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
25523 Marguerite Parkway, Suite A2 Mission Viejo, California 92692These people towed cars on EASTER Sunday during mass. dont support them
Panera Bread
Cafe
11550 East 4th Street Rancho Cucamonga, California 91730Was quick and very nice people.
Panera Bread
Cafe
10540 Forest Hill Boulevard Wellington, Florida 33414Good food, fast and nice team!
Panera Bread
Cafe, Soup Restaurant, Sandwich Shop
5050 Town Center Cir Suite 201 Boca Raton, Florida 33486Great fast casual chain for tasty, fresh food made with fresh ingredients, but this location, especially the tabletops, are consistently DIRTY. Needs more staff and mindf ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
1117 Florida Mall Ave Orlando, Florida 32809Update! its Closed!
Panera Bread
Cafe
667 San Rodolfo Drive, Suite 130 Solana Beach, California 92075Service was very bad... Out of the six things I ordered the lady forgot three of them which is extremely bad.
Panera Bread
Cafe
1790 Riverchase Dr, Suite 104 Hoover, Alabama 35244ask for no avocado and you repeated it back to me and i open my sand which and the first thing i see is avocado. im glad im not allergic to it do better!! if im paying $1 ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
5720 Cottle Road, 408-360-7976 San Jose, California 95123FOOD: Shorting meals! Be sure you double check your Togo orders before leaving! On multiple occasions our orders were short. Containers of Mac~ n~cheese, soups, or salad. ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
700 Gulf Breeze Parkway Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561Food was good but service was very slow
Panera Bread
Cafe
3181 Tampa Road Oldsmar, Florida 34677Service was not the greatest, but the food was awesome!
Panera Bread
Cafe
10900 Stockdale Hwy, Suite 100 Bakersfield, California 93311Quick and friendly service and great food!
Panera Bread
Cafe
3013 W Florida Ave Hemet, California 92545Delicious soups !!!!
Panera Bread
Cafe
640 E Ventura Blvd, Suite 1200 Camarillo, California 93010Delicious soups
Panera Bread
Cafe
4103 S Mooney Blvd Visalia, California 93277Serving portions are very poor
Panera Bread
Cafe
1975 Diamond Boulevard Concord, California 94520Update 3.18.24 Portion size much better at this visit, as we ordered extra veggies on the sandwich. We shared a whole Mediterranean sandwich & Greek salad, with chips on ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
150 N 12th Avenue, Suite 101 Hanford, California 93230I love the variety of clean foods, Panera offers. However, I may order one of two if not both items at any Panera location. I was somewhat disappointed with my usual at ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
11300 South Street Cerritos, California 90703Food was great as always. The person who took my order didn't tell me I had a birthday reward usually they tell you. Missed my bday reward
Panera Bread
Cafe
8519 Bond Rd, Suite 106 Elk Grove, California 95624Since when did Panera stop giving bread with their salads???
Panera Bread
Cafe
1035 El Monte Avenue Mountain View, California 94041Great.
Panera Bread
Cafe
700 Montgomery Hwy, Suite 112 Vestavia Hills, Alabama 35216Very friendly and good food!
Panera Bread
Cafe
916 Pleasant Grove Blvd Roseville, California 95678Not impressed with this location. Got a grubhub order from here and they either dont care at all or certainly dont care about take out orders. Not in line with my expecta ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
1850 Douglas Blvd, Suite 310 Roseville, California 95661I've never waited anywhere for so long
Panera Bread
Cafe
13271 City Station Dr, Ste 109 Jacksonville, Florida 32218Good fast food. Quite friendly first thing in the morning. Food : 5/5 | Service : 5/5 | Atmosphere : 5/5 More
Panera Bread
Cafe
9725 Applecross Road, Suite 106 Jacksonville, Florida 32222I used to love the Oakleaf Panera. But lately when I order for pick up, there's ALWAYS something missing. Order # 733243281. We ordered extra bread. Guess what? Not ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
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
1760 US 27 North Sebring, Florida 33870Very enjoyable
Panera Bread
Cafe
13617 South Dixie Highway Miami, Florida 33176Food : 5/5 | Service : 5/5 | Atmosphere : 5/5 More
Panera Bread
Cafe
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
Cafe
3638 North Front Street Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701The food was OK, not great. The place was dirty and in need of repairs.
Panera Bread
Cafe
2184 Tamiami Trail N Naples, Florida 34102A great place to relax with a snack or a meal. Great parking. Always attentive staff.
Panera Bread
Cafe
1808 Tamiami Trail, Suite C Port Charlotte, Florida 33948Broken order kiosk, dirty dining room, out of stock on basic ingredients, and a staff thats lost hope sad really
Panera Bread
Cafe
7061 Coastal Blvd Brooksville, Florida 34613Good food, pretty good service, and nice atmosphere.
Panera Bread
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
Panera Bread
Cafe
4208 S Florida Avenue Lakeland, Florida 33813I like the broccoli cheddar soup no matter how many bags that come out of
Panera Bread
Cafe
3443 SW Archer Road, Suite 1A Gainesville, Florida 32608Excellent attention Quick meal preparation
Panera Bread - Closed
Cafe
2480 State Road 434 West Altamonte Springs, Florida 32714WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for salad with a little dressing! Panera your overrated
Panera Bread
Cafe
21 Commons Way Oxford, Alabama 36203Nice place with fast service. I like the variety of beverage options.
Panera Bread
Cafe
137 Landings Blvd Winter Haven, Florida 33880Ordered food through ap. Ap notified me that the food was ready. When I got there, food was not ready and I waited and watched as the staff conversed in the kitchen area. ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
4328 N State Road 7 Coral Springs, Florida 33067Good food for what you pay. This place is a go to place for a cheap and quick food
Panera Bread
Cafe
1440 Hendricks Ave Jacksonville, Florida 32207Welcoming and friendly Comfortable and I do so very well appreciate the positive vibe. Great for families
Panera Bread
Cafe
2705 W Osceola Pkwy Kissimmee, Florida 34741Food was good as always, but every table was dirty, had to clean our own. My bowl of soup actually had less in it than my wife's cup of soup. And they ask for a tip when ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
10631 Big Bend Road Riverview, Florida 33569The food and service are pretty great! But the condition of the bathrooms are awful! They have mold all through them and really need a new update. Makes you wonder what t ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe
2731 Del Paso Rd Sacramento, California 95835My high school daughters friend came here for an interview and the work times stated evenings preferred. The unprofessional, sweaty manager came out from the back with an ... more
Panera Bread - Closed
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
235 East 17th Street Costa Mesa, California 92627Muy hamables .
Panera Bread
Cafe
1725 Trancas Street, Suite B Napa, California 94558I love Panera Bread's soup and salad deal.
Panera Bread
Cafe
6305 Commerce Blvd Rohnert Park, California 94928The chipotle chicken sandwich was horrible. The avocado chicken salad was 4 stars.
Panera Bread
Cafe
1550 Opelika Rd Auburn, Alabama 36830Every time I go here almost every table in the restaurant is dirty, so this time while I was waiting for my food I took a photo of 16 dirty tables. I didnt get them all, ... more
Panera Bread
Cafe, Bakery, Breakfast Restaurant
1706 Old Oakland Rd San Jose, California 95131Satisfying fresh baked bread
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
3289 Zinfandel Dr Rancho Cordova, California 95670Good food. Very slow and awkward drive thru line. Don't take big vehicles through the drive thru.
