Panera Bread

This place needs help. No soup, hardly any bread left. On a Sunday night at dinner time? Very odd.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I can return to Panera again.
I have always loved Panera, and I’ve been a repeat customer at the Alameda location since I began working in the area.
In the past few months however, service, attention to detail and overall quality of the food has declined.
I am now recovering from food poisoning due to the half of a Steak and Arugula Sandwich and half of a BBQ Chicken Salad I had there. I am positive this was the item that caused it, because the steak was beyond rare, and the chicken on the salad was undercooked. I had nothing else to eat today.
I was forced to abandon my shift as Manager at the Oakland Airport because I couldn’t stop throwing up.
I cannot continue to not only be dissatisfied with my food, but endanger my health at the Alameda Panera.

We came here to have a good time enjoying a soup and sandwich. The problem is that the soups were served Luke warm. When we complained to one of the staff members she informed us that they are not allowed to take the soup back and that we just need to go use the microwave!!!

Was so looking forward to Panera tonight with my husband. This was our 1^st visit to this location in Alameda. Got there about 7pm. The place was dirty, lots of workers but no sense of order. I ordered a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. It was barely warm. When I brought it back they pointed me in the direction of the microwave in lobby?
The rest of the food was so below standard that it was a joke. I will never ever return here. I wasted $ 25 on crap. We noticed that several other patrons were getting wrong orders and also cold soup. One lady was arguing for a refund in the middle of the place — she ended up getting it. We just wanted to get the heck out of there. So disappointing Panera.

I rate this restaurant 3/​5, because it’s overall just good.
Ordered the chicken noodle soup with a side of French Baguette bread and a roast turkey avocado BLT sandwich as well.
The sandwich was fresh and filling, however I feel like it was missing a certain «umph.» The soup was what you’d expect, pretty regular and simplistic like the Safeway chicken noodle soup.
Also, I ordered the bowl of the soup for almost 5 – 6 dollars, and I feel a bit disappointed for the price that I paid versus the size of the soup I actually received.
Unfortunately, the bread wasn’t warm the way I would have liked, but it was still soft inside.
However, the restaurant is spacious and the staff is very welcoming and smiley. I’d like to come here again and try something else, because maybe the soup was just a simpler option that I chose. (I’ve been fighting off a cold, sore throat and all, eep!)
In the end, I paid about $ 28 for two chicken noodle soups and one sandwich.

Consistent food, comfort food, good service. You order from the menu board, they deliver to the table if you are dining in. The best deal is the pick 2 items.
They also have a bakery.
The dining area could be checked more often since the diners turnover quickly.

My last visit yesterday was disappointing.
1) the girl took forever to put my order in
2) then she put the wrong order in and I ended up with tomato soup instead of turkey chili
3) when I told the guy behind the kitchen counter, he didn’t offer to fix it.
4) it took 20 minutes to get pick two-​the wrong soup and grilled cheese

I’ve gone to many different panera breads and I’ve dealt with rotten avocados, hair in my food, and now cheese in my sandwich with the plastic wrapper in it?! This has to be a joke.

If I could give this s#@t show ZERO stars I would. I came in for a quick bite. A bowl of soup and a bagel. This seems like a fairly simple task. After 20 min a young man came and informed me that the soup would take another 15min but that everything else was ready. I said ok and waited. After 15+ minutes the soup came out. I mentioned the bagel and he seemed unsure. He went to check. 8 min later, he came back and told me they didn’t have the bagel I ordered. I asked him what they had, he didn’t know and seemed annoyed that I asked. I told him anything that was not sweet was fine and voiced that I had been waiting for a very long time. After another 10 min as I was gathering my things to walk out, a barely toasted not very warm bagel showed up. Wow!!! I just… WOW! Needless to say I will NEVER be coming back.

Located in a great spot in alameda, it is close to other restaurants, shops, and a block from the beach. I live and work in alameda, so I frequent this location in particular. Love the options they have for lunch and even stop by for breakfast on occasion. The app is pretty handy for people on the go! I use it ALL the time! Just 10 minutes before I get to the restaurant, I place my order through the app and use my fingerprint ID to pay and when I arrive, it is ready for me to pick up. They also have an option to order from your table. I’ve done that once and it was helpful when I didn’t want to stand in line. It is the only restaurant app I have on my phone and it’s the only one I have found to be super helpful and easy to use. Great concept, fresh ingredients, and the baguettes… well you should get in there and try it for yourself!

Broccoli cheddar soup is what I get here. Very delicious soup. 5 star soup. The sandwiches in the other hand .ehh not really appetizing at all. Prefer to go to a ⁴⁄₅ star deli and get my sandwiches there. Here there sandwiches are small and bland. Sorry I’ll stick to that broccoli cheddar soup to go… mMMMmmMm.

There is a musty odor emanating from the place when you walk in. The place just looks dirty inside and my spoon was even dirty. To boot, they ran out of the baguette, that ones that come with the meal, and no one told us until they delivered the food and instead brought us apples. When I walked up to the counter, a young man told me «sorry, we ran out.»
I can’t blame the people who I’m pretty sure make minimum wage. However management should definitely try to do a better job of managing the establishment and perhaps start by raising the wages of employees to boost morale so that they can put some care into managing the place so it doesn’t seem so sketchy.

I used to use them a few times a month for sizable catering orders ($ 400+ an order) and then they started making terrible mistakes and being excessively late (40+minutes) so I stopped using them. Today for the first time in over a year I had an employee request them. Low and behold they blew it. Small order of box lunches 8 people with a couple of extras just in case:
1. Asked for labels to be put on the boxes… NONE on any box
2. Had request for fruit cups in some of the orders. NONE only chips
3. Had one salad box lunch asked for salad to be tossed and an extra cup of dressing on the side. NO DRESSING
4. Asked for one Turkey Bacon Bravo no mayo… OF ALL 9 Sandwich boxes the ONLY one with any sort of condiments on it was the one requested without. No packets in the boxes either so 9 DRY sandwiches, no mayo, no mustard, nothing
5 2 of the boxes had requests for other cookies (standard is chocolate chip) all chocolate chip
I phoned the store direct and was told by Tina/​Trina initially that she was the catering manager. she lied to me, and when I was trying to confirm that she was the catering manager she admitted she was the coordinator. I asked for a manager and got Alvaro, who admitted «the whole order is just wrong, I’m sorry about that» He offered me more food which naturally we did not want, (I advised him of all the previous reasons we had stopped using them etc.) He said he spoke to the District Manager and was told he could only refund our delivery fee of $ 15. This is frankly terrible customer experience. I wasn’t looking for a free meal but given the number of errors which we promptly brought to their attention ½ would have been acceptable.
Avoid for catering. Food is good but clearly limited capacity to fulfill even small catering order of less than 10 people successfully. I told them they had permanently lost our business to which Alvaro replied «ok should I call you after I refund the delivery fee?»

The short: Disappointed in portion size.
I’ve been to several Paneras before and was satisfied with the food, but I’m sorry to say that this experience was the last time I’ll be choosing Panera. Let me explain…
We were in a rush to get to an event, so my friend recommended Panera’s online ordering system. It’s a little confusing at first, but then I finally got my order of Arugula, grain, and chicken salad (a new autumn item). I arrived at Panera ten minutes later, and my food was ready on a shelf. Hooray!
At the event, I opened up the bag. Mmm bread! Mmmm… salad? What? Why is it so small? I was so so so hungry and I felt like I got a half order of salad. I checked the receipt. Nope, I ordered a whole. My stomach was so upset with the lack of food, and it wasn’t even that great either.
I finished the salad and kept the box, receipt, and bag ready to storm into Panera demanding a refund the next day. (No, I didn’t storm in.) I calmly walked up to the cashier and explained the situation. The lady there explained that it’s usually that small for new items. I am so disappointed that I paid $ 10 for a salad when I could’ve been twice as full and more satisfied had I stopped at the Chipotle next door. I was sorely upset, walking out without a refund and said no more Panera. Adieu. :(

This location was one of the original Panera Breads around the Bay Area. I remember coming here even when the Borders next door was still in business.
Items I would recommend are their bread bowls with your choice of soup, paninis, and flatbreads.
They have opened up kiosks that help you check out without having to wait in line to order. One thing about this is that in theory, it’s quick. However, the usability of the stations are difficult to navigate, and perhaps even slower than just waiting in line. There is a learning curve, so unless you know your way around their system, be prepared to stand there for a bit figuring things out.
Because Panera has wifi, some college kids come here sometimes. I will say that the internet isn’t very reliable, but it gets the job done.
Some big pros are the people who work there. Everyone is always friendly and willing to take away your dishes. I usually bus it myself, but when someone comes by and asks if they can help, that makes it almost like a dine-​in restaurant experience.
In the end, if you’re looking for a place to eat something relatively more healthy than your typical fast food places, try it out. Their items are hearty, and flavorful. Panera is always improving and trying to make the customer experience better! Only thing is that the items to tend to cost a bit more because the quality is better, which isn’t a bad trade-​off in my opinion.

I forgot that I had written a review for this place. Well that time I came around 7am and grabbed a quick muffin and left.
Today, I actually walked in and wanted to sit and study. And as soon as I walked into the back room where all the tables are… Man… I was so disappointed .
It’s so Dark in here !!! How are people suppose to study and or read in here ?! I don’t even wanna sit and hang out and catch up with friends in here.
And What on EARTH is that stench??? Do Yall not smell it?! Open the damn doors ! Air out the place !! It sure don’t smell like soup, bagels or sandwiches !! That’s B.O.
And are there No workers here to clean the tables !? Almost all tables that were empty had food. Or crumbs. Or water rings on it. Get a towel and clean up. Jeeezzusss !

I’ve tried their Napa Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich, Smoked Turkey Sandwich and their Tuna Salad Sandwich and loved them all! They were all tasty! I’ll definitely eat their sandwiches again!
Their Toffee Nut Cookie is yummy too!

EWWWW, GROSS! SOUR HALF & HALF IN THE COFFEE CREAMERS, TODAY AND LAST SUNDAY, TOO. Ruined my coffee + espresso shot —- and, as usual, the restaurant is so shortstaffed that no one can assist me in a timely manner. I had to go back and settle for a simple coffee, dumping out the contaminated crap and refilling it from the coffee carafe.
Very poorly managed! Staff is very friendly and courteous, but that does not help when management sucks!

Worst Panera ever– I agree! I’ve been here before and it was good, but just went today, bought three sandwiches to go and they’re all bread! The tomato mozzarella paninis both had about a 1 inch square piece of mozzarella, ½ piece of basil, and two small tomato slices. The smoked turkey/​3 cheese panini had only 1 small piece of 1 kind of cheese, less than 1 piece of turkey (not fresh) and 1 piece of shriveled microwave bacon, and nothing on the bread. I didn’t even order bacon, but that’s probably the biggest piece on there. $ 30 for basically bread. Awful. They must be trying to cut costs now! Will never go back — except for a refund!

Perhaps this review is a bit skewed due to the fact that I am feeling under the weather, but the fact that I am taking the time to write this should speak volumes.
My wonderful fiancé went and picked me up a half sandwich and soup and she waited nearly 30 minutes. The product she got at the end of her wait was reminiscent of a free lunch. The sandwich did not look appetizing at all, and it appeared to be thrown together.
It is safe to say, I will not being going back to this Panera Bread. Oh, btw, I attempted to call the manager and voice my concern to no avail. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE.