I typically love Panera, but this location was just not up to par. We were staying at the Cedar Rapids Marriott and decided to take a short walk to Panera for lunch rather than eating at the hotel restaurant. The line and wait time were not bad but the food was NOT fresh. My side baguette (usually my favorite part!) was extremely stale and tasted like it was sitting around for two days before being served. My mac & cheese was cold, not even warm. Gross. My husband ordered a tuna sandwich, and it didn't have a "bottom" bread! It's as if they improvised and cut a small piece of bread off of the top part to make the bottom - we could definitely tell and it has never been served like that before. Basically, I wouldn't recommend it. If anything, Panera "Bread" needs to make sure they have have fresh BREAD, and plenty of it! read more

This panera is no bad at all. The customer service is great. the food tasted great as well. Overall I had an awesome experience. I will be back if I'm in town. read more

Long line at 7am. Line moves fast! Team is very friendly. Ordered the Mediterranean egg white sandwich, chocolate croissant, and regular coffee. Sandwich was ready quickly and delicious. Lots of spinach and tomatoes. Restaurant was clean, plenty of parking. read more

Soups not bad here, I have to order my sandwiches with double meat because they seem to skimp out on it, but overall the place is not bad! read more

Panera Bread - Sandwiches Near Me - Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Love the food but the parking is bad. Any thoughts on a new bigger location? Like the chicken and wild rice soup. The pastries are usually fresh. read more

Bacon Turkey Bravo is just as fabulous now as it was 21 years ago. Love the broccoli mac and cheese. Service is great. Natural lemonade. They did forget my friend's water glass. Clean dining room and bathroom. The bathroom door has a foot pedal to open so you don't have to touch the handle. You can get an apple with your soup and half sandwich instead of bread. It is a bit pricey $14 for cup of soup and half sandwich. read more

The food is always good. The other thing I will say is that the manager is very nice. I had a small issue and he resolved quickly. The staff there works hard and the coffee is fresh! read more

Got food poisoning here. Won't be back unfortunately even tho we had previous decent meals...it has just turned us off from the whole experience. We are supposedly being refunded our money on the purchase but so far I haven't gotten another call back since I filled the incident report out. read more

Worst experience visiting a Panera ever at this location. I have never been more physically sick from eating something in my life. Not sure when I'll be able to eat chicken salad again. Thanks Cedar Rapids Panera you ruined it for me.... read more

Came in for a smoothie and some food, I was denied my smoothie because the dishes had already been washed. Mind you they're open for another 30-40 min. I don't find this acceptable, I've worked in food service and had people come in late and never would I have ever denied a customer an order out of laziness. Boo read more

Usually I love Panera especially on a cold rainy day, nothing beats a hot cup of broccoli cheddar soup. When I went to order rapid pickup online at 4pm on a Friday and saw they were out of my precious broccoli cheddar soup I about lost it. So of course I thought there had to be something wrong with the system and called the store asking about the soup. I was told they were out of the broccoli ched. For the entire night. Talk about a ball buster, how could they? I've never in all my life been to a Panera that ran out of the broccoli cheddar soup. #notimpressed #lessthanblessed read more

Always a great and consistent place to go for a healthy foods, I often get the super kale salad with chicken one of the best salads that I've ever had. They even have a good selection of unsweetened tea. read more

First and foremost: their mac and cheese is the best, and I mean ZA BEST in the area. All of their sandwiches and soups are really, really good. Salads are yummy but I think you get ripped off for the price and portion. Their apples suck. Don't even try ordering an apple as your side. You will be presented with a teeny little green round thing that you'll probably mistake for a tennis ball. The self-serve coffee isn't that great. It's waaaaay too weak I feel. Their bagels are amazing, but their pastries are only okay. They are made with frozen stuff and you can pretty much tell that. Especially if you've ever had a made from scratch pastry or scone. You'll be pretty sad with their overly frosted (and expensive) choices. Their smoothies are DELICIOUS. Smoothies (peach or strawberry especially!), the everything bagel, bread bowl with broccoli cheddar soup and their mac and cheese are my #1 choices. I feel like Panera's model for order and pick-up is very disorganized and confuses a lot of people. I think it would be to their favor if they brought you your food and then cleared the table instead of having customers up and doing all of this. I think this for a number of reasons.......I feel a rant brewing so i'll try and wrap it up. And sometimes I feel like they offer too many choices for the type of restaurant this is...the lines can get incredibly long and I think that is mostly due to the number of indecisive folks, and the number of options you have for your meal. Overall, Panera is very consistent with their food, and I appreciate that. I like knowing what I'm getting. There is something for everyone here and the staff is generally pleasant and helpful. read more

Does every pastry have to have a blob of sugary MUCK on it? (and i'm a sweet tooth!) I got a blueberry scone and an iced green tea- the scone was 'drizzled' (entombed) in a powder suger icing and the tea had that high-fructose corn sweetener crap in it? EEK is right yelp- me thinks not!!! If I could give it zero stars I would. The options at this "Bread Shop" are all glorified cookies. Come on Panera- you're a chain- get a real croissant and step away from the sugar. PS- you're bagels crack me up just to look at them- please give your baker a real bagel and they wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that you've been hawking those large pcs of blobby dough as bagels. read more

I know everyone is stressed with the coronavirus. So, I ordered online around 6:20 AM to pick up my food at 7:25 AM, and specified my car. I drive up and park at 7:24. I then tap my phone that I was there to alert the staff to deliver my order to my car. I then waited 15 minutes. No food. I finally went in and asked where it was. The "trainer" pointed and said, "Is that yours?" I responded that it was and said I had been waiting 15 minutes in my car for it. She's like, "Where did you park?" I responded, "Right there in full view of the full window doors and I specified my car." She responds, "You are supposed to park right here for car delivery." OK. The section for car delivery is in the same view as where my car was. My car just so happened to be in full view on the opposite side of where car delivery is. On top of that, nothing is clearly designated in that parking lot and all of the "car delivery" spots were taken when I drove up. All anyone had to do was look around the small parking lot to spot my car. Fairly simple. One does not blame the customer as she did. This older lady in her late 50's feels privileged and comfortable in her position at Panera for the past 25 years. She needs to be fired. Before COVID-19, she purposefully ignored customers at her register. She brings this location down. There are plenty of nice people in this world seeking work to replace her. Honestly, the SW Side location has superior customer service. From here on out, all my business will go to the SW Side Panera. I have written to Panera about my concerns with the NE location's cleanliness and customer service. The corp has done nothing about it. She is obviously the problem and needs to be fired. read more

Poor place to order delivery from, cinnamon role was very dry, chicken sandwich was packed poorly and it fell on the floor when I opened box, the box was not sealed properly...lost a lot of sandwich to the floor....I want a different delivery if and when I order again.....out twenty three dollars, plus tomato skin was dry and almost choked on the skin!! read more

I'm mostly writing this to contradict the boozed up yuppie from LA. They have my favorite soup, the Forest Mushroom almost every time I go there. The service is as good as it can be for a place whose parking lot is jammed full of cars at almost any time of the day. That alone should tell you the food is better than decent, though annoying if you're in a rush. Also, the "pick up counter" is disctinctly marked with a sign, at the opposite end from where you order, just like EVERY OTHER PANERA. Decent service, decent food, and you'd think the "300 pound girl" making your food would make awesome food(she didn't get that way from yuck food) but maybe she saw you thought much more of yourself than you should have and made it crappy on purpose. ;) read more

We are currently without a kitchen in our house and have visited twice in the last week (we only actually ate once). This is the worst run Panera I've been to. It was at least clean and the food was your standard Panera flavor. But the service is atrocious. The first time our wait for our food was over 20 minutes after using the kiosk to place our own order. The second time the kiosk wasn't working. When we walked in the queue of orders was 12 (it was only 8 when we had waited for more than 20 minutes) and the line had 10 people in front of us. Restaurants get busy, which is usually a good sign, but this Panera was only "busy" because of the lack of service. We waited in line for 5 minutes; a single order did not come off the board and only 1 new one was added. It is ridiculous that a restaurant that is built on the fast casual concept takes longer to produce meals and to take orders than a sit down restaurant. Needless to say, we took our dinner business somewhere else and will continue to go other places as we wait our kitchen issue at home. read more

Good grief, Panera. You have one job - baked goods. How is it possible to make such a mediocre croissant??

Some businesses try to be all things to all people. Others seem to cater to a certain clientele. For example a quick look around Barbecue This will tell you it's a guy place. Panera is, without a doubt, a chick place. When was the last time a guy on your bowling team said, "Hey instead of going to our usual bar tonight, let's all meet at Panera!" You can get your dude card revoked for a lot less than that. Any place that offers apples or bread but no fries for your sides is not guy-friendly. You'll find on the menu soups, "signature" sandwiches, frilly salads, sweet rolls and of course bread. What's up with bread anyway? And why do you need more than one? I like the free wifi. They have outdoor seating at this store, however it's just 6' off I-Collins Rd. You won't find big screen TVs on the wall and if you did they wouldn't be tuned to ESPN. Anyway, the free wifi is good here. read more

Yeah...I've eaten at quite a few Panera's and this one is no worse or better than the others. I love Panera and it's business model; it's one of my favorite places to go for lunch. Once upon a time I had an aversion to the place because it seemed like an overly expensive place to eat lunch amongst a bunch of yuppies (a category I would also loosely fall into), but now I appreciate their use of organic ingredients wherever possible and the laid-back atmosphere. My only beef is that it can sometimes be difficult to get a table at lunch, but that's how it is with most great places to eat lunch. read more

Their bagels and Cream-cheese are extremely delicious. Coffee isn't bad too - makes my weekend mornings sometime.. Its always too much rush every-time I come in here, but for their amazingly tasting creamy tomato soup - its all worth.. read more

When you come from a gastronomique rennaisance like the Portland, OR. area, it is really disapointing to be in a gastronomique black hole like Cedar Rapids. In Portland the Panera restaurants are better than this one. I think it is because they have to compete with boulangeries and real bakeries that make outstanding bread. There is no bakery in Cedar Rapids that makes their own bread except Panera (that I know of, does the Czech village make more than just rye bread?). I visited the local Hyvee on Collins Rd and bought a baguette. It was terrible. It tasted like it was several days old. I don't think they even have a baker on the spot baking fresh bread every day like Safeway, New Seasons or even Fred Meyer in Portland, OR. The other bakeries in town are pastry bakeries and don't make the miches and baguettes. I went during lunch to pick up a baguette after the Hyvee disapointment. Despite the bad reviews, the place was packed. I looked at the breads on display and asked if there was a baguette. She looked back and said there was some available. I looked again and noticed that the baguettes were on the tallest shelf. I asked for a baguette and the counter person appeared suprised that was all I wanted. Another counter person came to help me, which was odd. She wrapped up the baguette. I asked her when I could pick up a fresh hot baguette. She looked at me as if no one had ever asked her that question before, as if I was speaking Polish, and disapeared into the back of the store. She came back and said it would be available in 5 minutes. I asked her if they were avaialbe throughout the day or just at certain times. She had to again go back and ask the baker. Why did't the baker just come and talk with me? The counter person said they are available throughout the day but you have to ask when since they didn't always know when the baker would be taking fresh bread out of the oven. I thanked her and paid for my baguette. At home I made a liverwurst sandwich with head cheese, lettuce, Vietnamese pork roll and mayo. One thing about this baguette is that the crust is not crunchy. This is odd for a baguette which should be crunchy on the outside but moist and soft on the inside. Their recipe is not great and they probably don't use steam during the baking process. Even for home bakers we use a small pan with water in the lower compartment of the stove to emit steam or use a plant mister. The steam is very important for the nice rich crunchy crust. The baguette in appearance is very pretty but not the best. The flesh of the baguette is doughy and dense not light and fluffy with lots of air bubbles. I wonder if Panera places style over substance. One baguette - $2.75. I would give Panera 2.5 stars but Yelp does not have half stars so I will give it 2 stars. The counterperson was helpful but uninformed of the baking side of the business. The baker did not come out to talk to me about the bread after being asked questions about the bread availabilty. The bread selection itself is minimal and a disapointment. It appears to be the only bread bakery in town which is too bad because the quality is not good. Even Costco has bakery bread that is on par if not better than this Panera. The Panera bakery in Portland, Oregon is better than this location which is strange since they are supposed to be using the same recipes and baking methods for all their stores. Perhaps the dough, which is not made at Panera but by a supplier, is made by a different supplier with lower quality standards although this would not answer the question of why the crust was so low grade. That is the baker's fault. Service - 3 (because the counter person does not seem to know anything about baking or what the bakers do and the opposite for bakers, they do not interact with customers) Selection - 2 Quality- 2 Is there any place to get a real fresh baguette around here? If there is some homemaker or secret baker out there making crunchy crust delicious baguettes, I'd like to know their location and whereabouts. I'm serious. Many of the best bread bakeries and boulangeries started as home businesses. Update 10/17/2012 - On my way back from Anamosa I stopped by the Hyvee in Marion. It was my first time at this particular location. I stopped by the bakery and there were people actually working in the bakery. Did I miss this at the Collins Rd/Lindale Mall Hyvee? I saw the baguettes in their paper wrapers and squeezed one of the baguettes. I heard a "Crunch" and was excited. I ate a piece while in the car. I was very suprised by the crunchy skin and it was very soft on the inside with bubbles in the bread. I had crumbs on my shirt and lap. I like my baguettes super crunchy so it was not excellent but it was passable, better than Panera. read more

Got the Chili and it was very good. The ice tea was freshly brewed.

I ordered a baker's dozen bagels the day before and when I arrived to pick them up the manager said Sorry! We're out of the style you ordered. We only have two types left. Neither of which I wanted. How could they NOT honor an order placed16 hours earlier? Sorry. Sorry. I even had to take the jerk's promise that he had refunded my account! NEVER aGAIN. read more

Terrible service. Went today and they were out of croutons. Their signature croutons they boast about. So instead the salad was very plain and just like a bowl of lettuce. No mention of this when I ordered, of course. No apology. What a disappointment. And their bread was NOT Panera bread. It tastes like Italian bread from the grocery store and not a baguette. Won't be coming back to this location. read more

This is the best Panera in town (here are 2) great location and food (as always) and super friendly and accommodating staff! Highly recommend! read more

If Yelp had 1/2 star ratings, I would bump up my opinion down to 2 1/2 stars. This chain is a limited sandwich shop which offers decent, if overpriced, sandwiches, soup, and salads, so-so coffee, and average tasting breads and sweet rolls. It's best value to the consumer is that it is fairly large and offers adequate seating. It has a been a very good place to meet the relatives for a quick light and fast breakfast or the friends for snacks and chats. There are certainly better coffee and bread shop chains around the nation. We just happen to be stuck with a few Panera's. Diners would be better off choosing one of the other independent shops situated around the area. One thing I can't forgive Panera's for is passing off those awful sweet rolls they mistakenly call 'bagels'. I hate to think about how many customers buy these things and think that they are actually real bagels. Yes they are round with a hole in it but it is there that the similarity ends. It is far from the real thing. read more

I'm only giving this company one star. On account that there was 2 different occasions where they'd placed my order wrong and had nothing to show for it. Their trainees are literally incapable of taking an order without messing something up. TODAY (2/1/16) I'd ordered a sandwich and some soup, with a baguette. But it was a sandwich with chips instead of anything else. I'd told the TRAINEE that I took down my order what was wrong, she then proceeded to tell me that it was not printed on the receipt and that I'd have to pay for the soup. I did, but I was not pleased as a similar occurrence had happened not two months prior. One of the managers was rude and used his managerial status to approve of this mistake and disregarded my order to make it seem like I hadn't placed it at all, and was STANDING RIGHT BEHIND THE EMPLOYEE AS. I. TOOK. MY. ORDER. I am not pleased. read more

10/10 would go again. New favorite place! Awesome food made by hardworking nice people. New spot to go when I want to relax and enjoy a meal and coffee. Think their staff need to be dressed like pirates. A bard or two and an occasional swordfight would be cool too. read more