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    Panera Bread

    3.5 (53 reviews)
    ModerateSalad, Soup, Sandwiches
    Closed 7:00 am - 9:00 pm

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    Cheddar Broccoli Soup, Toasted Italian, Coffee
    Matthew J.

    Nothing hits better than soup and a sandwich on a cooler day. The warmth and depth of the soup and the crunch of the baguette are lovely

    Jacques T.

    Was there on Mar 25/2023 for breakfast. The guy serving us seemed like he was doing us a big favour by taking our order. My partner ordered a bagel, but when it arrived - 'sorry, we have no butter today.' What restaurant doesn't have butter? Also, if this palm thing comes to Ottawa. Sayonara.

    Pecan braid and coffee
    Omer H.

    When Panera first opened in the neighborhood, we were really excited based on all the hype from south of the border. Also, what we had heard from family and friends. The first few visits were quite good. Food was tasty, coffee was delicious. Then, after a while, we realized the food was really salty. Not so much that it was inedible. You know that feeling when you wake up thirsty in the middle of the night, but you're not sure why? Drink some water, and then fall back asleep. It dawns on you the next day as to what you ate that made you feel that way. Panera. The honeymoon was over. Fast forward to earlier this week. I happened to be in the neighborhood and my stomach was reminding me that I had neglected to have my afternoon snack. Grabbed a pecan braid - I'm a sucker for anything with nuts on it - and a coffee in a mug. Coffee tastes SO MUCH BETTER in a mug. It did not disappoint. The pastry on the other hand, was waxy. Processed. Blech. I still ate it, but reluctantly. I don't like wasting food. The honeymoon is still over, and I don't think the vows are going to be renewed anytime soon.

    Paul M.

    Take out 4. It's been awhile since I didn't do a review of how we fine during COVID-19. It was an earie sight in the late morning of mid-April, it would have been nearly a month since the lockdown.We wanted to stretch exercise along the canal and for a town like Ottawa, there were hardly any cars on the road. We wanted to see other local restaurants or franchises were open for breakfast. Most were closed except those with drive through a. There was no curb side pick-up yet available in this Smart Center yet. Near a huge box hardware store, we found a Panera Bread restaurant. We thought that it would be a great healthy choice before our stretches. They had covered all of their morning breakfast options and listed a few sandwiches available more for a lunch or dinner. So we ordered for lunch instead. We ordered turkey with avocado on rye bread. We got coffee to go too. There were only 3 employees who looked very happy to see us. It was the first time I was handed over the card payment terminal tapped in a hockey stick when it came time to pay. Not a lot of choices in the COVID-19 era but this was a fine choice for something healthy. Better than Mickey D's. $$

    Ancient grains arugula chicken salad $10.29. You get a free bag of chips on the side.
    Jennifer P.

    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 :) Edit 2017-09-27: I am upping my rating to 5 stars because their Panera Points Rewards system is amazing! I've claimed so much awesome free stuff. It seems like every time I buy something I get some rewards on my card.

    Order Tracker, so they can hunt you down and feed you!
    Jay B.

    Its a decent lunch place, food was good, it is fast food so a bit pricey for what it is and they make a lot of money on the extras they sell you. Still decent selection and no guilt trip from eating here. I like the review from Jennifer P, sums up our experience as well and she explained the process or ordering very clearly. What I didn't like was the ordering process, as there are a lot of choices and you feel very rushed to make up your mind and decide which combinations you want. The girl on the cash also spoke so quickly I had to ask her to slow down. I felt like a confused senior! The food was good, nothing to rave home about but it was a solid, tasty lunch. We share a salad and couple of sandwiches and added the extra "combo" apple and kettle chips. I found the drinks particular expensive, we shared one. By the way, kettle chips are tasty, but you get such a small bag its pretty sad. We stopped on a whim on the way to another errand. To be honest I would not go out of my way to visit again. It is a chain and felt like that. I'd rather support a local cafe or other business, especially for the price, even if I pay a little more. I think we spent almost $30 for lunch for two. Granted if I had to choose between greasy fast food and nothing else, this would win for sure.

    8 bucks for this small bowl of soup.  Ridiculous.
    Todd K.

    8 bucks for a SMALL soup and NO crackers. What kind of restaurant doesn't have crackers for soup? I don't want fresh made croutons. I want crackers

    Mac & cheese with an autumn soup
    Lauren W.

    Yummy food & friendly service! They have a wide selection of food & their "pick 2" option is a nice way to try a variety of them! They have some seasonal items as well. If you buy 6 baked goods you don't pay tax! The atmosphere is nice but doesn't seem to fit the rest of the place. It would be a delicious meal to bring along to a picnic. I had the autumn squash soup which was delicious especially given the weather (it was freezing cold) & the Mac & cheese which I would definitely recommend!

    Kassandra C.

    Nice quite place to eat, only thing i wasn't impressed with was that i asked them to heat up my croissant and they pointed me to a microwave behind me.

    Bread
    DoYeon K.

    I've actually never heard of Panera Bread before visiting this place but apparently it's a big American chain bakery/casual eatery. We don't have these in Montreal so why not try it before we leave Ottawa! We made a mistake not trying their baked goods. They looked so good; big portions, heaping toppings and delicious, ready to be eaten. Good thing we went on Mother's Day and they gave us complementary pound cake, which was nice! Unfortunately, we decided to try their savoury meals instead. We ordered French onion soup in bread bowl, chicken salad, and chicken panini. The bread bowl was great - fluffy and chewy, went perfect with the soup. The soup itself is average. We were a little disappointed with the portion given the price. The salad was solid, nothing much to complain about. You get fresh vegetables and tender chicken. The panini was good too, but the problem with this place really is the portion given the prices. Each of the dishes were ~$12 and the panini came with just an apple and a bag of chips. Not satisfying at all. Overall, it was pleasant enough but I would go back only to try the baked goods.

    Really love their strawberry smoothie :)
    Emma F.

    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

    Yummy Asian chicken sesame salad and pasta bowl
    Jo M.

    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).

    This is the Mediterranean chicken flatbread with an apple. Yum good
    Marion P.

    Very nice clean restaurant, great decor, family oriented. Menu selection is greatl love that they post the calories on their food items. We went there for supper on a Saturday night and had a really nice chicken flatbread with good hazelnut coffee. Will definitely return and try some of their wonderful pastries

    Apple cheddar turkey and french onion soup

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    10 years ago

    Healthy food and incredible customer service! One of my favorite places to have a great meal .

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    12 years ago

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

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