Panera Bread
“So moving to Queens and having one in my neighborhood is probably the best thing ever.”
“I've been here several times for breakfast, the bagels are always fresh and the service is extremely friendly.”
“They use a nut-free basil pesto sauce which was very interesting and refreshing.”
Panera Bread
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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panera is pretty standard across the board and you can really do no wrong. this location in particular had lots of seating although it was crowded since it was a weekend. it can get a bit loud and noisy since families come here for lunch. nothing major and i'm pretty sure the wifi in there doesnt work that well. tried connecting mulstipe times and it was a disappointment.
Typically I avoid chains and franchises, especially for sandwiches. Quiznos/Subway/Etc. will never stack up against a good deli. That being said, I can make an exception for Panera. Their bread is good, their meat is decent quality, portions and prices are appropriate. Their iced green tea is really good too. My go to menu items are the asiago steak sandwich, Thai chicken salad, chicken Caesar, or the chicken hummus power bowl. Panera's baked goods look great, but the calorie counts tend to scare me away. Every time I'm about to order one, I hear Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice in my head yelling PUT THE COOKIE DOWN!!! Anyway, Panera is a viable lunch option in Queens if you're looking to eat and run.
This is the spot I run to when I want something comforting after a long tiring day.
FOOD: I come here at least every other week and usually have the broccoli cheddar soup. It is the most satisfying soup I have ever had! It's thick and creamy and full of flavor! I have also tried their chipotle chicken and frontega chicken panini and they are both to die for!
AMBIENCE: This location in particular is ALWAYS crowded! I've never had difficulty finding a place to sit, but the line always reaches the door. But I guess that's a good judge of how amazing they are.
The only reason I'm shying away from giving this location 5 stars is because occasionally my broccoli cheddar soup will be runny, the portion of baguette I get on the side will be TINY AS HELL, or my frontega chicken panini will be bland. I feel like they lack consistency with what they serve.
All in all, this is a great spot to come by and have a relaxing meal with family and friends, definitely recommend it!
If u think that Panera serves low calorie food, then this is not that place. But if you are looking for something healthy and not loaded with insane amount of calories, then this is a good place. Their pick any two option which gives you to combine any half amounts of salad, soup and sandwich is. Unique concept that I think only Panera offers. I love their salads and sandwiches in general but recently I tried their Autumn Butternut Squash soup and immediately fell in love with its creaminess. The quinoa salad with grapes and tomatoes is also quite refreshing. N the crumbled feta cheese in Mediterranean sandwich is simply yum! I love their cookies too!
You can always count on panera for a refreshing meal. A nice change of pace from the surrounding oil drenched, heart clogging, stamina draining food. Their pick two deals are very affordable. Combination of salad and panini for close to $10. They also have a good selection of pastries (coffee cake is the best).
Facilities are well attended too and their staff is overall very friendly.
I don't know what took me so long to come, sit down and enjoy a meal at Panera Bread. What a fool I was to have been missing out on this goodness!
Located very conveniently in the Rego Center Mall. This area was screaming for a semi-healthy eatery. The space is pretty large. Tons of booth and table and chair seating. Even when it's crowded and busy, it's not so hard to find a seat. If you've never been to Panera Bread before, it can be kind of overwhelming. You first walk in and to your right you see all of the delicious pastries. You have the yummy smelling, self-serve, coffee station to your left. You walk further to the registers and then comes the deer in the headlights moment. So many options!! What to get??! The employees were pretty patient and kind. The best deal here seems to be the you pick two deal. Either a soup and a salad or a salad/soup and a panini or a salad/soup and a flatbread. For ten bucks. There aren't too many vegetarian/vegan options at Panera Bread, which sucks. but there are a few items. I got the Mediterranean Quinoa Salad with almonds that had kale, romaine, cucumbers, tomato sofrito, kalamata olives, quinoa and toasted almonds tossed with Greek dressing. So delicious! No kale ribs either so the kale was nice and tender. The Tomato Mozzarella Flatbread was nice. Although it was toasted a bit too much for my liking and there wasn't enough mozzarella on it. They use a nut-free basil pesto sauce which was very interesting and refreshing. Nice and spicy baby arugula kicked it up a notch. The french onion soup is also very good, but a tad bit salty. If you're on hypertension meds, skip the soups! They sell fresh cut fruit and have a lovely variety of self-serve flavored iced teas. The bread they give you with your soup and/or salad is warm, fresh and crunchy. So good!
After you place your order, you move to the left and pick up your meal, be it eat-in or take out. I love how they serve your food in actual ceramic dinnerware. Right across from the soda fountain, they have the two garbage bins. One is to throw the garbage out and the other is to put your bowls, trays, utensils, etc. in. That section is a hot mess because it doesn't get emptied as fast as it should be. Which means dirty plates are piled up, just like in the sink of a bachelor pad! Kinda icky. Another thing that's a negative is that the tables don't get cleaned off quick enough. I had to wipe my own table down and remove the coffee and bottle of water. They really need their staff doing that, not me.
Overall, I see myself frequenting Panera Bread every time I visit Rego Center. It's a much better option than other fast food joints. Yeah, the food may not be 100 calories or less and the salt content is questionable, but it's still better than most of the garbage that's out there. Free wifi too which is always a plus.
I come here every Tuesday as I have a group meeting here. For the most part, their service is okay and they are pretty quick with their food but they certainly run out of things quick. The other day i went they did not have any more lettuce ….?!? how do you run out of lettuce? I really wanted a salad as it was a hot day so i asked them what they had. The lady says field greens or kale and gave me three salad choices that they still had. I chose the chicken soba noodle salad which has spinach it in. I had this salad before but always as part of my pick 2. This time i just ordered the whole salad. When I got my order, i was disappointed at how tiny the portions is for the whole salad for $10. But I would definitely come back as everything else I had is decent and its a convenient location.
Food wise, I always love getting the You Pick Two. I love their tomato soup and the butternut squash soup (fall time, seasonal). The sandwiches are always great as well as their salads. I always leave feeling very full and happy. Price-wise, it's not the cheapest place to go for a meal, but it's better than all the other eateries in the mall area. You Pick Two will cost about $12.
I tried their new broth bowl – Soba Noodle Bowl with Chicken and was a little disappointed with how salty it was. It was hard to drink the broth, let alone finish the noodles. I guess this is the Americanized version of asian noodle soups. At $8.99, you can get better elsewhere and for cheaper. I'll stick to my soups, sandwiches and salads from now on.
Other than that, staff are very polite and service is relatively quick. The place is maintained pretty well and it can get extremely busy as the location is so centralized. If you are tight on time/have a short lunch break, I'd suggest you order it online ahead of time and do a rapid pick-up instead.