It's a chain. You can't expect that much to be different, but of the handful of times I've come here they haven't been great. First of, Panera is not healthy or low in cals, as you may generally believe. Again, that's the chain not the specific location. This location, however, fails to appropriately post their menu in a place visible to view from the line. Secondly, I once had to walk back up to the counter and say, you forgot to add my steak to my steak salad. Thirdly, I ordered the turkey artichoke sandwich, there was no filling 1/2" from the edge of the sandwich, and I could have sworn there was maybe ONE artichoke heart. Lastly, Dude gave me the buzzer AND asked for my name. I sat down, assuming my buzzer would go off, shockingly the buzzer didn't go off & they called my name. Dude, stick to one method of alerting clients about their food and keep it straight. All in all Fail. read more

The food here used to be made quick and consistently. The staff used to be very nice and kept the store clean. Today I came initially through the drive thru but it took so long that I just parked and went inside. I ordered a single sandwhich and it comes out after a half hour and it's made wrong. The avocado was hard and the whole Sandwhich was falling apart when I received it. The new staff no longer care and are no longer friendly. The food quality used to be better and presentable. Now it's a mess! When I went in I was just going to eat it in their dining room but it was so dirty I had to take my food out. The prices were always high but it's still somehow going up but with no more food added. $11 for a simple salad is crazy. read more

This company refuses to compensate their employees correctly and in turn customers receive terrible food quality and service. This company will work their employees like slaves. They don't follow proper food guidelines when it comes to throwing out or rotating fresh food. Corporate management is a joke, lower management is burnt out and others couldn't care less. This company is driving itself to the ground. Not to mention they promote "healthy" food alternatives but not even the salads are healthy. Everything has a terrible amount of sodium, carbohydrate, and calorie count. The healthiest thing you can get here is a bottle of water that costs $5. Corporate should work a store so they can see what actually needs to be done If they care. read more

Do NOT eat there!!!! I waited over 45 min for a flat bread. I had to beg for it to be even be prepared. They had food seating for minutes and didn't even took the time to check why they were preparing food for nobody, they threw all that food away. Horrible place to come and eat. It used to be fast and good, not anymore read more

This Panera Bread is located off of Route 1 in a shopping center. The staff here are ok but not too friendly. The staff member that was taking my order was a new trainee but her trainer had a nasty attitude. She gave me a nasty look and had a terrible tone of voice. It took them 20 minutes to take my order since the trainer was terrible at training the trainee. They have a variety of items on their menu's from pasta, soups, salads, to sandwiches. The price is decent here but the service is horrible. They upgraded where you have a buzzer now and you sit down and the staff member brings you your food. The staff member that brought me my food had a terrible attitude as well. She slammed my food down on the table and walked away. The taste of the food here is eh and that I have had better food elsewhere. Overall this was a terrible experience and I would NEVER come back to this location. The manager at this location needs to retrain all of these employees or Panera Bread needs to get a new manager that knows how to manage the restaurant. read more

Panera Bread - Soup Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

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This location is super busy! Probably the busiest Panera location I've been to. It's often very difficult to find parking here during the lunch rush. The drive-thru is almost always packed as well. The inside of the restaurant is clean, with associates cleaning the tables as quickly as someone leaves. Sometimes there are no tables available during lunch hour if you are coming with a larger sized group. I recommend ordering using their app or mobile website and picking it up. It's much easier than coming inside and waiting on line to place an order. read more

Today I ordered lunch online for some of us in the dept for a pickup, ordered 4 u pick 2 with soup and other stuff, unfortunately when I got back to the office 2 soup recipients were not too keen, the chicken noodle soup ordered had 2 or 3 noodles, and the One broccoli cheddar soup ordered was another chicken noodle soup.. I called and spoke to the manager John, he was sooo polite and apologized for the mishap, he not only had the soups delivered but he threw in potato chips and 3 pastries which we shared To my surprise John called after the delivery (which was very prompt) and I thanked him and told him what a great way to make things right. Kudos to John! Thank you!! read more

I don't frequent this particular Panera as I have one closer to me, but every once in a while I will stop here. No more will I. Today was a crazy busy day and all I wanted was to stop and get a iced coffee and get home. I went in because I like to make my own coffee and I belong to the coffee club. So I go in and it's a little busy but I'm just getting coffee...no coffee. Empty container. So I speak with one of the counter people and let them know. Ten minutes later, I ask again. They are making it. Twenty minutes go by and I'm still standing, with cup in hand, still no coffee. Last person I ask tells it's coming. I give up. Leave my cup and go. This seems to be a situation at this Panera. Does it come as a surprise that people come in and buy coffee? You would think so by the fact I come in and find none, again. I won't do it again. read more

Been to this Panera several times but really had to review our visit yesterday. The steak sandwich had 3-2 inch pieces of steak and was all bread, for 12 dollars. I showed the manager and he said " yes it looks a little skimpy". I asked him to show it to his food prep folks to emphasize this was not an acceptable portion. My wife's bbq chicken salad had a bottle of sauce poured on it and it wasn't edible. It had to be remade. The lettuce was ice cold so my guess these salads are made a head of time, so much for a scratch kitchen. After it was remade still not edible. The drink cups I bought did not have lids that fit and after several attempts to have the staff provide them they realized they were out of them. They then gave me the larger cups that had lids for them. This was good as one of the medium cups I originally bought had a hole in it and it leaked on the counter as they searched for lids. The staff was very loud and could be heard laughing uncontrollably in the prep area. Not a good experience but we noticed a lot of new faces and different manager and that had to be the difference. As mentioned we usually had a great meal at this Panera's but it has really gone down hill. We won't be back. read more

Panera Bread - Steak sandwich - Soup Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

9/7 - showed up at 8:04 after placing an order and the store saying the store would be open at 8am. I banged on the door and the woman clearly saw me and refused to open the door. this is theft. read more

Panera continuously disappoints me, yet I keep going back. I hope that this was my last time. We paid $30 for two "you pick two" items, so basically two half salads and half sandwiches. Neither was very good or very filling - overall just disappointing. If you're looking for a quick bite, you're better off at Wawa or QuikCheck. It's the same quality of food for half the price. read more

This Panera is disgusting. Every time I come here, there are no clean tables in sight. This location has been redone not too long ago and yet it looks completely worn down. Booths peeling, carpet filthy, only 1 self-order tablet that looks like it hasn't ever been cleaned. The food at all Panera's have significantly gone down hill the past 5 years and this location is no exception. The food is terrible. I ordered the steak and white cheddar panini and what I got was a steak and piece of paper panini as they left a piece of paper (from god only knows what) wedged in the middle of it... I was appalled and disgusted. I saw on Tik Tok someone describe Panera's food as "overpriced hospital food" and even that is being generous. I worked at a different Panera almost 10 years ago and the food & customer service was leaps and bounds better. I don't understand how they stay in business at this point. read more

It's your typical Panera! Food is always consistent, that's why we go! I love it when the bread is warm and fresh outta the oven. read more

Panera Bread - Soup Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

The worst Panera around, poor customer service, incorrect change from drive thru, terrible management

I started a new job nearby (yes I go to the office). I have tried this place 6 times. Each time I walk out saying - ugh. It not clean, service is terrible, order is never correct, they ran out of Feta for 3 weeks - odd. The staff are not attentive and just dont want to be there. Whats good is the pastries, loaf of breads. Go if you have to but I will find other places! read more

We asked for no cheese on our sandwiches MULTIPLE times. It took them 20 minutes to make the meal. We looked on the receipt and it said no cheese so we thought we were okay. we get home and there's cheese and the order is wrong. We drive back and now we've been here for over 30 minutes waiting for our new sandwiches. It's actually ridiculous, the line isn't even long either. Don't understand why they let kids run it. Update i ate my autumn squash soup and a piece of plastic was in it. Never coming back here read more

This Panera location is the worst and I just remembered why I stopped coming here. Today I got a cold chicken noodle soup with a dirty spoon. Asked for a clean spoon, they said they don't have anymore. The tables are dirty. My sandwich wasn't made properly. Food isn't even good here anymore read more

The food is great it's healthy & I give it a 5 but by God it's the slowest moving drive-through- ever i've been sitting in the drive-through for at least 20 minutes just waiting for a breakfast sandwich if there were an alternative exit to this line -I would forget about the food. I'm folded they're short staffed - Really I'm here at least 2 -3 times a week because I fail to prep food at home read more

I always have a good experience when I come to this Panera location but maybe because I normally order from the kiosk and do not interact much with the staff lol. I am a very big fan of their creamy tomato soup. I was a noob at eating it in a bread bowl though, I ate all the soup but didn't tear apart any of the bread. When I was finished eating my soup, a part of me wondered if I could have gotten a refill of soup for the bread he he. It's a good place (compared to Starbucks) if you are spending a long day working. Since there are free refills on fountain drinks and coffee! There is usually always a good amount of people here studying/working, but I have never been without a seat. I also enjoy having the Panera card. The emails reminding me which coupons I have and when they expire are always great! read more

Before you start digging into me about reviewing a huge chain like Panera, first let me say this: I NEED to study in coffee shops. Libraries, my own desk... they just don't cut it. Now I could go to a mom and pop coffee shop and destroy their business by semi-permanently setting up shop to do my work and sitting at a table way longer than my welcome... Or I could go to a big corporate spot such as Panera, spend my $1.79 for unlimited coffee and wifi, and guiltlessly while the entire day away. *whew* That said... This particular location is by far the best in the area. It's HUGE so seating is never an issue, even during the busy lunch hours. It's a free-standing building unlike a lot of Paneras so there are extra windows; something this researcher appreciates when I'm going to sit for hours on end without other hope of seeing daylight. There's a big fireplace which makes for a cozy scene. The only two negatives about this location is the parking lot (half the size it ought to be and pretty much a complete clusterf*ck) and a severe shortage of outlets for laptop users. They're good about keeping the coffee refilled, and they're quite tolerant of those of us who enjoy an extended hour here. (There is a group of boardgame players I often see in here for hours on end that don't seem to buy much of anything, yet they're still welcome) As much as I dislike the cookie-cutter conglomerates that seem to rule suburban America, Panera (and this location in particular) is one that I just can't seem to live --or study-- without. read more

Man has this location dropped in quality over the years. I remember when Panera first opened its doors in the small town of Edison, NJ. A local go-to spot for studying, a quick bite, or general friendship, Panera had consistently provided great service all for a decent price. I came here the other day while visiting my hometown out of nostalgia to get two of my favorite items - the broccoli & cheddar soup and the Frozen Mocha. This location was all out of bread bowls for the day, which made sense because it was the evening. The soup was fine, tasted more or less the same, but by the time it appeared in the pick up area some of the cheese had congealed at the top of the dish which I stirred back into the soup. The frozen mocha wasn't that great - it was watered down, and more of a liquid rather than a frappe. It was served without whipped cream so I had to go back and request some on top. Being a restaurant chain I didn't have crazy expectations of Panera. I definitely didn't expect it to decrease this much in quality over the years, but what can ya do. The one thing that stuck out to me was the service. The hostess behind the register was extremely unpleasant, even though there was no one in line behind us and we gave our order quickly. When I went to grab my food from the pick-up area another waitress came over to grab food for another table. She was noticeably rude/impatient/demanding to one of the workers prepping food behind the counter. The only staff I found to actually be pleasant were the food prep folks behind the counter. TL;DR - Try one of the other Panera locations as this one really drops the ball on food quality and service. read more

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Like a bigger, less French-sounding version of Au Bon Pain. Besides the bread, their menu items consist of soups, salads, and sandwiches. They allow for mixing and matching two of the three items. Like Au Bon Pain, their strength seems to be in soups. I tried their Southwest Tomato w/ Roasted Corn and it was very good. The Asian Chicken Salad was mediocre. Decent area lunchtime option. read more

I had good service at this location. Food was made well and was yummy. Staff was very friendly. The place was very clean.

This Panera is one of my favorite locations in Edison. Think of it as your typical cafe, about on par in terms of quality, selection, ambiance, and price with Starbucks, Cosi, Au Bon Pain, and the like. It's an excellent place to meet up with friends; drop in for a quick mid-workday lunch; or camp out with your laptop and/or books to get work done for a few hours. The employees are great. This place can get busy from around 11:30am to 1:30pm on weekdays, but it's still never taken me more than 5-10 minutes to place and receive my order in that time. The food, I'd say, is above average and the pricing is pretty agreeable. My favorite go-to is the "You Pick Two" option, which gives you the choice of two out of three from a half-sandwich, salad, or cup of soup. I also like that the menu changes pretty frequently; each time I'm home from college there's a few new offerings available. My only complaint is that, as this place has gotten more popular, it seems like they've subtly started trying to limit people from using it as a workspace. While the staff won't pay you any mind if you're there for a while, the wi-fi sometimes logs you out at 30-minute intervals and they've closed off a lot of their electrical outlets in recent months. read more

HORRIBLE!!! The attitude at the drive thru let's not even go there... the drive thru is also a nightmare and when you get to the window it's almost like your bothering them... not recommended at all!!! read more

Was so happy to see that there is a Panera closeby to my boyfriend's mom's home. We went there around 3 on Sunday and the place was hustling and bustling with students, families, girlfriends. Happy to be in such a lively place. Tried the BBQ chicken salad: it is now my favorite as well. Tomato basil soup: hearty and flavorful. goes really well with the bread bowl. Next time is the souffle. Gotta get there before 11am. Will update. read more

I can only comment on my two Rapid Pickup visits. This place irritates me. My first visit I ordered a regular sized plain Caesar salad but opted for kale instead of romaine lettuce. When I received the order more than half the salad was romaine and sprinkled on top to hide the fact was kale. That's extremely dishonest and ridiculous. My second visit I ordered a Pick two - Half Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich and again, half Caesar salad. I again, asked for no romaine and opted for a mix of kale and spinach. What I received was half of a half salad. It was extremely disappointing. I also added avocado for a $1.00 more. I found that 1/8th of an avocado slice at the very bottom of the box. I feel completely taken and that I wasted my money. Nearly $5.00 for a salad I could spill into the palm of my hand and eat in one bite. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. read more

Came here to get a pick-2 meal to go--mac & cheese and greek salad. Mac & cheese was great as usual, but the salad, the one thing they actually had to make, was missing the dressing and most of the cheese and probably 7 other ingredients considering my box was only half filled with food. Seriously now? Granted it was busy and I didn't eat in, but come on. It's definitely not worth the boo-koo bucks you put out for the Panera logo if you're not even getting all the food. I'll have to try it again to see if it's consistently like this, but for now only 2 stars. read more

Note: I've dropped my review by one star. In the past several years, service and food quality have gone down. It's still my go-to place to meet people in a pinch, but I'm there much less often than before. This Panera is much larger than their typical locations (the building was formerly a Sizzler restaurant). It is very comfortable and roomy. The sun room on the right is my favorite spot to sit. The soups are great -- two favorites are the creamy tomato and the broccoli cheddar. Panera offers a flexible "pick-two" option, which provides just enough variety and quantity so you can mix up choices from the menu without getting tired of the same meal over and over again. If I get there for before 10 a.m., I always order the spinach and artichoke souffle. I only wish they would serve it up to the lunch hour. I need to correct something by a previous reviewer. I am one of those boardgame players that Valissa W. said "don't seem to buy much of anything." That is not true. The group encourages members to make purchases and most of us spend $10-$25 per visit. It may not seem like we are are buying much, because sometimes we eat at a separate table and move to a game-playing table after we're finished (nobody wants sticky game pieces!). Panera provides a relaxed atmosphere, good food, and a convenient location. read more

Drive-through Orders are Almost Always Wrong When the drive-through first opened, it was excellent--fast, accurate, professional. For the past several months, however, service has degraded drastically. Orders are much more often wrong than right in at least one aspect. Today, my drinks were accurate but the breakfast sandwich was completely wrong--bacon and egg panini instead of the steak and egg bagel I ordered. Other times, the soup is the wrong type or sandwiches are dressed wrong. Unfortunately this means you have to physically inspect each item to find which one is wrong--because at least one of them is. Some aspect of this "wrongness" seem to be deliberate cost-savings efforts. Order chips as many times as you like with the Pick 2--they are almost certainly going to give you bread instead. And recently, that bread has been a crappy dinner roll kind of thing instead of the nice baguette that is supposed to be Panera bread. I like Panera food, and I love drive-through convenience. It's infuriating, though, to have to open every item in your order before pulling away from the window. read more

Parking at this Panera is atrocious. Not enough parking. Lines get long for lunch and food is slow to come out. I ordered two sandwiches with a Pick 2 and manager told me I wasn't allowed and had to pick a soup or salad. I told him that wasn't the case elsewhere. He pointed to the menu language which was not exclusive of two sandwiches... basic English people. At the end he gave in but acted like he did me a favor. I go elsewhere now and order my meal using the automated ordering machines or through cashier, never been argued with again on that point. read more

The water from the soda machine tasted funny and the sandwich I received was the smallest of any I've ever received at the many paneras we've been to. both things seemed not to phase the staff who didn't apologize and said "that's how it always is" read more

Panera Bread - Soup Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

My favorite place to go for a good salad or soup. Inside, there is ample space for seating even if you're with a group. I usually always take advantage of the drive-through lane. They're quick with processing your order during peak dinner hours as well. As far as the food, it's pretty on-point along with the other chain locations and the staff is really friendly. There is ample parking around the location and right next to Menlo Park Mall. read more

Panera Bread - Nothing better than a Cheddar Broccoli Bread Bowl when you're under the weather. - Soup Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

panera, why do you make me love you? i try to front like i hate panera, simply because i always overindulge here. at least they list the calories so i know in advance how grand of a mistake i'll be making. i am a carbaholic, so this place for me could be likened as a bar to an alcoholic. this location in particular has a lot of space but when i was there midafternoon on a saturday there were tons of students taking up tables on their laptops, and tables available were dirty. i did enjoy seeing the blatant hickeys on the necks of the awkward teens that work there. rofl. read more

A perfectly acceptable coffee/bread/sandwich shop. In the old west the local saloon used to give cowboys the lay of the land. In this era of mocha sipping phone slingers coffee shops act as de facto cultural gathering places. I go to this spacious Panera to meet with other local board game enthusiast on a weekly basis. I know it isn't robbing stage coaches, but times have changed a little. The food is always good and the menu changes with the seasons. It may be a little difficult to get in an out of this Panera on the weekend due to popularity and location, but as long as you can find an open hitching post a good time can be had. read more

By far the biggest Panera I have ever been to. I mean come on! They have a drive through and provide table service. Say WHAT!? Decor is same as all the others. Ambience seems more welcoming to individuals studying than others I have visited. Then again, it's a lot of space for those studying and those dining to sit in unison and in peace. Feeling chilli!? Sit by the fire place. I'm currently here on a Wednesday night and they are out of the French baguette and of course I'm disappointment. What starch am I suppose to pair with my starch drenched in cheese? life goes on The place closes in about forty minutes so the staff is highly focused on cleaning and ending the night but the table service makes up for it. Table service is assisted by the pagers, they are used by trackers for the serves. Just an FYI so instead of hawking the counter waiting for your food. You start your Yelp review and wait for it to be served. read more

Panera Bread - Table Service!? Fancy - Soup Near Me - Edison, New Jersey

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Generally speaking I don't write reviews for places like these cause the consistency is just not there. But man oh man the service has gone down like stock market crashing. It wasn't even lunch time and it took more than 25 minutes just to get half sandwich and half salad. It was around 630 pm-7pm on a Wednesday. Customers were waiting forever to get their food. The manager goes oh we're extremely short staffed. They give these lame ass excuse every single time. Lunch time is even worse. There were three employees making food and the guy goes short staffed. I'm like dude what are you talking about. I couldn't agree more with other people that wrote a similar review about this place. Oh and the chicken noodle soup. Consider yourself lucky if you even get two pieces of chicken in it. It's like 95 percent water and some vegetables. This location used to be decent before COVID. Now it's just a disaster. Do not go there unless you have time to waste or have absolutely nothing else to do. read more

Good place for meeting and groups and studying but tables are often left dirty and don't expect your order to be perfect most of the time. read more

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I absolutely love Panera's Pick 2 (1/2 soup - 1/2 salad - 1/2 sammich deals). Chose to pay a little extra for their Signature menu items (total was a little less than $10): Steak chili with corn bread - I wish they sold the corn bread all on its own. The pieces of sliced steak were very prominent in the chili. Not a very big kick, quite mild in my opinion. Tomato & Mozzarella on Ciabatta - Not amazing, but pretty good. Panini-style-pressed melted mozzarella and fresh tomatoes on fresh ciabatta. I think sundried tomatoes would've tasted even better. It is a lot of food and definitely makes for a filling meal with a little snack for later too. This Panera's location is really convenient (nearby Menlo Mall) and it is really big! We stayed over 5 hours here to study and it was a really nice environment with the sunlight casting warmth into the rooms - not distracting at all. People (not only employees, but other Panera customers) are extremely friendly and open to conversation. read more

I like this Panera the best -- for me the food is always the same, more or less, whichever location you go to. I prefer this Panera because of the layout of the seating and tables. Compared to the closer location to my home (in Brunswick Square Mall), this is bigger, and also has more options for people who want more privacy and to be away from people (Granted you aren't going during peak lunch or dinner hours). There's plenty of booths, but almost quaint and quiet nooks and crannies of other tables, not to mention two additional seating areas on opposite sides of the restaurant, which I believe can be closed off if needed. I occasionally saw managers having meetings there or holding interviews. Large parking lot too. Usually never have trouble finding a spot. Free wifi. Small bathroom -- 2, maybe 3, stalls. High turnover of staff who are comprised of young kids. Sometimes the managers here are obnoxious in how they talk to the young workers which is a bit of a turn off. read more