Opening: New Tri-Cities Panera offers free meals for 1st 100 for a year
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- Panera opens new Kennewick location Thursday with free meals for first 100 guests
- Second Tri-Cities store features kiosks, drive-thru, mobile pick-up, and patio
- Panera expects to employ up to 60 staff at the new Columbia Center area site
Panera Bread will open its second Tri-Cities restaurant at 6 a.m., Thursday, with a special offer for the first 100 customers.
The first people to visit the store at 6821 W. Canal Drive in Kennewick on July 31 will receive coupons for 12 “You Pick Two” meals, which allow customers to select any combination of two half-size entrees. The coupons can be used for a free meal once a month for a year.
Panera is opening on the Canal Street side of the former Old Country Buffet in the Columbia Center area. It is the first Kennewick location for the St. Louis-based chain. A clinic is expected to move into the other side of the building.
The original Tri-Cities Panera opened in Richland’s Queensgate area in 2017. Nearly 100 people lined up outside the restaurant to be the first inside.
Like its sister in Richland, the Kennewick Panera is a bakery and sells made-to-order sandwiches, soups, salads, coffees and a variety of baked goods. The store has kiosks for digital orders, a drive-thru and a mobile pick-up lane as well as a small outdoor patio.
Business hours are 6 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and 7 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday. The Kennewick location will employ 55-60 people.
The Kennewick location is operated by Samantha Lewis.
Panera is owned by JAB Holding Co., a private investment company with a portfolio that includes Keurig Dr. Pepper, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Noah’s NY Bagels.
The new Kennewick Panera Bread is one block east of the Tri-Cities first Chick-fil-A, which opened in June and is separately owned.
Panera operates 2,227 restaurants, including 31 in Washington, 17 in Oregon and 7 in Idaho.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM.