Panera Bread

• resultPass
• critical violations0
• last inspectedMarch 26, 2026 →
• address1653 W Congress Pkwy Ste, Chicago 60612

Is Panera Bread clean?

Panera Bread is currently Pass from Chicago Department of Public Health, from an inspection on March 26, 2026. No critical violations were recorded at that visit. On Cooked's ladder that reads clean 😇.

What did inspectors find at Panera Bread?

These are the violations recorded at the most recent inspection on March 26, 2026, in plain English, with the city's own wording underneath.

• 🚿plumbing acting up
  Non-Food/Food Contact Surfaces Clean

When was Panera Bread last inspected?

Panera Bread has 11 inspections on record going back to September 16, 2021.

Panera Bread vs Near West Side

Near West Side runs 80% clean across 1,294 tracked restaurants — 1,031 clean, 233 mid, 18 cooked.

Against the 1,294 spots Cooked tracks in Near West Side, this one comes out cleaner than 22% of them.

Other spots in Near West Side

• ✓! Panera Bread
  mid · October 28, 2021
• ✓ Stax Cafe
  clean · September 21, 2021
• ✓! Guac, Tacos And Tequila
  cooked · October 19, 2021
• ✓ Pure Green
  clean · November 20, 2025
• ✓ Naf Naf Grill
  clean · January 21, 2026
• ✓ Jarabe
  clean · May 13, 2026

See every restaurant inspection in Near West Side →

How Chicago grades restaurants

Chicago does not use letter grades. Every inspection ends in one of three official results: Pass, Pass with Conditions, or Fail. Pass with Conditions means violations were found but corrected on the spot or under a deadline — the restaurant is open, with homework. A Fail means serious violations went uncorrected, and it usually brings a re-inspection within days. Chicago also flags “priority” violations, the ones most likely to actually make someone sick. Cooked reads Pass as clean, Pass with Conditions as mid, and Fail as cooked, and shows the itemized violations behind each result.

Read the Chicago ratings guide →

Inspection findings and available history come from the authority’s published records. Cooked checks daily; publication can lag behind an inspection. Read the date on each result and check the official source for newer information.

Source: Chicago Department of Public Health via Chicago Data Portal. Cooked refreshes this data daily — this listing's most recent inspection is dated March 26, 2026. Inspection results describe one moment in a kitchen's life, not a permanent verdict.

check your own block 📸

Cooked covers 10 cities on official inspection data — see who's clean, mid, or cooked near you.