I am in the middle of my worst "dining" experience in a long time. How can two kids meals, a half sandwich / half salad, a bowl of chili and 4 sodas cost $45??? That was my first eye opener a 1/2 hour ago when I placed my order at a McDonald's style cash register / order taker. Then I proceed to wait 1/2 for the food, does that food sound complicated, I don't think so. Then a twelve year old looking girl brings out food to the table, and just sets it down, no apology about the wait. THIS IS MY FIRST AND LAST MEAL HERE!! Last note: all that AND you bus your own table like a high school cafeteria, the plate area had not been cleared all evening, we had to place our dishes on the floor! read more

I typically love Panera food but this location needs some work. They're almost always out of something I want (i.e. coffe, bread, soup, etc.) and its always ridiculously dirty. It seems like the tables and chairs rarely get wiped down and don't even get me started on the floors. I usually get the half sandwich and soup which is the perfect size for me, but every time I get a half sandwich here it's mostly bread with very little substance in between. My boyfriend orders the whole sandwiches which are packed so it doesn't make sense why the half sizes are so small. I do like the self ordering stations. It lets you customize your food without annoying the long line of people behind you. read more

I LOVE their Asian Sesame Chicken salad and Bacon Turkey Bravo. I always get the "You pick two" because it is somewhat "cheaper". Alwasy with a side of kettle chips and a tall coffee which their hazelnut blended coffee is the best thing to wake up to. :) My sister always gets their cream of chicken with wild rice soup which is so good but unfortunately is only made on certain days which we found out sundays is the best day to go to get it. After getting the same thing all the time I decided to try one of their newer sandwiches which is the artichoke and turkey pesto panini which is my new favorite! I admit their sandwich portions do vary everytime I go and for the price they should be a bit bigger but I figure its the eastside and I should be used to it. :) read more

I, too, am surprised at all the negative reviews. I work in the area and we use Panera quite frequently for lunches for meetings, etc. Food is always fresh; very surprised to hear their soups are bagged, cuz the chicken noodle? Killer. And it's baguettes, not rolls - very yummy. Prices aren't cheap, no, but for a quality product, I don't mind so much. My favorite is their Turkey Bravo; the bread is always way fresh; not sure why someone said the bread is hard. Only gets hard if you leave out, unwrapped, for a while ??? Staff is always very polite and friendly and accommodating. Only reason I'm giving 4 instead of 5 stars is that I really dislike their brand of chips, so typically, when I order box lunches, I'll ask for the salad side (yes, that is an option with the box lunches). And pastries always have calories; even the sugar-free ones. That was kind of a silly statement to make, below, about exercising and the worth of eating a pastry. They're there if you want them. Don't think they're worth the calories? Don't order one. I think it's a good thing to see the caloric values (not sure, but I think that's a law now - they have to); helps me stay "good" when I really want something, but know that I shouldn't :o) read more

This is the worst location. It doesn't matter how busy or dead they are they take forever to get food out. I just see people just standing around behind the line. Taking their sweet tome. No manager or supervisor in sight. Just don't go there. You will be mad you did. read more

Sum up: Took 45 min to get just coffee and the server was very strange. I came in 45 minutes before closing to just get a coffee. I go up to the counter and ask for a caramel frappe. The cashier lady says they don't sell that. I replied saying the blended coffee drink with caramel. She tells me they don't sell cold coffee. I point to where it is on the menu and say yes you do right there. She says oh okay and rings me up. 25 minutes pass and at first I don't really realize because I was swamped with work I was doing while I waited. I felt like it had been a long time though and was shocked when I looked at the clock and almost half an hour had passed. I was about to say something when she brought me the drink. It was mocha not caramel and I dislike their mocha frappe. I go back up to the counter and say excuse me this is the wrong flavor. She says oh actually because it's 20 min until closing I'm not really supposed to make anything. I tell her I ordered it 30 min ago. She responds again she can't make anything because it is too close to closing and offers a refund. I say okay and instead of refunding me shes walks off and starts doing random things. At this point I turn to my husband and say this is poor customer service. After I said that she came back to the counter and was like uh okay maybe I can go make it. (Yes you should that is what you are paid for. Also you just put the mix in the machine so idk what the issue is). She walks over to the machine and paces in front of the blender for a minute. Then shouts can someone make the caramel coffee , I don't know how. read more

SLOOOOOOOOOW! Clearly need an additional staff person or two in the kitchen. Completely overloaded on all fronts, lichen, front counter, seats, and cleanup. Looks like some people on the list wait list over 40 minutes. Yiiiikes! read more

ick. I hate going here. The portions are too big for me, especially for lunch, and all the food is just blah. I had their Apple something Salad, and they actually put packaged apple chips on my salad, not fresh real apples. They should really clarify. The rest of the food that I have had tastes processed and old, I doubt any of it is even made at that location. The bread even tastes mediocre, and that is suppose to be their specialty. It gets really busy at Lunch time, and it can be hard to find a seat, especially if you are with more then one other person. It also gets really loud, so much that I couldn't even hear my sister who was sitting across from me. On the other hand, if you like starbucks, i predict you will probably like this place. read more

Not a bad place to grab some bready breakfast or a quick lunch. The food isn't anything to write home about, but the sandwiches are solid. I mostly come for a bagel (with cream cheese of course!) and to waste some time before heading to class, as I am now :B. Yeah it does get wicked crowded during the lunch hour and between 3-5ish for the after school set. Luckily I'm here nice and early so I haven't really had the problems some other reviewers complain about. Value for your buck is eh, but then again if you're just getting a bagel like I am (preferably washed down with a 32oz quad shot mocha from the Coffee Miner) you're golden. :D read more

Panera is a break from fast food and other sub shops. They serve paninis and other sandwhiches with a little fancier ilk. They have some pastries and other baked goods (bagels for one) that are made each day. Their sandwiches appear to have gotten a smaller over time and are a kind of expensive for what you are getting (6 bucks for a Tuna Fish sandwich seems a lot to me - I do it for my kids). They do have free wi-fi here, which has served as a valuable stop over place between appointments when I have snuck them in on work days. I enjoy the variety in their sandwiches and my kids really like sitting by the fireplace. It is definitely the kind of place one could hang out in on a rainy day to kill some time reading or surfing the internet. read more

I love their pastries and their Asiago Cheese Loaf is yummy. Take them home and freeze them and pop a slice in the toaster and spread on some butter...delish. If your really looking for a light open face sandwich...add a slice of salami. Their soups are below average but their Greek salad is tasty...and you don't need the dressing, which has over 500 calories in it..to make it good..just use lemon juice and olive oil and your set. read more

You've been to one Panera Bread, you've been to them all. Clean restaurant, always busy and good food. read more

This Panera bread location has been a disappointment. 1. The silverware is so worn out and often times not clean enough. Cleanliness is my major complaint against this store. The plates, bowls and spoons are so old and scratched and to add it to, not washed and cleaned enough. 2. The side of bread they give, is usually over done to the burnt, at the bottom. It is so that hard that it's almost impossible to break it. 3. The crew managing the front looks very dull and tired. Often times, i have seen the manager taking orders. Everyone looks disinterested and/or annoyed. 4. Portion sizes are small for what they charge. Almost $20 for 1 adult pick 2 and 1 kids meal and neither of us are full. $6 for small bowl of mac n cheese and just 1 side (bread, yogurt OR applesauce) with no drink is not a cheap eat. My son loves the Mac n Cheese here and he is the only reason we come here. Although, lately we just order his meal here and my husband & I eat elsewhere. read more

I am giving 5 stars for Forest, who works the cash register. This guy, no matter what kind of patron he has, interacts with enthusiasm, politeness, accuracy and a sense of humor. Always friendly he puts a smile on my face. The food is fine, same as all of the Paneras, but Forest makes it stand out. Great job!! read more

I have to agree with Taylor T, this is a fast food joint masquerading as a cute little bakery/cafe. However, I thought the bread and soup were pretty tasty ("You might say the secret ingredient is salt!") and I really appreciated the free WiFi (and free tea refills) when the router at my parent's house went kaput. (Internet addict? No way! I could quit at anytime. I just don't want to...) I lament Issaquah losing it's personality as the chains take over, but I'm not going to blame it on Panera. Especially since the locals really seem to love this place - it was busy all afternoon on Memorial Day. (If this place was in San Francisco I'd give it 1 star.) read more

Service has gotten so bad! Waited 20 minutes after ordering just for my soup and salad. Thought it was a one off, so came back and got mac cheese, and it took over 25 minutes! After 25 minutes, I walked up to the counter and asked, the guy was extremely apologetic and went into the back, grabbed a bag of mac n cheese, and squeezed it into a bowl and gave it to me. So it was already pre made sitting in a heater in a bag, that shouldn't take 5 minutes, let alone 25! This takes longer than a sit down restaurant. Very disappointed, I used to love Panera, but this location has gone down the drain. read more

Overall: Bread is okish but not great, coffee is extremely weak and bland. The baked goods such as muffins and scones are not special. The bread is okish - but I wouldn't make the trip out to buy this bread, I would rather make it at home. We had a coffee meeting here and the bottomless mugs of coffee are a good idea, however it helps if it wasn't so DAMN weak and tasteless. If I were to go there again for coffee, I would definitely opt for a double shot of espresso instead. We once had a lunch here (as we had a coupon of some sort), it was a salad, it was ok, but not great. I doubt we will be coming back here for bread, coffee or baked goods. read more

Food is pretty good. Sometimes they make mistakes on orders. Came for dinner, sat down, 23 minutes and counting and no food yet... Peek over at the staff behind counter and they're talk to each other. What gives panera? read more

Only ordered a toasted bagel and a coke and the cashier "Kyle" written in pen. (So professional) was less than stellar cashier and said thank-...(long pause) thank.....ssssss And then they confused my order which someone's sandwich and was asking me what kind of bread I wanted because their out of flat bread. I told them " I ordered a bagel.) And then it took an additional 10 mins to actually get the bagel which was no longer warm. Good job Panera Two stars was way to generous btw read more

The staff at this Panera are mostly nice (Forest is great) but the actual service is totally awful. On more than one occasion I have had to send back food, which is terribly obnoxious when you are heading into work and already on a schedule. Usually I don't end up noticing any mistakes until I've driven away and I find it incredibly frustrating to have to return for an order that I already waited 15 minutes for. read more

This is a hit and miss Panera. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. They often run out of many items on their menu, and it's often over cooked. read more

For me, Panera has good food, but two major problems. First, being a soup/sandwich/salad place, I would assume that most people think that their food is healthy. IT'S NOT (for the most part)! You can view their nutrition facts online at www.panera.com, and if health-conscious eating is a priority, I recommend taking a look. The chicken noodle soup is terrific and low in fat and calories. Unfortunately, almost all the sandwiches and salads have a lot of fat and calories, and the coffee drinks are even worse. The largo-sized mocha almond frozen drink has 650 calories and 40 grams of fat! The second problem is a lack of organization. Our office used to do to go orders from Panera, but had to stop because after faxing in the order, we could never get them to pick up their phone to confirm receipt! Then someone would drive over to pick up the food, and they wouldn't have even started on it! Then they would ask if we called to confirm (we tried!). Overall, good food, but not worth the price and hassle to get it. read more

Very bad experience. I ordered breakfast without bacon but they gave me bacon very sad and espresso was very ice cold and like short version of americano..... very sad. Never again. Confused people..... read more

Extremely slow and impolite service. Don't go here if you're hungry or on a hurry. Or better don't even bother to go!

Honestly very disappointing. Since I was last here the prices have gone up significantly and service has gone down. The staff seemed to not care about the customers, the service was slow and the food was mediocre at best. Overall my meal cost nearly $16 for a "you pick two" with Mac and cheese and a bbq chicken flatbread with a regular soda. I've never spent this much in a restaurant where you have to order at the front counter and then bus your own dishes. These prices could be acceptable if the food was outstanding, but the Mac and cheese had a plastic taste to it, probably because it's frozen originally and then heated up in a soup well. In addition, the bowl they gave my was quite large and only emphasized just how little Mac and cheese I was served, my best guess is that I didn't even get 10 bites before it was gone. And the flatbread was dry and obviously not fresh. Upon that they had the audacity to ask for a tip- for what!? I did everything a server should do other then go in the kitchen and make my own food. Additionally the carpet was disgusting with food scattered throughout and dirty tables at every empty spot. There is no redeeming quality for Panera bread. Needless to say this was more then disappointing and you have lost my service. Please be aware that much of this review is for Panera bread as a company and not specifically for this store. I'm sure the prices are from management and sizing is predetermined so this cannot change store to store, but as for staff and cleanliness it was not up to par for what should be expected from a $16 lunch. read more

We have been having a crummy couple of weeks peppered with bad news and poor service. We stopped at Panera for some lunch after the gym on Saturday and were greeted by Elizabeth at the counter. She was happy, helpful and all around wonderful. The way one would expect to be treated by a customer service representative of any establishment. I bet she is always that nice. She just seemed like that kind of person. Give this girl a raise or something. She was the best. Food is good too. read more

Whole place is just dirty. No one wipes the tables nor sweep floors. 7:30 pm, place was not busy but service is slow.

This is not our favorite location. Staff don't appear as they want to be there. Food was ok. Wait time was long. There are other good eats in the area that are better than here. read more

Don't spend your hard-earned dollars here. You could probably choose from any of the other Panera cafes in the area and have a fine experience. You won't have one here. If you do choose to eat here, expect your order to be wrong 85-90% of the time. Expect them to be out of key ingredients for their most popular items on a regular basis. When (not "if") your order is wrong, expect to receive a lot of eye rolling and frustrated sighs from the staff when you ask for it to be corrected. Expect them to argue with you about it. Then expect them to talk trash about you when you walk away (and they think you can't hear them). Expect never to be served with a smile or treated like you're the reason they're in business in the first place. This café does not get it. To this café, customers are an annoyance to be brushed off as quickly as possible, so that they can get back to talking trash behind the counter. Do not think for a minute that this behavior is limited only to the young staff. It is not. The management is just as poor. If you have the opportunity, drive to the Factoria store instead. There you will find smiling faces who care about getting your order right, and it will be, 99% of the time. If by some chance, there is a small error, they will fix it with a smile and an apology, and you will never be made to feel like an annoyance. This is the kind of café that deserves your business. read more

Service here is fantastic. Give them a call ahead if you're going to order ten sandwiches for the office. They sort of messed up my order once and the manager insisted on buying me a cookie. Mmm! Bad: Bagels. Don't get them unless you like to gnaw on things for 3 hours and your teeth can take it. Good: Pastries GREAT: Smoked turkey on tomato basil bread. The bread is sooo soft and fluffy and delicious. The cookies! Get the chocolate chip! Soft and wonderfully buttery and decadent. :) read more

The location is in a popular shopping center in Issaquah, so at times parking can be difficult to find. This location offers easy, online ordering for take-out, so that's what I did. My order was ready at the time promised. It's a little tricky to find the pick-up area for the online orders, it's in a little nook past the main ordering area. The food was excellent! I'll definitely be back. read more

I've had good and bad experiences here. I always order to go at Panera and every time I order I'm surprised at the differences. Sometimes the order comes out fast, sometimes it takes forever. Most recently, they were sending out everyone's food in the restaurant while the to go folks got shafted and waited for 30 minutes which is really unacceptable. The line behind the counter seems unorganized and staffed with young kids who are chatting with each other until their manager steps in and yells at them. It's a weird place honestly. I can't decide if I'm going back bc our stomachs were upset the last time we ate there, the lettuce was brown on the salads but we decided to just pick it out. To quote Joe Pesci: "You always get screwed in the drive thru!" read more

I placed my 3rd delivery order with Panera Catering today. They are awesome, always arrive right on time, every boxed lunch has the person's name on it and my order is always 100% accurate. The food is excellent, nice variety in the boxed lunches, and all the condiments and utensils you need to enjoy your lunch. The staff rave about the food, have yet to have any complaints. The employee who delivers is always friendly, offers to set out the lunches or help out however she can before she leaves and double checks we received our entire order. I am so pleased with every aspect of ordering delivery boxed lunches from Panera and thankful they offer this service in Issaquah! Personally, I have had the Steak and Blue Cheese chopped salad. This is excellent, nice portion of steak, fresh ingredients. The dressing comes on the side when it's in a boxed lunch so the lettuce is still crisp. Excellent! I've also dined in and had the Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich. I usually switch the bread to the Asiago Cheese bread, because this is my favorite bread they bake here! I've also tried the Napa Almond Chicken Salad which is excellent! Their soups are great, the salads are great and the macaroni cheese is unbelievable! My favorite mac n cheese around! I've attempted to duplicate it at home, but have been unsuccessful. If they ever took this off the menu I would be deeply saddened! =) I'm a big fan, will keep ordering for work and will dine in whenever I get the chance! read more

Gross. The bread wasn't toasted, the cheese was unmelted, and the whole sandwich was slapped together with absolutely no thought. Super bland and made me lose my appetite. DO NOT recommend to anyone. Another person in our party ordered a chicken tortellini and it tasted like it was straight out of the can AND some of the chicken was still cold. I should have ate at Potbelly sandwiches next door. Don't bother eating here read more

Came in on Saturday and I was very disappointed that my food didn't come out before I had to go back to work. I waited at least 25 minutes and I ended up just leaving. I always come to this panera because it is the nearest to my work, but this panera is by far the worst I have ever been to. read more

Catering is not reliable. I had ordered food for a meeting of about 10. They were doing boxed lunches. Nothing fancy. We had 3 meet choices and thats it. It was to be delieved to my work place at 11:45am in Issaquah. At around Noon, I had called and they had not even processed the order because they "lost" the order. They quickly took order again and delievered it in the next hour. I was upset and had a room of people hungry. Going there and having lunch is a much different experience. Always friendly and the food comes out in a timely manner. If you do the "you Pick 2" menu, the nutritional guide is very helpful. I love their cheese and broccoli soup for 200 calories and the Greek Salad for another 190 calories. Lunch for 400 calories is great. Especially since it fills you up and tastes so good that it feels like a "cheat" meal. read more

Eh, not bad. It's a nice atmosphere for relaxing or hanging out with your friends. The free wifi is a great bonus and makes it a good place to study too. The food itself is just okay, and slightly pricey for a fast food type of place. I usually get the "you pick two" combos and they come out to around $8-$15, depending on which options you pick. You can choose two food items, with a choice of 1/2 sandwich, cup of soup, small pasta, and small salad. These also come with an apple, bread, or a bag of Panera chips. It's a good, rounded meal and could even be healthy depending on which options you choose. They have a strawberry salad in the summer that is amazing. Good place to stop by after work for a quick bite to eat or for take out. I never have to wait long for my food, which is a huge plus after a long day of work! Plenty of parking as well. read more

I agree w/ the other poor reviews of this place. Today was my first time ordering from this restaurant and I was not pleased. I had the Fontega Chicken on Focaccia bread and a cup of the broccoli soup (the "You Pick Two" combo). First, the portion of chicken was laughable (even for a half of a sandwich). Additionally, the menu reads, "smoked pulled chicken," and there was not an ounce of smoke flavor.. not even a hint. How can you smoke chicken (any meat for that matter) and it not taste like smoke? - The sandwich tasted okay but the portion size and lack of flavor (as suggested by the menu description) made it overall disappointing. Now the soup. It's pretty hard to mess up a broccoli and cheese soup and they didn't so... well they didn't mess it up. It just wasn't anything special. You would expect a place that does mostly soup, salad and sandwiches would have these down pat - even an original twist.. It was basically like Campbells chunky soup with smaller chunks of broccoli. To be fair I didn't eat the chips yet so maybe that'll make the meal.. read more

I love Panera, however this location is quite frustrating to go to. They have recently hired a new manager I believe, so hopefully it gets better. CUSTOMER SERVICE is appalling! It is a training site, granted, but good heavens they should try to at least have someone watching over the trainee's. I noticed an excruciatingly slow staff with the complete lack of time management or multi tasking skills! I almost had an aneurysm watching a boy try to fit a little bowl of soup into a bag...the wrong bag, then after spilling it only cleaning up the mess inside the bag after I pointed it out. He was too busy sucking on his finger which was burned due to soup mishap. Really dude?? Booooo read more

Portions are sure getting smaller. Ordered a bowl of soup, bowl was only half full. Definitely won't be ordering soup again.