Panera Bread

Good sandwiches, soups and pastries. Especially the broccoli cheddar soup. The new location is way better than the old one. It gets pretty busy around lunch with IU students and COVID seating limitations. I really like the order kiosks you can order person to person or online if you want. Good place for something different for lunch.

This is a weird Panera Bread. On one side, it serves the traditional Panera Bread fare and maintains the quality of the food. Store service is also good during most visits, although a bit confusing at times. On the other hand, the number of times I have been there when items were missing is amazing. Their signature cinnamon crunch bagel might be completely gone in the afternoon, but the award goes to the day when I bought the last soufflés around 8:00 AM in the morning. The next person asking for them told they were gone until the next day. Ordering online to pick up in the store is always an adventure because one never knows what items will be missing. The estimate of time is always off but waiting for your order allows for the customer to be entertained by listening to the bickering and sniping among staff members. Overall, so much potential for this place but lacking better processes and good management.

I love the broccoli soup and Panera Bread. Recently, I had bought some of their broccoli soup from Sam's and saw that they had bread that was similar, but not exact. I bought a loaf of that as well. It was good but not nearly as good as Panera Bread usually is. I grabbed some Panera Bread and some more soup and it was incredibly disappointed to find out the Panera had bought the Sam's bread and repackaged it. I understand private labeling. I understand repackaging something that you buy wholesale for resale. But this was incredibly disappointing given that Panera usually makes their own bread. I've eaten Panera Bread faithfully and I've had the Sam's. I'm a baker, so I know the difference. I'm not happy to make the longet trip and pay the extra cost for a Panera loaf, and get Sam's; and if that happens again, I'll try a different Panera or just find something else.