What To Order At Panera If You Want An Old-School Style Bagel, According To An Employee

There's more to Panera Bread than its beloved soup-and-sandwich combo. Whether you're in the mood for a cup of decadent mac and cheese or a Mediterranean-style grain bowl, there's something for almost every craving. However, if you're just looking for a light snack to hold you over until dinnertime, a Panera Bread bagel is where it's at. 

Once upon a time, dough was shipped to Panera Bread locations nationwide, and baked goods were made in-house. These days, most of its baked goods are par-baked, meaning they're partially baked ahead of time, shipped out, and then finished in the store. While the days of house-baked bagels are over, you can still snag a high-quality bite if you know what to order. According to a Panera employee on Reddit, sticking to the shop's Cinnamon Crunch or Asiago bagels will ensure that you get the freshest snacking experience from Panera's nine-flavor lineup.

The Panera employee notes that there are two ways bagels are shipped to the store now. Most of the flavors come frozen and are baked off in store ovens, while the Asiago and Cinnamon Crunch flavors arrive as portioned pieces of dough. Their respective toppings — Asiago cheese and cinnamon sugar — are added to the top in-house, and then they're baked. "Get those if you want more old school style bagels," the employee noted, since these arrive in dough form just like they did way-back-when. 

There's nothing like a Panera bagel with cream cheese. The chain offers two types of cream cheese: Regular and Honey Walnut. Just remember that if you do order cream cheese, you might need to spread it yourself, since the Panera staff typically doesn't do this by default. Butter is another topping option for those looking for a simpler bite. And if you're looking for something a little more filling, you're in luck, because Panera offers a range of sandwiches on bagels — including its two old-school style ones. If you make it to your local restaurant before breakfast ends around 10:30 am, you can order a bacon, egg, and cheese (or your preferred breakfast sandwich combo) on a Cinnamon Crunch or Asiago bagel.

Panera also has plenty of set menu items that feature some more exciting ingredients, like its Sausage & Egg Asiago Bagel Stack, which features sausage, a scrambled egg, American cheese, salt and pepper, and garlic aioli. For lunch or dinner, you can snag a Chicken Roma Asiago Bagel Stack, starring grilled chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, arugula, Green Goddess dressing, salt and pepper, and garlic aioli. These new menu items might not scream old-school Panera bread to you, but at the core of this sandwich is a freshly baked bagel, and you can't get much more old-school than that.