Panera Bread — Restaurant in Bethlehem Township

I've been coming to this Panera location (Southmont Way in Easton) for years and I should have wrote this review a long time ago. I've been to all the Panera locations in the Lehigh valley Pennsylvania and beyond. May I say that this one outshines them all !!! Absolutely no comparison !!!

Brittany is an outstanding manager to say the least. I also can't say enough about her supporting manager Rachelle, team lead Kat, catering lead Chloe, and let me not forget their long time employee of 19 years Steve. I've had the pleasure of getting to know all of them throughout the years. Brittany is not only respected and loved by the employees, but her professionalism, work ethics and can do friendly attitude are admired by all who have the opportunity to meet her. Speaking of the employees, you can certainly tell that they enjoy the work environment. This is evident by the way they welcome the customers and most importantly how they treat each other. A true family !!!

Unfortunately, corporate America doesn't appreciate the importance and success of an establishment based on the professionalism, work ethics and attitude of their employees. Although not captured in the financial assessments of their businesses, it actually is the number one driver of customer satisfaction, productivity and meeting financial hurdles. Yes, before the food !! The employee is the customer's first contact as they enter the store.

At this Panera location everyone not only acts like an owner but you would swear that they are the owner by the way they genuinely care.

I myself was a senior manager for one of the largest food companies in the world for over 35 years. So I think I know what I'm talking about.

If you find yourself in the area and hungry for a great meal do yourself a favor and stop in. I'm sure you will be...

The place has only gotten worse unfortunately. After walking past an unbelievable amount of trash just to get to the front door you come upon the coffee area that has three put of five coffee stations empty. How does this happen at 9am? What is the priority at 9am? One thing....COFFEE. So besides the coffee being empty the floor reminds you of the floor in the old college frat house during and after a huge party. It was literally disgusting listening to your shoes rip away from from the disgustingly sticky floor with each step. I manage to overlook this nightmare and wish the worker a good Morning only to be met with a growl and see her slam the coffee in place. Now she may have her reasons for being upset but IDK in my opinion that is something you never allow to effect your interaction with a customer. The place is in absolute disarray and what worries me is I'm describing things that can be seen. What in God's name is happening back in the kitchen and in other areas we can't see. Kind of scary. PANERA better step up quick because their reputation is suffering daily. This was at the rt22 location in Phillipsburg, NJ Dec 10, 2022 Good food but the rapid pickup online ordering service leaves a lot to be desired. You never know what you are going to get. One day my coffee is made as it should be (as ordered), the next time it's black and I have to add the cream and sugar, the next time it's an empty cup and I have to do it all. It makes no sense because if I did curb side or drive thru this wouldn't be the case. Why am I consistently get worse service for walking in to get my order? Multiple calls and talks with management and nothing has changed. It's sad because I really like the place. I just want what I order. That isn't too much...

I don't have very high standards when it comes to fast food. It serves it's purpose and frankly the staff are often underpaid. As long as everything is clean, the food isn't off of what would be normal for this restaurant, service is fine, and there aren't weird fees that generally guarantees 5 stars from me.

When I went inside there wasn't anyone at the counter. Not a huge deal, I just used the kiosk. I ordered food for dine in, took my "buzzer pad", and sat at a small table to read while waiting. 20 minutes pass and my number didn't go off. This was strange because I didn't get anything extraordinary. I checked the pickup counter and my order was packaged "to go".

I asked some quick questions (is this everything, can I get a tray) which I got very brief responses to. Despite being assured everything was there, my drink was not given to me. I also noticed that they defaulted my side to the baguette since I was not given a choice.

The food was probably fine when it was fresh (20 minutes ago), but the bread for my sandwich was stiff and the cheese was firmly stuck to my wrapper. I suppose I should've checked earlier, but honestly that's the point of the buzzer. My soup was luckily still pretty warm, but overall the experience was...