Southern Oregon’s first Panera Bread location is set to open Aug. 21 in Medford, at the corner of Garfield Street and Highway 99.

Located inside Stewart Meadows Village adjacent to Harry & David, the restaurant will be the company’s 17th location in Oregon and the first south of Springfield.

Dave Davis, regional vice president for Manna Development, the franchise owner, said the restaurant was originally expected to open 2021, but like so many other things in recent years, the opening got sidetracked by the pandemic. 

“The pandemic put us in a bad spot, just like it did everyone else. I think nobody was sure what they were doing, but sales came roaring back, and we got back into a growth mode again,” he said Tuesday, noting that his company plans to open six new Panera Bread locations before the end of 2023.

“Medford was absolutely a no-brainer for us. There’s something like 90,000 people here. For us not to be here would be a silly move on our part.”

Doing a walk-through of the restaurant Tuesday morning, Davis offered a tour of the 3,800-square-foot space with tall ceilings and an abundance of stainless-steel surfaces and elegant lighting.

A large, shiny commercial oven — fresh baked bread is a signature of Panera — sits front and center.

Ovens used to be tucked in back, Davis pointed out.

“They didn’t think people would want to see a big oven out front, cooking bread,” Davis said.

“It turned out, they did want to see it.”

Showing off the kitchen area, Davis pointed to a pair of production lines — one to manage drive-up service, with a second to handle dine-in customers, catering jobs and orders for Panera’s “Rapid Pick-up” curbside service.

“With two separate production lines, when the drive-thru is really cranking, we do everything on the one side for drive-thru. … It’s helpful for when we switch from low to high volume during busier times,” he said.

“Because we do everything fresh, which offering fresh-baked bread on our sandwiches is not the easiest thing to do in a drive-thru, the extra capacity is really helpful.”

Davis said between 150 and 200 applications had been submitted for the 70 available positions, a nod, he said, to competitive hourly wages and familiarity with the Panera chain.

Menu favorites for Panera Bread include a lineup of bakery- and cafe-style sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, grain bowls, soups and pastas.

Even with delays, Davis said excitement has been building since the store was announced three years ago.

In recent weeks, during construction of the interior, a handful of regulars have made daily treks to the location to see whether an opening date had been decided, an employee said Tuesday.

Medford Mayor Randy Sparacino is among those who have been anxiously awaiting the opening.

“As a big fan of Panera Bread, I’m extremely excited to see that it will finally be open here in Medford. I’m additionally excited about the fact that they intend to offer several jobs for our community.”

Davis said he was encouraged by the community’s enthusiasm for the eatery.

He said the restaurant will be involved with community service projects and will donate all leftover food supplies daily to local shelters and outreach programs.

“We are super excited to come to the city. We do a lot for the communities we come into, and we’re really happy to finally be here in Medford,” Davis said.

“We know everyone is ready for us to be open our doors, and we are really ready to get this thing open. … I think it’s gonna be a big one.”

The restaurant will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.