The Traveling Wheelchair

300 New State Highway (Route 44)
Raynham, Massachusetts 02767
Phone:  508-824-0182
http://www.panerabread.com/

I was so excited to hear that Panera Bread opened in Raynham last week because I live close by and I love their healthy & delicious food. My mom, Kellie, Kevin and I had lunch here the first week it opened. I found this Panera Bread is only partially wheelchair accessible just like all the other Panera Breads I’ve been to because the counter where you pick up your food is not wheelchair accessible for it is too high!

There are plenty of handicap parking spaces in the plaza parking lot. There are two sets of entry doors you will need help with opening for neither set of doors is automatic.

Panera Bread is a coffee shop style bakery and café; it has a variety of baked breads, sandwiches and soups for sit-down or takeout meals. You order your food at the cashier counter and pick it up at a pick up counter. This Panera Bread like most others has a fireplace and free wireless internet access.

The countertop where you place your order is of a good accessible height for my wheelchair. The cashier was friendly, courteous and kind. The self-serve coffee machine and the self-serve soda fountain are a little high but manageable for me to reach. The counter where you pick-up your food order is NOT wheelchair accessible for it is way too high for a customer in a wheelchair to reach; we approximate the height to be about 4 feet tall. The employees behind the counter can’t even see me because the top of my head doesn’t even reach the countertop while seated in my manual chair. This prevents all customers in wheelchairs from independently getting their food order. All the Panera Breads I’ve been too have the same signature design of the tall pick up counter :-(

Inside seating consists of some small booths that are not wheelchair accessible yet there are plenty of accessible tables which have a booth seat on one side and removable chairs on the other side. All the tables are of a perfect height with plenty of room to wheel between the tables. Outdoor seating at this Panera Bread is NOT accessible because the legs of the small tables block wheelchair access. 

The restrooms are spacious, wheelchair accessible and fully ADA compliant. The pipes under the sink are covered; there is plenty of space next to the toilet for your chair; the safety grab bars are set perfectly; the faucet, soap dispenser and hand towel dispenser are within my reach.

I give Panera Bread in Plainville THREE STARS for wheelchair accessibility. In order to earn the other Two Stars, they would need to install automatic entry doors so a person in a wheelchair can enter independently; lower the height of the counter where you pick-up your order to a wheelchair accessible height; and place a few wheelchair accessible tables outdoors.