm, safe haven from the downpours outside.
I had a Chipotle chicken panini, chips, a cookie and lemonade. Â Okay, it's kind a pricey and you get like seven potato chips in the bag, but the sandwich was so delicious (a bit messy) and the overpriced peanut butter cookie I had was tasty too.
The place has friendly staff and is very clean, so I think it's a good place. Â They just need to up the chip content in their bags. Â Thanks to Panera, I can fly higher than an eagle, for they are the bread beneath my wings.
I recently had an amazing experience at this Panera location. My company office is located nearby and we frequent this particular Panera for lunch. While placing a large take out order recently, when I arrived back to the office I realized I was missing one of the items from our order. I called Panera to let them know what happened and assumed they would let me know they would prepare a new one and I could go and pick it up but this was not the case. Not only did they hand deliver the salad to our office, they included two vouchers, and two cookies in my bag with an apology from the employee that delivered the food! I was beyond impressed by this customer service as I work in a Contact Center! Great job Panera!
Review Source:Restaurant Review
Fresh sandwiches and salads with a sweet treat to go. I have lived in Streeterville for 4 years now and had no idea that Panera closes at 9 pm and not 5 pm like einstein bagel down the street. I was expecting poor service given locations in chicago, but I was completely surprised. The staff was super friendly and were nice enough to tell me that I had earned a free pastry on my new panera card. Unfortunately they did not help me link up with a permanent panera card. I ended up getting the Chipotle chicken on toasted french with applewood bacon, cheddar, tomato, and chipotle spread. Sandwich was fresh and full of flavor, not too spicy with the chipotle sauce. It comes with either french bread, chips, or an apple. Free WIFI also while you eat. I also got a free cinnamon roll which was large enough for two to share!
Pro- super friendly staff, mypanera club that gives you free rewards, fresh, FREE WIFI
Con- did not offer to link up my temporary mypanera card to a permanent one
Hidden deal- Sign up a mypanera card which gets you a free pastry! American express link like love gave a 10 dollar credit after spending 10 dollars. Limit one
I love Panera. Â Gotta love their soups and paninis! Â I wish their salads contained more than iceberg lettuce though. Â Some argula or other field greens would be superb, but that's probably feedback for corporate rather than this location itself. Â
The Panera staff at this location are very friendly and know how to keep the line moving during peak hours. Â However this Panera location gets extremely packed during lunch. Â I have found myself sitting silently in a booth with a complete stranger due to lack of enough space to sit down and eat. Â I did see a lot of people on their laptops, not eating, so maybe if they shared their space or moved to an armchair instead of taking up a whole booth to themselves, maybe other patrons would have a space to enjoy lunch. Â I feel this is something the staff can monitor and help with as well. Â It ruins my experience when I can't enjoy my soup while it's fresh and hot due to lack of seating space. Â
Great food. I wish they had more seating though.
This is close to where I work so I don't have much choice but to frequent this place.
The staff is mostly friendly and approachable except one who I feel gives off weird vibes. Maybe --I-- make her give me weird vibes.
The pastries are dry, tasteless and small in portion.
It's comfy and cozy enough to zone out for a few precious early morning minutes before I work in the craziness that is the hospital X_X.
We had 6 meals, they were bound to get one screwed up...but 3. Â That's not good odds. Â
The you-pick-two is how I roll. Â Smokehouse turkey panini and an Asian sesame chicken salad. Â Not nearly the fabulous presentation or portion size on the salad that I've had at some of my favorite Panera's.
Solid 3 stars.
The thing I like about Panera Bread is that the french bread they make is one of the best french bread I've eaten. And it's the same at every Panera Bread / St. Louis Bread Co that I've been to around the country. The bread is made fresh and late at night, they actually start handing them out. The bagels are also cooked fresh and if you manage to get one right out of the oven, you are in luck my friend. I absolutely love the asiago cheese bagels and was thrilled when they started making the asiago cheese bagel square (asiago cheese bagel squared so you can put them in your french onion soup).
The salads are enormous and made fresh in front of you. I am a big fan of the Greek salad and if I'm feeling a salad, I almost always get one. The french onion soup is another mean hit where they melt the cheese into the soup and throw cubes of french onion bread in to further enhance the experience. The tomato mozarella panini is one of my personal favorites and I'd like to say that I made become a permanent fixture on their menu after I ordered it every single time I went there the day the panini made it's debut.
The strawberry smoothies are ok. I hate when they add whip cream to it even after I told them no whip cream. The mango smoothie is also decent but not as good as the strawberry. You can def. taste the ridiculous amounts of sugar in the mango one. They do put some chocolate syrup in each mango drink which kind of adds a diferent taste to the smoothie. Not a bad taste but just a bit different.
You know how they say all chains are the same....Meh!. The person took my order was new so I will give her slack, but I ordered no mustard on my sandwich. Â Guess what I got all mustard and nothing else. Â Simple mistake, but when they remade the sandwich they literally put half tuna on one side and half mayonnaise. Ick. I also got a brownie that was severally underbaked.... But i will say they have friendly service, but I will stick to my regular Panera from now on and venture to other places downtown for lunch.
Review Source:It's Panera. Or, as I'm inclined to call it forever & ever: The St. Louis Bread Co.... because that's what it is. Anyway... it's a chain, they're all basically the same. The highlights of this particular location:
-It's busy. Meaning HELLA busy, all the time. Yes, dear students, I'm lookin' at you, with your laptops taking up a 4-top for 2 hours. Move already.
-I generally get take-out here (see first point), and they seem to always manage to smoosh my sandwiches when shoving them into the tiny bag, and that makes me sad. But, it still tastes good... just messier.
-They're fast, so if you're in a hurry, the line usually moves pretty quickly.
PS. Not location-specific... but... Panera now has a rewards card (making it number 9 on my keychain... holy jeez!), and I'm excited to find out what the rewards are. After spending ~$10/meal for a solid 15 years, I feel like I deserve a freebie or two.
Free wifi, decent food. I don't frequent Panera because I generally don't like bakery items or sandwiches, but their soups have always been delicious, if a touch on the salty side. But again, that's because I like my soups blander than most. Most people would probably rate Panera higher than I would.
Review Source:I frequently visit this Panera location given its proximity to work. There is usually a line, but I can appreciate that almost always the registers are all fully staffed so don't be disheartened by a long line - it goes fast!
Lots of indoor and outdoor seating here, or if you are looking to take it to go, they will get everything ready for you. A perk in dining in is free refills on soft drinks & tea! The staff is very friendly here, even in the midst of lunch-time chaos.
I also LOVE that they have calorie counts on the menu and offer such a great variety of soups daily. And don't get me started on the bread... the French baguette is always served warm, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
One small gripe I have is that the to-go portion sizes are significantly smaller than when dining in. A few times I have gotten a chicken noodle soup bowl, only to find about 70% broth and very little chicken and noodles.
This is a great option for lunch time - or even an afternoon pick me up--the pumpkin muffie is a fave of mine. Get a cup of coffee and you'll cruise on through the workday. I have also ordered from Panera Catering for events at work and the orders have always been on time & of great quality.
This review is a little biased, because, on a whole, I think Panera is expensive ... $15 for soup, sandwich and a drink just seems too much. Â I wound up going here because it was labor day, and the West Egg closed early. Â Panera's sandwiches always look like they're kind of thrown together haphazardly, making a Subway sandwich look like a thing of art. Â I got the chicken tortialla soup, which wasn't bad.
The other thing you gotta look out for is that it's in the heart of Northwesternville (I mean Streeterville), which means it caters to both clinicians and future doctors of America, who sit there with their laptops jawing about bodily functions. Â This afternoon, I got a dissertation on the pap smear, and how it aids in clinical diagnosis of certain female conditions. Â Perfect lunch topic as I'm eating my overpriced turkey bravo sandwich.
I stopped here for a Sunday lunch. Â Great location and plenty of seating inside and outside. Â The Cuban panini on Focaccia bread is delicious and pretty decen in size! Â The Cherry Pastry and Cobblestone (cinnabun with stuff on top) are sweet and tasty as well. Â If you buy a meal (sandwich, chips and drink) you can buy the pastries for $1/each instead of whatever price.
Btw, if you're looking to hit the Lake Front path or Navy Pier from this Panera. Go south 1 block to Ohio, then East 2 blocks where it ends. Â There's an underground tunnel to take you over to the path and to Navy Pier.
so let me preface this review by saying that i'm not normally a whiny person, especially not with things like chain restaurants and service. but after today, i had to yelp it out...
i've been going to this panera for the past few months because it's relatively close to where i work, and usually pretty fast. a few weeks ago, i ordered a soup and sandwich lunch, and was enjoying it until i ran across a large piece of plastic about halfway through the broccoli and cheddar soup. alright, so no big deal--i'm sure the plastic comes from when the employees have to cut open the bag that the soup comes in and somehow it slipped in. it didn't deter me from slamming the rest of it during my rushed lunch break.
then today, i ordered my usual panini and soup combo, and noticed that the bread wasn't well toasted. i'm not normally fussy, so i gave it a shot. within a few bites, i realized that the entire thing was uncooked--the bacon, cheese, and chicken all close to frozen. after debating for a few moments, i decided to bring it to the attention of the employee who made it when i noticed that the chicken was also pink. he stated that "panera always keeps its chicken and bacon cold to maintain them." (i'm still not really sure what that means. "maintaining" them in the freezer, sure, but why serve cold meat on a hot panini?). when i told him that i always get this, and its always well done, he mentioned that i probably just ordered something different than what i meant to, and turned his back to resume his conversation with the other employee.
in sum, the food at this location is pretty inconsistent and the staff seems indifferent. for the prices (9 bucks for half a sammie and cup of soup!), you may be better off at the corner bakery a few blocks away.
This Panera is close to where I live and a great place to study. I was here for more than 6 hours today. Yes, I'm one of those people. (Sorry.)
The food is good (I mean, Panera is a chain so you know what to expect), and I heart the free refills on coffee/soda.
Bathrooms are clean, and the background noise is pretty easy to tune out.
Probably my favorite place to bring out the books at. You know any place open all day with free wi-fi and located next to a medical school will be a student haunt. Panera does a good job making it a comfortable one.
The chai tea is especially good here! Remember to carry something really warm though because it's quite chilly in here as their air ducts are located overhead and blast air quite strongly!
1 star for free wifi and for pleasant cashier and guy cleaning the tables
1 star for the yummy soup and sandwich. But 0 stars due to dirty spoons and for my cousin's sandwich that looked like someone took a bite out of it.
I usually like Panera but this place wasn't great. Oh well, can't have everything.
Panera holds a special place in my heart. The free wifi (unlimited except during peak lunch hours), refill-able coffee if you're dining in, and free pastries around closing time means I'm often plopped there for hours at a time.
But... I ordered food to-go for the first time today, and WTF? The salad is no more than 1/3 the size of what you get if you're dining in! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE/ACCEPTABLE?!?!
The good:
- the lovely cashier who helped me with the menu, since I don't think I've eaten at a Panera since I lived in St. Louis (where it's called St. Louis Bread Co. aka Bread Co.)
- food was ready quickly - by the time I got my drink
- the outdoor seating
The bad:
- $9 for 1/2 a sandwich and a cup of soup? Â Really?
- tables weren't clean. Â There seemed to be some confusion as to whether people leave their dishes or place them somewhere. Â I came in right after the lunch rush, so finding a dish-free table was a challenge. Â I finally settled on one that desperately needed to be wiped down.
- sure, the Wi-Fi is free, but not before you click through a page warning you not to linger! Â Funny, since their radio commercials advertise how it's a nice place to stop in and relax with your laptop... Â riiiiggght....
The ugly:
- my soup was so greasy it was pretty disgusting. Â The sandwich wasn't all that either. Â So for $9 I didn't even leave satisfied.
- that dirty table I settled on was on the other side of the half-wall separating the tables from the counter. Â Every 3 seconds someone's buzzer would go off when their food was ready. Â Perhaps the most annoying sound ever.
Hey Panera/Bread Co. - thanks for reminding me why I haven't eaten there in over 8 years.
Hands down the worst sandwich I have ever paid money for. Note to Panera Bread: a panini needs to be grilled somehow, you cannot put in it the mircrowave until the cheese is melted into a rubbery rock and call it a panini!
I didn't want to eat here, but it was near our hotel and we needed something quick, so I gave in. At least it came with potato chips.
i like panera, it's fast as long as you're not going at lunch time because the line is crazy but the food is good. a little overpriced but it's still good..this one is way too small for this area considering it's got 3 NW grad schools and the hospitals within walking distance but otherwise i was happy to see it open last year. Free wifi and coffee refills give it 4 stars!
Review Source:This place was alright, I've seen better. Â Not as big but it was right next to the hotel I was staying at. Â There was wireless, but only for a limited amount of time (I think 30 min), what's up with that? Â You know some of us with slow laptops, it takes 10 minutes just to start the computer up. Â And uploading anything onto facebook, for instance? Â Forgetaboutit.
Oh, that didn't bug me much since I was on vacation anyways. Â But usually I do like going to Panera and getting my work done while I'm eating my broccoli cheddar soup (my favorite since I was a kid and eating that at Big Boys....now who ate that back in the day??) in a bread bowl with half the sierra turkey sandwich. Â ALTHOUGH, I just read in last month's magazine (I believe it was "Self") that that sandwich appears to be healthy and beneficial, but is in fact 960 calories. Â Now, I'm no calorie countin' chick, but I heard through the grapevine that that in itself is half the amount of calories you ought to consume in a given day. Â Either way, that's okay, it's not like I eat there every day right? Â And given that this is a 3 star rating and thousands of miles away from me, I guess I never will :P
Moving on, when I went to NY I saw that the menu now listed calories next to Starbucks drinks. Â What if we had that for all our meals, especially for what we eat in restaurants (getting more in depth than those rare menus that say "for the healthy-conscious folks"). Â Or for alcoholic beverages. Â I wonder if that would sway any of us. Â Wisdom versus ignorance? Â One can make you live longer, one can make you live it up. Â Or both.
This Panera is a great option in the area. I feel like it is a lot better than the Corner Bakery down the street. I mean, Corner Bakery is okay, but Panera is good! The only thing that is bad about this location is that sometimes they seem to be a bit overwhelmed with all of the orders in the prep area and it can take a while (during rushes). Also, a lot of people like to sit in here and use their free wi-fi for hours on end. Some of us would like a place to eat our tasty food!
Review Source:Good at what they do, except for the attitude.
I don't usually review fast food places. But this Panera is a great breakfast alternative in this neighborhood. Sinful pastries, like the old-style pecan rolls completely covered with pecan halves. Good coffee. They've researched everything, as you expect from a fast food chain, and know what sells and what doesn't. They try different exotic bagels, some of which work and some of which don't. Their standards, from sesame to cinnamon crunch, are always good. And prices are very reasonable.
But don't break their rhythm. They expect you to know what you want as soon as you get to the register, and YOU are suppose to understand what the fast slur of poorly enunciated English is that they throw at you. Helping customers is not their mandate - getting you in and out is. So decide on what you want, how you want it, what side items you want, whether its for eat in or carryout, what size coffee you want, etc, before you approach the ever-changing staff behind the counter.
I have a theory about Panera Bread.
They are trying to make me fat and poor. Â Their sandwiches and soups and chips and desserts and even their PICKLES are so delicious and tasty. Â And it has become their mission to see me penniless and obese by spiking their food with crack so that I need a fix almost everyday.
Stop! Â I love your food but you have my love and loyalty for life! Â Please let me work on my figure and pay rent!
Panera, you are my tummy's savior. Â And my wallet's foe.
Luckily for you, I listen to the former much more often than the latter. Â See you soon!!
Panera I am mad at you and am no longer interested in hanging out with you. Â This goes for the entire Panera family, a case of guilt by association. Â Â You serve fatty salads that masquerade as healthy lunch options. Â Shame on you!
Panera now offers only 1 salad with a light dressing, the Grilled Salmon Salad. Â I think that drowning a salad in dressing that contains, on average 150 calories and 8 - 24 fat grams, defeats the purpose of trying to eat healthy (at Panera). Â I found out today that the Asian salad has been changed and no longer has the reduced sugar dressing. Â That dressing was still loaded with calories and fat, but it was the only light dressing that I was made aware.
Aside from all my rantings, this location is pretty similar to most other Panera locations.  Good luck finding a table around lunch time, unless the patio is open.  If you try to eat in for lunch you will become frustrated with all of the freeloaders who are only there to use  wifi and take up tables.  I made my own table today using an armchair and an end table!  I had to be resourceful.
Liz thinks to herself "Where should I sit. It's awfully crowded."
Just then, a spot opens up and Liz slides down. She looks at her cup of Broccoli Cheddar soup, creamy and inviting. She thinks "oh, hot, mother of God...burning roof of mouth".
In an effort to cool her tongue, she takes a sip of her refillable Diet Coke.
"Sweet relief" she thinks, Â biting into her half Frontega Chicken sandwich, made from organic chicken and fresh greens on toasted focaccia. Chewing thoughtfully, she realizes that she is boring as whale poop, not having a thought about anything but her lunch.
She smiles. Knowing that this lunch, while a little pricey, will keep her full all afternoon. And that her diet coke cup will always runneth over.
Stop into Panera Bread for a delicious meal and a conversation...with yourself.
Oh Panera, you're here!!! Â After waiting all of spring and half of summer, you have finally arrived :)
Three stars only because it's INSANELY packed during lunch. Â I understand it's the new kid on the block, but seriously?!?!?!? Â Waiting in a 20+ person line to order a $7 sandwich then waiting 15 minutes to pick up said sandwich only to have nowhere to sit? Â UNBELIEVABLE. Â The place itself is typical Panera, yummy breads and soups, soothing decor with free wi-fi (yay!) Â But I'm telling you, lunch time at your own risk.
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