Panera to Re-Open Saturday

Sept. 4, 2020 

Dear University community members, 

As you may know, Panera Bread in the Busch Student Center was closed Wednesday, Thursday and is closed again today. We currently expect Panera, a favorite among our students, staff and faculty, will re-open Saturday morning. In order to reassure our campus and provide transparency, we are writing today to provide some context for this closure. 

Management at Panera and Sodexo, SLU’s food service provider, learned Tuesday afternoon that a Panera associate experienced COVID-19 symptoms and had sought COVID-19 testing. That associate was found to be negative for COVID-19. However, the café was closed for deep cleaning, out of an abundance of caution, and food that was on site Tuesday was discarded. Therefore, it will take a bit more time before the café is back up and running. 

It is important to know that Panera and the University both require all associates wear face masks in all areas of the bakery-cafe including the kitchen and customers areas. In addition, Panera is completing daily health screenings and temperature checks of associates. More information about Panera's COVID-19 response procedures may be found at www.panerabread.com 

We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to our University community members who count on Panera’s food offerings. Other restaurants on north campus that accept Billiken Bucks include Einstein’s Bagel, Starbucks and the Billiken Grill. 

Please send any questions you have to pandemic@slu.edu.