Panera Bread App Review

The Panera Bread app took a long time to load and I thought that it froze once or twice. I was about ready to relaunch it when it finally pulled up all the information. The app is beautiful and reminds me very much of the Panera stores and menu.

Signing up for perks and rewards is slightly more complicated than I had hoped. You can’t use your Facebook or Google credentials and must provide Panera with your name, e-mail, Username, phone number, birthday, password, and country. This seemed like a lot of work to get a random reward or two and I was disappointed with this step in the process.

The store locator only shows active, working stores. In my area, there is a new store that is about to open this summer. The building is up and they are hiring right now for employees. But this store did not show up on the app yet because it technically isn’t opening. The app showed me that the closest Panera Bread is almost 20 miles away.

Menu pricing can’t be determined unless you pick a specific café. In fact, some of the prices will show you a range, which is helpful if you aren’t sure about choosing your nearest branch. Apparently, Panera Bread is unable to process Gift Cards through their app, which is very inconvenient, but they are able to accept credit or debit cards.

The menu shows calories count, a nice picture (when available), and a detailed description of the item. You can easily customize the item or add special instructions, which is just a giant blank box for you to type in whatever extra instructions you might have. This is an interesting feature and one that I thought made the app extra special.

After that there is more detailed nutritional information, including fat, cholesterol, and sodium. There is a link that says to “learn more about potential allergens,” but when you click on it the app gives you a generic disclaimer about the types of products your item might have come in contact with. There is nothing specific about this tab.