Panera Bread

I am rarely in this neighbourhood, but found myself there today and decided to drop by Panera Bread for lunch. Now I’ve never been to a Panera Bread before so this was my first time.
My first impressions were that it’s sort of a higher-​end Tim Hortons. It’s fast food. They have sandwiches, soups, salads, pastries, coffee, tea and other drinks. The place is clean and it has a chain restaurant feel to it. If you eat in, you pay at the cash register after you order and sit down wherever you want. They give you a place marker with a number on it that you put at your table so the staff know to which table to deliver the food. If you eat in, food is served on real china and they give you real cutlery (not paper plates and disposable forks and knives).
Staff are really friendly, but boy do they try to up-​sell. I totally fell for it too, haha. I noticed that with every customer when you buy a salad or sandwich they ask if you want to add a pastry for just $ 1.39 (the regular price is $ 2.79). Half-​price pastries? Yeah, I’m in!
So I got the Ancient grains arugula chicken salad ($ 10.29), a cup of tea ($ 2.09) and a Bear Claw pastry.
The salad was really good. It had arugula, cabbage, carrots, sliced grapes, sliced apples, grilled chicken breasts, pumpkin seeds and a mix of ancient grains (freekeh, farro, black barley and daikon radish seeds). All the ingredients looked and tasted fresh. The vinaigrette was slightly sweet but overall pleasant. I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side, but thankfully they did not drench the salad in dressing like some places do.
With the salad you get your choice of a small bag of chips (28g), an apple, or a piece of bread. I got the chips. They are regular salted kettle cooked chips.
The Bear Claw pastry was ok. Basically it was a danish with almond paste inside and sliced almonds on top with icing drizzled all over it. It was a bit drier than I would have liked and I didn’t feel that it was anything special.
What I like about the coffee and tea at Panera bread is that they give you a cup and you serve yourself. I got a paper cup for my tea even though I ate there, and before I left I just topped off my cup with more hot water so I had a nice warm tea to drink on the way home :)
Overall I think Panera Bread is ok. It’s a bit pricey for a fast food place, but everything is fresh and it tastes like they use quality ingredients. I like that they list the amount of calories of each item right there and a complete list of ingredients can be found online.
Panera Bread is in a strip mall on West Hunt Club, close to the Lowe’s, Five Guys, Booster Juice and Jack Astor’s. Lots of free parking. Oh and there’s free WiFi :)

I decided to try this new spot on a Sunday afternoon it was pretty busy but service was quick. I must say the food was very delicious. They offer a free Panera card which gives you points every time you go and trust that you’ll go often! They have great panini, good soups and fresh salads. You need to try the tomato soup and any of their breads

Went there on Sunday. Busy place. I love this place.
Food always good, services are great. But I always spent at least 10 mins to check out what’s on the menu (which above the cashiers’ heads) I don’t want to hold up the line. But I really don’t know what to order coz the menu is Massive. Massive in a way it’s too much information and got confused by all those info on the menu. For example. I ordered «pick 2. I got the pasta bowl and cashier asked if I want to add salad. I said yes and I asked what kind of salad they have. She pointed the other menu above her head, and ordered drink ice tea. And there were three different kind of ice tea. And there is a breakfast menu in the middle of the salad and pasta. Don’t get me wrong I like the variety food choices I might not go there often enough and not familiar the menu but feel bad standing at the entrance on Sunday lunch hour
Food is GREAT. Nothing I need to say more.
For sure will go back again but I might check online Menu first. (or if they have more pic. Or organize the menu. Or Make it like a Tim Horton or McDonald. They have a tv as the menu).

Wow, this place was super busy on a weekday around 1 p. m! The line up was super long but it wasn’t too much of a wait before we placed our order. The woman who served us was easily one of the friendliest cashiers I’ve ever encountered in the food service industry. Absolutely lovely! She also gave us samples of a yummy shortbread cookie (I could have ate about 18).
We ordered two soups and a salad, and were given a number and pointed to the back. I feel like this is where this place is flawed. The food comes out for both takeout orders and dine-​in orders at the same counter. This led to a bit of crowding and some angry servers (I heard one guy say he couldn’t wait to get out of there… not the best thing to be angrily saying when customers are hanging around!). All of the sandwiches leaving the counter looked delish!
My chicken noodle soup was positively perfect on a windy day. I will come back here if I’m in the area to try some more food, and maybe dine-​in, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit. There’s so many great bakeries in my neighbourhood, I’d find it hard ot make an excuse to drive all the way to Hunt Club.
Hopefully they find a way to sort things out at the takeout counter!

Good food, nice staff. It can get quite crowded at lunchtime. Endless coffee refills and the java is quite good. They have decent choices of sandwiches on panera bread, which should come as no surprise. Not a first date place, but the companionate love of your life will enjoy the food.

I love Panera Bread and it’s the only one in the city. I think the location is a little inaccessible because you can’t walk to it, you have to drive and it’s not even that close to residential neighborhoods, but it still works.
I love their coffee, and since I have been drinking decaf lately, it has been hard to find good decaf. Panera delivers! I love that they have their calories posted up next to each item, I know it’s part of their business model but it makes ordering easier for me.
The location is actually very spacious, and more catered to a sit down meal rather than just grabbing coffee. They don’t have many power outlets which means it isn’t ideal for spending a few hours with your laptop.
UPDATE: 3÷26÷2015
Service seems to be much faster the last few times I have been here, and much more people too! I ordered a smoothie but they took too long to get that part of my order and gave me a free pastry as a way to make up for it. They know the way to my heart.
I have always received excellent customer service there, so no complaints! Since it is the only location in the city, I can only compare it to those NOT in Ottawa, and I think it does pretty well. I love the wide menu selection — but it’s limited for vegetarian options I found. Their bagels are very good, and so are their fresh smoothies.
The only thing I can complain about is the price, since I order vegetarian items I don’t expect to pay as much. Then again, i can’t get Panera anywhere else: p

One of my favorite restaurant in ottawa. Great food and deco. Try cinnamon crunch bagel with cream cheese. So good.

Food is fantastic! I stop here every chance I get. I would have given 5 stars but the only downside to such a great place is the lack of seating. Seems many people hang out/​loiter to use the internet so people who are there to enjoy the food have to fight for a seat. Still worth it!

This is the place to go if you don’t know where anything good exists to eat in Ottawa and have no desire to use the Unilocal search function. I’m wondering how people can give this place a pass.
Staff were polite and kind at explaining different items but that’s where the good ends.
6 $ Grilled cheese using processed slices!!! and Veggie sandwich with little to no flavour. Couldn’t taste any seasoning. Brutal.
We tried one of their cinnamon buns after an employee said they were like Cinnabon: it tasted like a carbon copy of those cheap ones you’d buy at a local grocery store. Overall we spent $ 20 dollars on 3 items… Completely over-​priced for the quality and really what’s driving this negative review. If it cost 40% less it would be fine. But these prices take it in into different territory…
Art-​is-​In, Thyme & Again, Wild Oat, Bread by Us… I could go on and on. As I said, Panera is for people who don’t know how incredible so many bakeries are in Ottawa.
I’d avoid Panera Bread in Ottawa.

Driveby this morning, after left Costco. We went in for some breads. Found out they serve BF and saw the pastries, OMG, they are like magnets, I can’t help it but ordered two pastries. They are some nice, they bread looks delicious and the bagels looked so yummy. Recommend that go there to try there bread and pastries. Btw, I also bought a box of mini scone to go. Love this place.

Over-​priced for the small portions you receive. $ 15 for a half sandwich, can of pop, and a small caesar salad is out of this world! Granted, they do say they use quality ingredients, but it isn’t worth it. For the same price I could get something much better at a real restaurant, or I could save half my money and go to Tim Horton’s or McDonald’s instead.

Great service, very similar offerings to the others we have gone to in the USA. Much nicer atmosphere than Tim Horton’s and the coffee is better. They should have more breakfast offerings and serve breakfast after 11AM.

So… take my 3 star rating with a grain of salt, will you? We loved Panera while living in Illinois. When I heard they were opening in Ottawa all I could think was ‘yay, Asiago roast beef sandwiches and egg soufflés’.
Stopped in last night to get a sandwich and it just wasn’t as yummy as I remembered. Couldn’t put my finger on why, it just wasn’t.
Also, we waited forever for our food to be delivered, meanwhile we could see the order up. In Illinois, you pick up your own order, much better. The gal doing table service was delivering, bussing and trying to talk to each customer to ask about their experience. She was great! But couldn’t keep up with demand. Seriously, let me pick up my own order. I have to go there to get my drink anyway, and the system works well in the U.S.
Maybe my memory set too high an expectation.
Would I return: yes
Would I recommend: yes, everyone should go try it.

We just got back from vacation and we had no food in our fridge and wanted to eat something relatively healthy and decided to finally check out Panera.
I’ve had Panera numerous times while traveling the states, and have always enjoyed their items. So my hubby drove down to Panera while I stayed toasty and warm at home and ordered us the following:
for him:
–half a grilled cheese sandwich
–half a Mediterranean sandwich
(he originally wanted to mac and cheese but they were all out)
for myself:
–half a Mediterranean sandwich on sourdough bread
–spinach salad with no meat
also ordered a loaf of sourdough bread (so fresh and toasted perfectly)
Everything was received, just not exactly correct. The salad had bacon in it, so I had loads of fun picking the bacon out at home. My Mediterranean sandwich came on the tomato basil bread, when I originally wanted sourdough, and the hubby ended up getting a full sandwich on sourdough instead of the ½ the sandwich that he ordered, (no complaining about the full sandwich)
From what the hubz said, apparently the staff were not all with it tonight, and they got confused with our complicated order.
In the end, I did enjoy my meal. The dressing for the salad had a smoky bacon taste so it is not exactly vegetarian friendly. I did enjoy the crispy onions and sauteed mushrooms in the salad. Sandwich was great!
The hubby laughed at his half grilled cheese. It was basically two pieces of bread with a slice of cheese in between half heated.
Over twenty bucks later, we are satisfied, but it was not ideal for a dinner, especially being very hungry. It would be great as a light lunch option.
I like Panera, they make great, quality food, Hopefully I can bump this review up a couple of stars once the restaurant gets settled. Update to come shortly! :)

Second day of business, very busy at lunch time. I had frontega chicken panini and coffee. There were a lot of chicken and onions were just the right amount. Very hot and crispy on the outside, I had to let it sit for a few minutes. The only downside was a few very chewy pieces of chicken in my panini. But I still liked it.
I found the set up a little confusing at first, had to ask one of the employees. Order at the counter then go get a table with the buzzer, someone will bring your food to wherever you are sitting. You will get a mug when you pay and pour yourself whatever kind of coffee (decaf, dark/​light roast, hazelnut) you want. If you are looking for a tea, there were 6 kinds (I think).
Time between the ordering and receiving food was short. And they were very quick to come get the empty plates after. They had quite a few high chairs, it shouldn’t be a problem if you need one.
For me it’s not a go to place every week but definitely will go back again in a month or so. And I will have to try items from their bakery.