Panera Bread

The food was ok, the atmosphere was ok, the area was ok. Nothing to write home about, but it’s Panera Bread. I wouldn’t have even taken the time to review this place, had it been clean. Every single table was dirty, the ground was dirty, and some of the chairs looked broken. Also the coffee was super cold and went right in the trash. The two stars are for the food. It was actually decent, and the staff was nice.

Does this look like a 7 dollar sandwich.? I have always felt that Panerai was a but high, but the quality was there. And the aervice too. Tonight, I was kind of annoyed. First, no one to take your order, you are forced to order online or use the kiosk. Meaning I can't pay cash AND have to figure out how to order. Which by the way takes way more time to do. Then my sandwich comes, oh there's no more they bring it to your table, you have to get it from the counter, no big deal. Just annoying and they pop your food on the counter and walk away. You have to be sure it's yours. Lastly was the sandwich. I used to love the steak and white cheese. This time the steak was (in my opinion, ) less meat than a McDonald's burger. And the high falutin bread, toasted to a crisp. Not just toasted, but crispy. Now I will say that I brought the sandwich back and asked for one with a roll that was less crispy... more like just toasted.. and the woman made me another, better but still light on the beef. Tasted much better. The turkey chili my wife got however was fantastic. Any way... you asked me for my opinion.

We ordered online at 11a-ish and Panera gave us an 12:45p pick up time. What? Then we arrived at 12:45p and they had not even started our order. Then they couldn’t tell us if or when our order would be ready. Then I pushed again at 1p and the manager said “maybe” another 30 minutes. This means our online “Rapid Pick Up” order will have taken ~2.5 to 3 hours to be made for us. Still waiting…. No admission of any error by Panera. I guess I should have ordered 4 hours in advance?

What's the point of a quoted pickup time if you can't meet it? No crowd for dine-in so no excuse there. People ordering takeout are often in a time crunch. Provide accurate time estimates so that people are aware of what to expect. If it takes an hour for a sandwich, fine, just quote that. Being short staffed is one thing, but not being up front about service expectations is another.

So, this dining experience was painfully bad. The food tasted fine but it took an absurdly long time to come out. There were 11 people standing around waiting for their orders. No one was taking orders at the register, tables were dirty and the soda fountain was a hot mess. This was a complete train wreck of an operation. We stopped here on a road trip. But man I feel sorry for locals who come here expecting a worthy experience for their hard earned money as it will be a total waste!

We come here often, and our food is always good. Tonight I did a mobile order, and they were short staffed. There were A LOT of people waiting on food after 7 and they were supposed to close at 7. The staff members were working their tails off the get food out. I felt so bad for them, but they were trying their best with the few people that were working. Of course, we’ll be back, and I hope other customers give them some grace during this really difficult time.