After more than a year of anticipation, Panera has finally opened its first location on the Upper West Side. The storefront at 2333 Broadway (at 85th St.) officially opened on Monday and takes over part of the space that previously housed Victoria’s Secret but has been mostly vacant since November 2021.
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The Panera location is the company’s sixth in Manhattan and second uptown, joining the Upper East Side location at 1535 3rd Ave. (and 86th St.).
The UWS storefront is adjacent on the north side to Playa Bowls which first opened in March 2022. The Lebanese fast casual chain Naya also leased part of the space at 2333 Broadway but has yet to open. A portion of the space formerly occupied by Victoria’s Secret still remains vacant.
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A report from earlier this year stated that the landlords for 2333 Broadway were seeking $250 per square foot for the space. Panera’s new space is roughly 2,500 square feet, which would make the annual rent $625,000.
Panera has more than 2,000 locations around the U.S. and Canada. In New York City, the Bryant Park and Union Square locations closed within the last 18 months.
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At the corporate level, Panera has been working towards an IPO following a 2021 announcement that NYC restaurateur Danny Meyer would invest in the company through Meyer’s SPAC, USHG Acquisition Corp. Meyer’s wide range of lauded NYC establishments include Union Square Cafe, Blue Smoke, Shake Shack, The Modern, and Daily Provisions, among others.
Panera recently launched “crunch-time ordering,” a one-swipe ordering option for MyPanera members in the Panera app. Panera also recently struck a partnership with The Washington Post that offers six months of TWP digital access to members of Panera’s Unlimited Sip Club – a $12 a month platform providing unlimited tea, coffee, fountain beverages and more.
Panera’s UWS location is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
More breaking news of vital interest. But more than that, at last the UWS gets to be yet more like every other neighborhood in Manhattan.
Panera is airport food. Wake me when Naya opens.
LOL. To be accurate, Naya had airport locations long before Panera. LOL.
Not the point and you’re wrong anyway. There are no Nayas in airports:
https://www.eatnaya.com/store-locator/
Can we bring more luxury focused eateries into the neighborhood? This feels out of place for the community.
You can’t be serious? Why on Earth would you want MORE restaurants that are EXPENSIVE, when that is all that has seemed to open up over the past year or two, andd continues to be the case, and when even supposedly mid-priced restaurants are overly expensive? We live in a mixed neighborhood, not a gated community. We need all kinds of restaurants and food services, for all income levels.
It’s not expensive but it’s a ‘stop & go” all orders electronic with your name appearing on a large monitor. No comfortable booths here.