Panera Bread

There are few places I am able to eat that do not make me sick, and now that number has gotten smaller. I ordered a salad from Panera in LaCrosse. The crew did a great job of accurately making what I asked for, avoiding allergens and following the order, but I was dismayed to find rotting romaine in my salad- not just a piece or two, that happens, but a significant portion of the salad (see image). All other elements were great. It seemed like the heads of romaine had frozen at some point and we’re still mixed in, greasy and wilted. I was bummed to have to pick around a $14 salad to find the edible parts.

I’m not from Wisconsin, but I’ve been here for work for nearly two months and have visited this location 3 times since. Each time I’ve gone to the restaurant they have been out of one thing or another. My first time here they were out of the soup of my choosing, the second time they had my soup but were out of bread and chips and wanted to offer me an apple or yogurt with my meal (neither were appealing in my opinion as a side for soup). The final straw and the reason I will not be returning to this location was my visit on 10/21/2021. I came around 1pm and went through drive thru to place my two separate orders. I ordered a Roasted Turkey Avocado BLT and French onion soup to only be told that they were out of bacon (like what’s a BLT, without bacon? They offered to put chopped bacon on my sandwich instead). I’m used to French onion soup including croutons, but the last time I was at this location they failed to put a side of croutons in my bag so I thought this time I’d ask them to put them of the side for me. Well when I paid for my food there were no croutons in the bag so I sat at the window beeping my car horn twice just to get someone’s attention because I wanted my croutons for my soup. Only to be told that they didn’t have any, after I was told while placing my order that they did. Not to mention seconds after placing my first order I placed the second order and attempted to order another Roasted Turkey Avocado BLT, only to be told that they were out, this location and their lack of any food actually available to order has me speechless and planning to never return.

Nice soup and sandwich, coffee was okay. Service was a little slow, the woman seemed confused but it was no big deal and we weren't in a rush. If you were on lunch with a time constraint then I could see it might have been a problem. Various machines were out of order apparently limiting drink choices, fortunately coffee wasn't part of the problem.

This location is severely mismanaged. When I first started coming to this location a couple years ago it was nice. Lately they have had significant problems. The last order they gave us a completely different salad than the one ordered. There was also Tuna smeared on the inside of the bag; Neither of us ordered Tuna. The time before that we orders the food an hour in advance and had to wait a half hour past our order time to get our food. At the time having got off a 10 hour flight and driven 4 hours I had no patience left. Another time I had a working lunch and everyone on the team ordered Panera for lunch to go. My meal was missing even though we were charged. They said they would deliver, and showed up later with the wrong sandwich. Drove over to get the right sandwich, and received the incorrect sandwich again. Even though I generally like Panera Bread I will not be coming back to this location.

It is rare for them to get our order right. Last example was giving us a bagel instead of a drink??? Order extra bagette don't get it. Wrong cheese on the wrong bread... Can't figure out their hours so we call ahead... message says they are open and dining room is open. Drive there... dining room is closed Sundays. This location is seriously mismanaged. Corporate needs to take over. We really used to like this place...

Went to eat Saturday and waited for 40 minutes for my food. Went to register and asked for a refund because food was still not ready after 40 minutes!!! They gave me a refund and when I left o received a text saying my order was ready 20 minutes after I left! I would have been standing there for an hour waiting for my food. Restaurants with better quality food serve quicker than that. Totally uncalled for. Poor management.