Great meal and experience! Ordered to go from the kiosk screen inside the restaurant (they do have counter ordering as well) During the very short wait while my order was being prepared, the manager (11/22/26 11 am) who was helping in the meal prep area made a point to come out and make sure we knew our orders were almost ready and asked us about our day. Very friendly and personable, customer focused manager Staff all appeared to be college kids. All were working diligently in food prep or dining room cleaning or customer service. Didn't see a single person standing around gossiping and all were very friendly I got the "Take 2" where you get half a sandwich or cup of soup or salad, choose two. I got the French onion soup, and the Mediterranean sandwich. I customized a lot on the sandwich (everything bagel instead of Mediterranean bread, add Parmesan cheese(it already comes with feta) light onions, light spring mix, light tomatoes, hummus on the side.) when I got to my car they had done every customization exactly correct. The bagel was fresh, the veggies were fresh, the feta was fresh. It was all so good. You also get a free choice of side with the "take 2" meal (apple slices, chips, or a half French baguette roll.) I got the baguette as a my free "take 2" side and it was really fresh also. Very clean restaurant. Really good food. A great experience and a VERY well managed restaurant. They also have a lot of parking and even their parking lot was clean and inviting. read more

*Update, they are short handed, like everywhere. The manager was very helpful and unfortunately it sounds like door dash is a problem. Keep coming here, just use the drive thru or come in. They are super friendly. The salads are my go to! It's also relaxing inside, I usually don't have time I was working late last night and placed a large order to take advantage of free delivery. my bad. It says it was delivered at 8:55. No, no one came in the parking lot at all after 8:00. I work at the KOA with the road closed it's easy to know if someone pulls in. I order regularly from here!! No food, called this morning and I keep getting sent back to the recorded message. read more

Panera Bread - Bakery items. - Sandwiches Near Me - Waterloo, Iowa

Had their French dip and squash soup. Didn't check the order because I assumed it would be standard Panera quality. Wrong. Got back to my hotel, cold au jus... terrible. Eat my mediocre sandwich with (re?)-heated au jus, and go to bed. Next day, around noon I became very ill and spent the next 24 hours throwing up... coincidence? Panera, you can do better. read more

Great for salads. Aside from that, and some "okay" items, you shouldn't expect much from Panera Bread.

expected us to make reservations pretty much because i guess they've been pretty busy and have been "bombarded" with customers. did not realize they didn't want customers. I just wanted a fruit cup. read more

I am giving this establishment 4 stars and not 5 for 1 reason. The food was delicious. The service lady at the register was very nice The place was clean. There was good coupons. What annoyed me though was they accidentally made me a small sandwhich. Instead of giving me my soup. They gave me the soup. Instead of just letting me have the sandwhich. The worker took it off the plate and immediately threw it in the garbage. That seemed like a waste of food to me. However overall the experience was good. read more

$40.92 for 2 meals and 2 drinks. I ordered the chicken caprise sandwich and there was NO CHICKEN in the sandwich. As we were leaving, I checked the menu board. Yes, there was supposed to have chicken in the sandwich. So I told the manager, who was changing cash drawers. His response was he would get some chicken as a side. I told him "No and we won't be back ecause $40 for 2 meals is way too much." He just shrugged and kept counting cash. We could have gone to Olive Garden for the same price! read more

Food was good, came out in good time. The store was well managed and it was very clean in the restaurant.

It seems like they have some new employees since last time . There was a nice blonde manager that took my order. Super friendly great service. Food was great. read more

The staff at this place are usually ok when it comes to the way they interact with customers. However, they regularly make food wrong and when a costumer politely asks for it to be remade they become disrespectful. Our most recent visit they made 2 sandwiches wrong and when asked to remake them they were polite but as soon as we walked away they made rude comments. I understand that in costumer service you are going to get talked about but it should never be done in ear shot of the client. The food at Panera while good is fairly expensive and after Paying 30$ I don't believe it is unreasonable to request food made correctly especially if when you talk with staff you are polite and understanding that they are busy. read more

Awful service. Never got my Doordash order for 30+ minutes. I get paid by delivery and they get paid by the hour to completely void giving me my priority order. I will never be going to this established Panera in Waterloo ever again. Please do better with your hiring Panera. Waste of my time breathing in your inefficient restaurant. read more

Traveling on business and decided to get a quick sandwich for dinner. Panera has not been consistent for me over the last year, but I wanted to give it another try. Bad choice. The chicken sandwich contained what tasted like a lumpy, chewy morsel of yuck. Skin from the chicken maybe? Right to the trash it went. My dinner then consisted of the two cookies and side of chips that accompanied the chicken yuckwich. Out Panera for this fella...too bad. read more

The food had multiple hairs in it and was absolutely disgusting. Not coming to this Panera again. When we asked for baguettes, they made faces and did not want to give. Bad service!!! read more

Panera Bread - Macaroni and Cheese with hair - Sandwiches Near Me - Waterloo, Iowa

I wish I could leave no stars. I ate there with another person and neither of us finished our food as it was off-putting and not hot. Two you pick two meals with soup. Just didn't taste right. A few hours later I became desperately ill like I had food poisoning and my guest felt ill also. I was ill for three days and sent an email of complaint to their corporate office. The manager did call to confirm details and they tested their temps, etc. and said everything was fine but of course that was weeks later. Got a lame email back from corporate that basically said they found nothing wrong. read more

The staff was friendly & pleasant. Food was good but disappointed there are no salt or pepper packets & no knives (plastic even) to spread butter with! Please at least give some condiments. read more

If they stop playing house can actually act like they're working not too bad actually food is excellent if you can get it in between there funtimes. The Last time I visited drive up took over 10 minutes you get an order which was one sandwich. Watched man running around with box on his head girl screaming and a lot of playing. So they do provide entertainment while you wait. read more

Panera has gotten to be ridiculously overpriced despite putting less and less effort into their food. My mom got a $11 quinoa and lentil bowl with chicken (which she clarified twice) and ended up with a cup of thick broth full of wilted kale, 50 lentils and 2 tablespoons of quinoa with no chicken. I got the $9 Asian salad that only had romaine lettuce, wonton crackers and almonds. PITIFUL! read more

Panera Bread - $10 for 50 lentils, kale, extra thick broth, no chicken, 2 tablespoons of quinoa. - Sandwiches Near Me - Waterloo, Iowa

Boo! I'm from out of town but eat at Panera all the time at home. I got my usual - the egg white, avocado, spinach breakfast sandwich. NOT GOOD!! I stood by the counter and watched them make my sandwich. When the press opened (guessing it heats it all together) the sandwich had moved and was a hot mess. She literally scooped it all back together and awkwardly put it in my bag. I asked if it would hold together and she looked at me like I was weird for asking. I didn't want to say anything because my nephew works here (shhhh, don't tell him I'm posting this). Drove to Target (which is right behind Panera) and opened my sandwich to eat it. It was a nasty, greasy mess! I was shocked at the grease and disappointed that the entire thing just fell apart while I tried to eat it. Eventually I gave up and just threw it out. My son got his usual pumpkin muffin and it had twice as much powdered sugar on it as they do back home. I shook most off before he ate it. No one needs all that! read more

I travel a lot all over and eat at the Panera Bread and St Louis Bread Company quite a lot. This one is particularly amazing. From the service at the order counter to the display of food this Panera is hands down the best I've been to. Service at the order counter was very friendly and very easy to understand. (I don't like when people mumble). Full order was repeated several times to ensure accuracy and specials were offered in a way that they were inviting and appealing for purchase and it didn't seem like you were being forced to purchase one. When the food came out it looked really nice. It looked like the staff took time to make the food and make it look like a work of art and not something just slapped on the plate for consumption. The food was meticulously arranged and looked very pleasing. Overall a great experience. Great food. Great service and atmosphere. read more

Again no cream cheese. I came 30 minutes early for work to get my staff Panera. This was the last time. I will never go to Panera again in Waterloo. How hard is it to freeze the product. It comes in frozen. read more

Don't forget they have a bakery in here too. The other yelpers focused on lunch and dinner but get an item from the bakery for breakfast or a mid afternoon snack read more

I normally don't get to go here when I'm on the road because of parking. This time someone else drove so I was a fan. I had there new Turkey, Avocado, Bacon sandwich. I was impressed it was very tasty and hit the spot. I guess, thats why Panera is always a good place to be seen. read more

The smoked Gouda on the bacon turkey bravo was excellent. Chicken tortilla soup was actually not that great - definitely tasted low fat. Finished everything off with an awesome fudge brownie. read more

Great service! I dine at Panera Bread often. The staff provide a great atmosphere. This will be my lunch spot when working in Waterloo, IA. read more

It's great to have a chain of restaurants that can have consistent, quite-healthy, tasty food. Good service. Great salads. Great sandwiches. Good pastries. Free wifi. read more

Pluck 2 is always a good choice. French opinion soup is not bad. Got gristle in my chicken with the berry salad not once but twice. Portions seem to be getting smaller.... read more

I've been visiting Panera Bread chains or years, and this one tops them all. I live close to this Panera ironically. Everyone is so polite, they thank you for coming in, and I've even gotten to know some of the staff pretty well. The food is always the perfect temperature, fresh, and I just really enjoy the overall experience every time I stop in. Thank you for the wonderful hospitality, Waterloo Panera! read more

Usually Panerra is really good. Missed breakfast by five minutes and they wouldn't make me a bagel sandwich. Also had to give the lady my order three times because she kept forgetting. Grrr. read more

I love Panera but the staff here can't remember or get any order right ever! I get a salad and they always forget things on it. I got a 'bread' bowl and only got the soup or they just forget and mix it up all together! I love the drive thru but it's not worth the wait. I will go across town to the other Panera where they can remember my order sadly. The food is good though when they get the order right! **UPDATE: their management staff has always been very helpful in correcting issues. For that I appreciate the service. read more

Everything was great here. Drinks. Pastries. Sandwiches. Soup. Crowded during the lunch hours they're building a drive thru for the place for faster service. Good times. read more

The pick two choice of asiago roast beef and french onion soup with baggette was great. just enough for lunch. the kids (age 8 and 10) loved the pb&j sandwich with a gogurt. Everything was fresh and delicious. Recommend for the healthy minded people tired of the normal fast food diet. read more

Nice employees, but to me you dont get what you pay for... Not enough food per meal

I absolutely love Panera but my family and I ate at the La Porte road location and ordered almost $80 worth of food and drinks but forgot to add on the desserts for $1. When we went back, Emma charged us full price even after we offered our receipts and pointed to where we were sitting. When my sister in law tried she was also denied because she had ordered her drink after the meal. Emma has a lot to learn about customer service! She was absolutely rude. Even when her colleagues suggested how it could be easily handled on the computer she remained even more steadfast in her decision. We won't visit this location again. read more

Always the best, you can't miss with PB. Great coffee, love the Hazelnut and breakfast power sandwich. Oh and the free WiFi is great!

I've recently switched back to Panera for my morning coffee. I'll admit that I do like Starbucks coffees but I can't take the atmosphere any longer. They play their music way too loud and it's such an unfriendly atmosphere. So I switched back to Panera and absolutely love it! The employees are so nice, especially a new one named Elaine. The patrons are friendly and visit with each other and there's so much to pick from on the menu. The managers make an effort to talk to the patrons and everyone is happy. I can't say enough good things about it. They do a great job! read more