Panera Bread — Restaurant in Rochester

Stopped for coffee on a cold Minnesota morning with a blizzard outside. Had to question my sanity for going out on a morning like this. But they had salted, scooped and cleared the path amazingly well. This location has ordering in person or online pick up. We ordered bagels and 2 coffee. We stayed to enjoy the coffee and warm up. They have a very large selection of fresh baked bagels. But the options don’t stop there- their bakery is quite extensive from Cookies, quiche, muffins, 6 types of bread, to bear claws and more. They have lots of soup, salad, Mac n cheese choices. Soups are not made there, but frozen and shipped in. They are well seasoned and available in a cup, bowl, or bread bowl. Perfect homemade flavor for those who don’t want to cook. My favorite soup is the chicken & rice or beef vegetable. The salads are all delicious and come half or whole size. They typically have a paired dressing with them, don’t be afraid to try the salad dressings, they truly pair perfectly with each particular salad. The inside seating is ample and options of both booths and tables or spit combinations of the two. Drinks are self service for coffee, teas, and flavored waters/juices. There are multiple smaller seating areas, which give a more private feel if you’re working on classroom work or for business. Nice seating area with fireplace, I gravitated to on this cold Minnesota morning (see in photos). The rest rooms were clean, have a child changing station and was stocked sufficiently. Location is convenient in strip mall just off major Hwy. nearby Target, hotels, shopping, Home Depot, hair/nail places, ice...

Tried again 2 years later: Ordered two BOWLS of soup. Cashier entered as a bowl and a cup. Food prep lady argued with me about it. The broccoli cheddar soup was gelatinous, not visually appealing, couldn't make myself eat it. Ice machine nonfunctional. My son ordered hot chocolate which is listed on the menu, but the cashier claimed they don't serve it. Lastly, the Cashier announced to the whole place that my card "didn't go through," as if it was declined when actually I just didn't finish the process on the card reader and had to hold it longer to read. The cupboards were broken and looked run down, flies were annoying.

I don't know what happened to the quality, but panera used to be good. My chicken salad sandwich had practically no chicken on it, just bread and lettuce. I had to go up to ask for my baguette that is supposed to come with my soup and the worker literally just ripped a chunk off the loaf and physically handed it to me. I'm not too bothered by that, but I know that's not proper for a restaurant. My daughter's grilled cheese had ONE slice of low quality, burnt cheese on it. My sons got mac n cheese that had a film on top because it had been under a warmer for too long. Too bad. I used to...

We visited here a couple of weeks ago. The quality of our food was very good to excellent. I gave four stars instead of 5 because it seems like a sandwich should have had a little more meat to it. HOWEVER, I do give 10 Stars to one of the young men who work there. I didn't catch his name but I caught his actions. TWICE, the young man offered to assist an elderly gentleman using a walker. The first time I heard the young man ask the older fellow's daughter something. By what I could tell, the older gentleman had made his way to the restroom and had been gone for a while. The young man offered to go check on him. The daughter said she thought he'd be okay. Eventually, the older gentleman shuffled back to his table. When he did, the young man came over and steadied the table to make sure it wouldn't tip when the older gentleman leaned on it. The awareness, compassion, and kindness of this young man really impressed me. I thought to myself, "I should be more like this." (Written by...