Panera Bread

This review is for an employee named Maggie (she wore glasses and her name tag was spelt with green ink/​marker) Last night my boyfriend and I went to this Panera location for the first time. We got our food pretty quickly… but my boyfriends sandwich tasted real bad to the both of us and so I went to our server (turns out the culprit was the horseradish which my bf didn’t realize was on the sandwich) and Maggie was so friendly and kind let us pick a new sandwich and brought it out. Even though it was technically our fault for not reading the details, she helped us with no complaint and we were really happy with our meals and service! I just wish we had had some cash on us to tip her for her great customer service! Next time :) thank you!!!

I absolutely hate when you get something from a restaurant and it looks nothing like the photo. Bloody bagel with a shaving of meat! Come on. See photo

Rapid pick-​up ordering did not stand the test! I ordered online and was assigned 1 hour later pick up time. I arrived at the store my order was not ready as promised, cashier told me it will be ready by the rapid pick-​up shelf. I did not see any orders placed in the shelf so I inquired. One of the food preparers rudely stated to me «Im not sure if we got your order, we have 3 pages of orders! I placed my order @ 1214 and it should have ready by 1:15 pm. It’s already 1:30! I talked to the manager and she went to get a print out of my order and that’s when my order got processed. Not just that, as I waited, I observed a server was talking to another staff on the other side of the counter with his mouth just over an open basket of food. Get it together! Don’t even feature an online ordering process if no one will monitor that nor «rapid» pick-​up because that did not even meet my expectation.

Smaller, a little bit cramped location. The menu board is along two walls so you can be in line while surveying breakfast options, but you have to get out of line to look at the lunch options, and will probably end up with people behind you thinking you are a line. It was a little confusing.
The waiting area for to-​go orders is especially narrow. Food came out quickly and was pretty good, but the soup wasn’t hot enough. Always a bummer in my book.

Ran in to get dinner to go for two, the soup was okay — but the sandwichs looked liked someone wiped the floor with them! A slice of turkey and what looked like two spinach leaves? Basically it was all bread. Nothing like the turkey asiago sandwich advertised! fast yes! sloppy yes! makes me think about how sanitary this could be.

Blah. The two things that suck the most about this place are
a) the parking lot and
b) how crowded it always is inside (finding a table at a peak time can be impossible)
I don’t think they have nearly enough seating. It’s way too small to accommodate the business they do. Also, their employees are not the most pleasant people I’ve encountered. This location does NOT have the homey, coffee shop/​bakery (albeit major chain) ambiance.
I only go here out of convenience, and only when I really crave Panera (or am meeting someone for lunch who wants to go here), otherwise, I’m across Harlem at Prairie Bread Kitchen (the parking lot over there sucks too).
I did the rapid pick up thing once, and my food appeared ten minutes after my pickup time — and only after I asked. Food was dee-​lish though. There was this GREAT soup that I got, amazing in fact. The vegetarian autumn squash soup. Holy crap, was it good.
So anyway, bottom line is that the food is fine, very good in fact. It’s the employees and constant crowdedness (that’s not a word I don’t think) that deter me from going. If it weren’t for those two things, I’d go there a LOT more often.

My first visit ever at a Panera may have been at this location. Located in a nice area with plenty of parking, this Panera is spacious and clean. It also has a fireplace. Friendly staff ensures a pleasant dining experience. The food is prepared great. Never any issues. The pick two (soup & salad) is my all-​time favorite.

Nice employees, food is always good. Nice outdoor seating. The chicken Cobb with avocado salad is my favorite as well as their French baguette which is always perfect. I also love their chicken Cesar sandwich. Around 5pm it’s not too busy, lunch time between 12 – 1:30 can be pretty busy but not that long of a wait.

I like the food here but this is the second time that I’ve gone in the evening and they’re out of baguettes! They say well we’ve been really busy. Maybe they should anticipate the crowds and have there most popular bread available.

We have eaten here in the past and it actually smelled like garbage where we were sitting. Food on the floor and no one cleaning it up. I’m not a fan of this location. They have sold me bagels and cream cheese with expired cream cheese !! It was so embarrassing bringing that to work. Why should I double check something like that? If I wanted old cheese and bread, id go to a subpar grocery store.
This location has disappointed me on more than one occasion. I would never return, ever.
Ignore the free parking in the lot, ignore its location in oak park, and ignore the socioeconomic status of this city; it’s a terrible panera bread.

I just had incredible service provided by an associate named Lesly. She went above and beyond to help me in my order.

Ultra quick take out option, had it ready faster than the the quoted time… Great atmosphere and always a clean place to I hangout for meetings, Homework and more!!!
Thanks Panera!!!
Oh, and PS… Love the bagles and freshly baked goodies!!!

Love Panera! One of the only places where I can eat and my stomach feels clean. This place has good customer service and they take care of your order fast. You can never go wrong going here no matter how busy they are.

So we tried out the broth bowls — and they are OK. I’m glad to see the new offers on the menu, especially for the winter months.

Clean, clean annddd clean. This place might have good food but if the front on the dinning room looks this dirty and can’t imagine what the back looks like.

I normally love what I get when I go here for lunch and dinner, which is a tomato soup and Ceasar salad. Today my husband, daughter, and I went for breakfast for the first time and I was very disappointed. For the price I paid, it could have been much better. My spinach, egg white, and avocado sandwich was okay, didn’t taste like much of anything. And then my hot chocolate didn’t even taste like hot choclate, it was bland. Even if I got it without whipped cream and marshmallows, it still should have tasted good. The best part of our meal was the apple juice we got for my daughter. Everything else was a little disappointing.

Not unlike my opinion of Qdoba, I think Panera’s are, by nature, overrated. Popular among the college girl crowd, most everyone else can take it or leave it. That’s not to say Paneras are bad, I just don’t see what the big deal is.
For $ 10, I got a cup of broccoli cheddar soup (good), ½ a ham + swiss sandwich (okay), a soda, bearclaw (yum), and half a baguette. Not a bad deal, really, although the sandwich was nothing special, and I honestly thought it would’ve been a toasted ham&cheese served hot (like a panini), but it was served cold and boring. This location was doing brisk business at lunchtime on a Tuesday, which I expected.
They share a parking lot with a Binny’s, and space is considerably cramped. Oh, if you want to turn left as you’re leaving (in order to go east on North Avenue), pray to whatever deity you believe in most… because you could be waiting a while. A LONG while. I had lunch outside and saw some guy leaving Binny’s that had to wait – I kid you not – 15 minutes for a clearing in traffic. Not the best flow of cars in-​and-​out of the shared lot.
Kudos points to Panera for having a bucket of mini Tabasco packets near the other condiments. Natch I swiped a dozen for future at-​desk work lunches. Seeing those single-​serving packets of the good stuff in public is unusual, and I was very appreciative of that fact.

My experiences at Panera have been very mixed. I LOVE their signature BBQ salad and short bread cookies.
I decided to treat myself and the guy at the register didn’t seem to know much. I asked what was in the Thai salad and I could barely hear him. I also ordered an Iced Tea and he gave me a cup for hot tea.
Now I have gotten this salad before so I know what’s in it and there was barely any dressing. The person who prepared the salad forgot to add the BBQ ranch sauce that also comes with it.
Then I noticed that the guy also forgot to give me my short bread cookie I ordered. Not impressed at all. Make sure all your staff are trained before throwing them on the front line.

My husband and I came here for dinner. At first I didnt want to dine here because it’s pretty expensive for sandwiches, soup, and salad but we were looking for something light for dinner and it was closeby.
I had their chipotle chicken sandwich with the country mushroom soup. Both were delish! Portion for both was good for me! It is of course more expensive than other places but I enjoyed the taste. My husband had their sandwich with roast beef (I forgot what it’s called) and he said it was okay. He had a bowl of chicken noodle soup, but he did not like it as much. He said the progresso canned soup at home taste better.
At a business meeting, my company ordered from Panera for lunch. I had their bravo turkey sandwich and that was a really good sandwich! This is definitely another sandwich to order aside from the chipotle chicken. Their salads are good, too, but they are expensive :(
The girl that took our order was somewhat not paying attention when we were placing our order because her friends were there. She got distracted and mistook my husband’s name as another name when placing the order. Something amusing since she put her name as Joel for the order when he said his name is Will, and we had to correct her couple times since she was distracted. She’s a nice girl nonetheless.

I was so mislead :-(
I usually visit Panera in the mornings when everyone is fresh and ever so happy… But wait a few hours. Visit them a couple of hours before closing when you’re the umpteenth person asking the same question about the different flavors of cream cheese…
I was out with my oldest son for a quick bite. The only person seemingly wanting to work was sweeping the floor rather conscientiously. He confessed to another worker that he didn’t mind cleaning as he didn’t want to go home and seemed to think that cleaning at Panera was much better. Kinda made me feel sad for the young man, but I didn’t pry.
My cappuccino seemed half full and had lots of steamed milk, a.k.a. froth filler, and given the cost I should have been given at least three fourths liquid, (the coffee was half the price and you got a full cup). The muffin top was cold, I should have asked for it to be nuked, but it wasn’t offered and I just felt that I should not over extend anybody. My son ordered a sandwich, but didn’t want the Swiss cheese and asked specifically if he could switch out for American cheese at no extra cost. He was told no problem, but after review of the bill — he was indeed charged for American cheese and wasn’t even given the Swiss cheese.
It wasn’t that the servers were rude, they just didn’t seem to want to be at work. Although, the cashier that helped my son was chipper for a bit then became interested in conversation with her co-​workers. The only one intent at doing a great job was the young man sweeping and cleaning tables; and he was supposed to be gone home.
In the morning and even towards afternoon — I have always received great service, but after 7pm — not so much.