Panera Bread

I came here the other day as I was passing through on my way back to Chicago. The food is as to be expected from any Panera. However, this location has an amazing staff. They are extremely friendly, patient, and helpful. Our food was brought in swift manner and with a smile. I will admit that they did get part of our order wrong, but they corrected it and went above what they needed to to correct it. I appreciate it! Keep up the good work guys!

90% of the time, I get rotten fruit from this location, even with mold on it sometimes. I am literally throwing my money away.

Today (Sun 5÷28÷16) was the last straw. Came in for some healthy summer fare. It was about 4pm and very quiet. See some new menu items, «I’ll have the full size Green Goddess Cobb salad with an apple.» First I buy a $ 50 gift card to get the $ 10 free (use only in June though, always fine print) one. Those $ 60 will be my last 6 visits to this stupid place.
Get my salad and it looks pretty enough (see pic), if a bit anemic size wise. This is a new salad so I don’t know what belongs in it. I’m hungry, haven’t eaten all day, so I «maxxed» it, as the parlance goes. Toward the end I feel like something’s missing so I pull up its description on my iPhone. The pic is a beautiful FULL bowl of salad… with avocados and CHICKEN, two things missing from my $ 9.3 before tax salad.
I’m not one to raise much of a stink at a restaurant but I showed the young salad makers the issue and one gal owned up to it, she said sorry it was probably her. They offered to make another one. But I’m on a short break at work and had finished the other so no, really I just wanted to show them.
But before I left I did raise a stink with the manager guy. From a caesar salad with mostly STALKS of lettuce, no leaves, to to-​go orders missing dressings, to this latest gaffe, I’m just done… done with this stupid place. Well, after 6 more visits when I spend the stupid gift cards I bought.
I never expect any special Unilocal treatment nor do I use Unilocal for some kind of leverage, but I told him if Panera corporate or his store in particular BOTHERED to look at the reviews they’d see my and others’ average to poor reviews… and maybe that I’ve checked in 62 times here. That’s $ 600+ dollars I’ve spent on their bollocks over the years. And though I see a lot of the same faces when I visit, they’re such corporate DRONES that no one ever recognizes me and says «hey, welcome back, how YOU doin’?» Contrast that with the White Castle near work that I visit literally 3 – 4 times a year and the manager there always remembers me.
I told him if there were a healthy food option competitor around Aurora I’d be there, but sadly Panera is it. Pockets next door sucks!
F this overpriced, underwhelming, often mistake-​prone corporate garbage in a place that has no clue your name!

Panera is a reliable option for lunch or dinner. I’ve eaten at this location twice now and have not been disappointed.
One of my favorites is the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad, but the bread bowls with soup are also really good. I’m not as crazy about the sandwiches here as I used to be, it’s a whole lot of (very good) bread and that’s about it. But the salads and soup are great.
The Frozen Mocha is on every Panera menu, but they really make them well here. Sometimes I’ve gotten chunks of ice stuck in my straw, but this one was blended the way it should be! No frozen chunks in the straw or stuck at the bottom of the cup.
There’s a fireplace to add to the cozy feeling, and a separate, closed-​off seating area for studying.

Food is typical Panera. Love the Sierra Turkey sandwich. But this location tends to be slow & dirty/​gross around lunchtime 11am to 3pm.

My mac and cheese came frozen so they put it in the microwave. When it came out the bowl was hot and the mac and cheese still cold.

I have always had a very positive experience at other Panera locations, but this is by far the worst Panera I have ever experienced. I have ordered from the location on three different occasions. Twice, the grilled chicken on my salad was still partially frozen. Tonight, my grilled cheese wasn’t even grilled. It was essentially a slightly warm cheese sandwich on stale bread. The service is also unfriendly and inattentive.

I ordered online for rapid pickup on ⁹⁄₁₀. Chicken tortilla soup in a bread bowl (for which I paid extra), ½ sandwich with extra lettuce, mayo, cucumber, & a baguette. Since I wasn’t feeling well, my son went to pick it up for me. I ordered at 7pm. They were out of 2 different soups (3 hours before closing???), so I ended up with chili, not really an optimal choice for someone with a sore throat, but whatever, my husband ate it. He gets home and there’s no bread bowl, 1 meager slice of lettuce, and 1 cucumber slice. I try calling and the phone just rang. Nobody answered and no voicemail, so I sent an email to Panera. I did receive a response from someone at corporate, who assured me that someone from the store would be contacting me to resolve the issue. 11 days after the original visit and still no response. This isn’t my first «less than stellar» experience at this particular location. The last time I was there, the workers were rude and blatantly lied to us about a «special» they were running. I will be going to the new location on Randall in the future.

This used to be an ok place to grab something decent. In the last year though, it’s gone way down hill. Three times in a row using rapid pickup, our order was missing sides. On another order, the cups for the dressing with a salad were barely filled– a fraction of how much we normally get so only half of the salad ended up dressed. On our recent order, the avocado on my sandwich was gross and spotty. Not brown, just old and spotty. The person who assembled the sandwich obviously just didn’t care to make an effort.
When we eat in, the food is marginally better which kind of annoys me more– like they slack off on pick up orders because they won’t be called out?
All of this could be chalked up to «whatever, it’s fast food» except it’s too expensive to forgive. It’s sort of absurd.

Let me start off by saying, honey, this review was initially poised to be a poor one. I walked out of the establishment with my breakfast sandwhich in tow, hunger leaping from my chest and bit into a piece of paper that had been cooked into the cheese… not a delightful ingredient. I called promptly and addressed my issues and returned to get a new sandwhich, full refund and a free treat of my choice. I doubt that this type of carelessness typifies this establishment, but I think its a noteworthy jump off point that demonstrates one thing: they aim to please, even if the first go around didn’t bring a smile to your lips. For that reason (and that reason alone) I would eat here again, though I would check my order before leaving.

It’s such a bummer when I experience inconsistent service at a franchise where I expect what I’ve always experienced… consistency.
This particular visit wasn’t so good. The issue on this visit was the ICE COLD/​Frozen chicken they added to the Asian Salad. It was not edible because it was solid ice. I did see a few orders get returned while I waited to get my order re-​made. Maybe just a small glitch and it’s certainly forgivable. I’ll probably return as Panera is easy and offers relatively healthy options.

I tried the order online today. It was so easy and fast and when I got there the bag was waiting for me in special place with my name. That easy! Loved it

Review is of service only as I never got to taste the food. Waited in line for 15 minutes while the cashier and the one guy in front of me was flirting with the employee while ordering a simple sandwhich and drink. When I finally was able to place my order (which took me less than 30 seconds I might add) I waited another 10 minites for no one to even start making it. I got so fed up I left letting them keep my $ 15. I could not «donate» anymore of my time to this «pick up joint» since I had to actually get to work. I will be placing a call to corporate. If u want to flirt with customers… become a busboy and spend all the time u want «cleaning» his table.

Everyone is friendly, and service is quick. I prefer ordering on line so I can take my time customizing my sandwich. Order taker (an associate trainer) was so fast I forgot to change the bread. I know they need to get people through quickly, but I barely had time to customize my sandwich. Not a fan of the tomato basil bread.

Nothing bad to say about Panera, especially this location. Pretty much everything I’ve had there is really good. Don’t know how this location compares to other locations, but the service here is top notch. always plenty of cashiers to keep the lines moving fast, always managers nearby in case there is an issue. I’m usually in and out on 5 or 6 minutes even if it is busy, everyone here does a great job.

I like this Panera. The people are always very friendly. When /​if they make a mistake they own it and apologize. That’s something that seems lost in today’s society.
My only gripe about this location is the parking. This lot sucks, and it’s an accident waiting to happen. They need to double it in size. There’s been times I went here for lunch and had to wait 5 minutes to get a spot. I only get 30 minutes so that is a big annoyance.

Update, visited today and was not to happy to see the prices have risen considerably, even though they offer a pick two its individually priced now. 4.49 for cup of soup and 4.79 for ½ sandwich, really? Cannot justify the cost. Not sure If this is the situation at all Panera’s or just this one. Won’t be going back, so disappointed.

I probably come to this Panera 3 – 4 times a week! 99% of the time, my order is correct! The couple of times my order has not been what I asked for, the manager has always been very apologetic and polite, which I’ve really appreciated. The staff is always friendly and has a smile on their face. Definitely a place I will continue to frequent!

I’ve been eating at Panera Bread since way back when it was still called St. Louis bread company. When I was a kid I loved their PB&J sandwiches, but as I got older I found their «adult» menu to be rather lacking. At the time my mom was obsessed with this place and I got dragged here against my will more times than not. The only reason I tolerated it was because my mom was paying, and because the bakery was AMAZING.
Recently thought everything changed! Panera started carrying these AMAZING pastas in addition to their wonderful soups and baked goods! Best of all, they even added some sandwiches to their menu that I actually want to try! I’ve had both the tortellini, and the pasta with meat sauce, and both are fantastic! I love getting them with the baked potato soup. On my most recent visit the baguette they gave me was so fresh it was too hot to touch! :) Needless to say that with their new menu changes Panera is not one of my favorite places for both lunch and breakfast and I’ve been finding my self having Panera cravings!

This review is for this specific location.
Let me be clear: I love Panera. Whether it is the Cinnamon Crunch bagel or the Greek Salad/​Tomato Soup you Pick Two or the Mac and Cheese, the food is all good.
However, over the six years I have lived here, the service has definitely gone downhill. Sometimes its the wrong salad dressing. Other times they give you the wrong soup. Or forgotten croutons. It seems like about 50% of the time, there is something wrong with the order for the last year.
Obviously, it isn’t bad enough for me to stop going. But it is annoying.