Panera Bread

There’s a better chance they will get your order right if you dine-​in. Otherwise, don’t bother expecting to get the right thing going through the drive-​thru. Apparently the only thing they have ever been able to get right every time I go through are the bagels. I have never not gone through their drive-​thru and not had to call them and go back to get what I really ordered. Absolutely ridiculous. I should not have to go back. Every. Time. I have been to other Panera Breads and never experienced this issue.

Ordered fresh rolls for Super bowl party they either bake them stale or they were at least 2 days old. Never again.

We just had soup the pesto dish. The pesto was cold, warm, one or two pieces of pasta were hot and it was also hard pasta. The soup was barely warm and they gave us no spoon.
The service wasn’t exactly friendly, I think she gave us a smile and there is was a few staff members standing around, one girl cleaning and a few waiting for customers. They should’ve been cleaning tables and pushing in chairs. This is the worst visit I’ve had to a Panera Bread.

It’s been a few years since I’ve eaten at Panera, so when the boyfriend and I saw that they were open as of today, we stopped in for lunch. A little after 1pm the parking lot was jammed — we drove around several times and finally lucked out when someone left. They had several greeters inside to get you oriented, and when we expressed interest in the self-​serve ordering kiosks, a lady walked us through it. They have about 8 iPads set up (though only 2 seemed to be up and running) where you essentially use their app to order and pay, including grabbing a pager and entering the number. Kind of nice to avoid the usual mess that you get at the register! Cups are also there as well, on the honor system it looks like.
Drink dispensers are in the back of the restaurant, which is a little frustrating since they’re about as far from the door as possible and we wanted to sit outside. They have a nice patio, with a lovely view of Kwik Trip’s car wash and the on-​ramp to the highway — but it was nicer than patios along Koeller, since it was further away from the traffic. Our pager went off promptly and the boyfriend retrieved our food.
I had the chicken Caesar salad, which was decent, but not exciting. It was pretty light on the dressing (the boyfriend went inside to get some extra), but was served in a nice china bowl, which I appreciated. The boyfriend’s Cobb had much more on it, so I might go for that next time. They’re still serving baguettes on the side, which really doesn’t do much for me. They are a little too chewy and kind of unnecessary.
An employee came by and grabbed our dishes, and even offered to get us drink refills (!), so they are definitely starting the service off on the right foot. We’ve desperately been looking for someplace to get a decent salad, so I think we’ll be back for lunch again.
Side notes: The lady helping us said if you have a MyPanera card, you can pre-​program favorite orders so you just swipe the card and go. They also have Wi-​Fi, though the login page states that during busy periods, you may be restricted to 30 minutes.