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
12131 Ventura Boulevard Studio City, California 91604Andrew is fantastic! He greeted us and helped accomodate my indecisiveness to order. I enjoyed a Baguette chicken cordon bleu melt with gorgonzola. Great place to get a ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
1902 East Main Street, Bldg B Torrington, Connecticut 06790I went in here just to get three bear claws and had great service. Entered my order and their online computer and service came right away. The bear claws was excellent
Panera Bread
Cafe
1627 Boston Post Road Milford, Connecticut 06460I go to displace every Thursday with a group of friends... We have fun... Atmosphere is light and cheery the food is always fresh and good... Love their bakery items... I ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
1376 Fitzgerald Drive Pinole, California 94564Good service
Panera Bread
Cafe
2213 Red Wolf Blvd Jonesboro, Arkansas 72401So the bread was stale, we weren't given utensils, and the mac and cheese was mid- needs salt.
Panera Bread - Closed
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5065 Main Street Trumbull, Connecticut 06611Waited forever to place an order, and then on top of it went to sit down, and the restaurant was so dirty. Will never visit this location again.
Panera Bread
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8519 Bond Rd, Suite 106 Elk Grove, California 95624Since when did Panera stop giving bread with their salads???
Panera Bread
Cafe
169 Danbury Road, Bldg J New Milford, Connecticut 06776Purchased Mac and cheese for $12! Never again. Will not be returning. Plus they eliminated the baked chips!
Panera Bread
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130 Elm Street Enfield, Connecticut 06082Absolutely the worst service Ive ever encountered. Cashier didnt know the menu enough to be able to put order in then back kitchen staff was overheard making low regards ... more
Panera Bread
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2542 Albany Avenue, Suite 1 West Hartford, Connecticut 06117I placed my order on their little iPad and came to the register young lady walked out. Looked at me and didn't say anything. Few minutes later young lady from the back sa ... more
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19461 Main Street Huntington Beach, California 92648Really?! Where's the edge of my sandwich bread?? I ordered a breakfast sandwich on white bread and literally the right edge of the top slice is missing - cut off. So eith ... more
Panera Bread
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8076 Mediterranean Dr, Suite 101 Estero, Florida 33928This is a very good Panera Bread! If you are looking for a good quick lunch in Bonita Springs, this is a great place to go!
Panera Bread
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700 Montgomery Hwy, Suite 112 Vestavia Hills, Alabama 35216Very friendly and good food!
Panera Bread
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314 South University, Suite 100 Little Rock, Arkansas 72205The manager is the only reason this place is getting one star. Horrible, rude people. Wrong food. Inaccurate food description on the website. And did I mention the rude p ... more
Panera Bread
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5620 Balboa Avenue San Diego, California 92117The Chipotle chicken and avocado sandwich was excellent and the soup was great but I wanted a cappuccino and their expresso machine was broken, that was the only thing I ... more
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2532 State Road 580 Clearwater, Florida 33761We only came here to get drinks and meet a person. It was a great place to hold a small meeting. Staff was nice.
Panera Bread - Closed
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8635 Blanding Blvd, Suite 101 Jacksonville, Florida 32244Sandwiches and salads are always crisp and fresh when I go there. Panera food selection speaks for itself, can't ask for more.
Panera Bread - Closed
Cafe
8600 Vineland Avenue, Suite 101 Orlando, Florida 32821Everything is takeout even if you eat in. We sat down and we have no utensils, ask for utensils and employees points to a location, that location has empty bins with no u ... more
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Cafe
8152 East Santa Ana Canyon Rd Anaheim, California 92808Panera - Anaheim Hills location. Extremely unprofessional! My take out order was completely different from what I ordered/paid for. (lesser value) When I called the store ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
1701 S Federal Hwy Delray Beach, Florida 33483I cannot accurately put in to words how incompetent the management and staff are at this location. I ordered from the Delray store shortly before closing and my order co ... more
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Cafe
1320 SE Walton Blvd Bentonville, Arkansas 72712I ordered half ceaser salad with chicken and strawberry smoothie and the total was 19.98. There was no receipt in the bag and I'm pretty sure the rude guy taking drive th ... more
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Cafe
600 W Huntington Dr. Monrovia, California 91016I like to charge my phone while on my lunch breaks, but this particular panera bread only has a few power outlets and gets very busy around lunch. Ended up having to wait ... more
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2650 Mowry Avenue Fremont, California 94538Grilled cheese, BLT w & tomatoes soup!!!
Panera Bread
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215 North Cattleman Road Sarasota, Florida 34243My go to place for lunch
Panera Bread - Closed
Cafe
715 Christiana Mall Road Newark, Delaware 19702Food decent but waited for over five minutes before being served while the kids talked and ignored us. Finally I received my order and it was WRONG.
Panera Bread
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2002 El Camino Real Santa Clara, California 95015If you have asthma or sensitive to chemicals you wont be able to eat inside. Place has very strong chlorine smell because employees placed in multiple locations small ope ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
2311 Concord Pike Wilmington, Delaware 19803Food was not looking like the picture. Took too long to order be ready.
Panera Bread
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18423 Bryan Drive Rehoboth Beach, Delaware 19971Food was fresh and tasty
Panera Bread
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5784 Lindero Canyon Rd Westlake Village, California 91362Since Panera made their restaurant automated and with that, requiring less personal interaction the restaurant has suffered a major change, they are so dirty, and the mai ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
1350 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC 20036The best Panera ive ever been to
Panera Bread
Cafe
7315 Eastchase Parkway Montgomery, Alabama 36117Since moving into the new location they cant seem to get mine or my husbands orders right. Every single time. Its not hard to not put something on a sandwich someone says ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
132 Vintage Way, Suite F17 Novato, California 94945Very delicious soup and salad I was applol Vegetarian options: Salted Fuji Apple
Panera Bread
Cafe
4501 Wisconsin Avenue NW Washington, District of Columbia 20016Good food. Good prices.
Panera Bread
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10701 Kanis Road Little Rock, Arkansas 72211Got to the drive thru at 7:30, no one would ever ever come to take my order, websitesaysitclosesat9 pm. I drove up to the window and no one would come to the window. Thi ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
555 Broadway, #127 Chula Vista, California 91910Loud music for a work environment
Panera Bread
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10801 Starkey Road, Suite 16 Largo, Florida 33777It's very good but the portions are very small and a little pricey
Panera Bread
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7061 Coastal Blvd Brooksville, Florida 34613Good food, pretty good service, and nice atmosphere.
Panera Bread
Cafe
2400 International Speedway Blvd Daytona Beach, Florida 32124I love Panera at this location. Waiting time is a little bit longer than usual and the bagel was burnt last time.
Panera Bread
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
2998 Carter Hill Rd Montgomery, AL 36106Great restaurant. The cashier messed up on my order but the cooks were quick to fix the issue. The staff was very kind. I will definitely return again!
Panera Bread
Cafe
34180 Monterey Ave Palm Desert, California 92211I enjoy Panera's food, very clean and fresh. I like that they change their menu on occasion and for various seasons so there's a nice variety as well. Parking: The parkin ... more
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423 South Associated Road Brea, California 92821THIS LOCATION IS A NO FOR ME! ! ! Waited almost 30 min for my food to come out I ordered for dine in!!! Food was very dry!!
Panera Bread
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1260 Shaw Ave, Suite 111 Clovis, California 93612Panera Bread You Better Have Chips
Panera Bread
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2812 Lakewood Village Drive North Little Rock, Arkansas 72116Food was pretty tasty.but too pricey.
Panera Bread
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10990 Jefferson Blvd Culver City, California 90230The branch seems a bit run down, there are dirty dishes, napkins lying around everywhere and/or strange characters hanging around. Food took a long time, but was very tas ... more
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23612 Rockfield Blvd Lake Forest, California 92630$8 for half a sandwich, and the chicken salad didn't even cover all the bread. Most of it was lettuce and tomato. Complete rip off. The taste was good but definitely not ... more
Panera Bread
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12510 Day Street, Suite A-1 Moreno Valley, California 92553Drinks can be refilled and taken away. Bread and toast are all toasted before serving soup. They are not too salty. You can take advantage of coupons to reduce prices.
Panera Bread - Closed
Cafe
2249 South Shore Center, Drive Ste 330 Alameda, California 94501(Translated by Google) I don't usually visit this place, but I tried to try it and I really didn't like it, aside from the fact that it took about 15 minutes for a single ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
3515 Ross Clark Circle Dothan, Alabama 36303Love their Greek salads there I go there several times a week very good.
Panera Bread
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3638 North Front Street Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701The food was OK, not great. The place was dirty and in need of repairs.
Panera Bread
Cafe
470 E Cypress Avenue Redlands, California 92373Really good food. Prices have definitely gone up.