Panera Bread

Megan and her crew were fantastic! I started off at her Panera but they were out of French Onion soup (I live in San Leandro and our panera restaurants aren’t carrying the soup anymore) so I was TOTALLY bummed. But Megan and her team were so cool and gave super service! They called ahead to Joey’s restaurant over on Coleman and it was ready when I got there… And they didn’t forget the croutons! Perfect Service ALL around! those other guys in Hayward at Winton could learn a lot from San Jo!

Service was fast and very friendly, lots of smiles from employees. Never a bad thing. Food was good as always. I orded the Mediterranean veggie with tomato soup as well as the blueberry pomegranate power smoothie. Smoothie was delicious, and so was the food.

I enjoy this place and it reminds me alot of Sweet Tomatoes but since it’s right down the street from us, even better. The breads, salad and sandwiches are tasty here and their Wonton Salad is pretty good too. It’s a nice little place to have a light lunch or dinner or coffee & desserts.

Good service and polite staff, they let me keep the chips when they got the order wrong. But the avocado in the cobb salad was all brown not like a little brown from exposure to air but like when you open an avocado and it’s all brown inside… and only gave me half an egg where other paneras have a whole egg.

My mom and I had dinner here recently. It was later in the evening so they had very few items left in the pasty cabinet. Luckily I got my free birthday pasty — a yummy pecan roll. I ate it over two days for breakfast.
So back to dinner, I had the Ancient Grain, Arugula & Chicken Salad: Chicken, arugula, ancient grain blend, red grapes and fresh apple and cabbage slaw tossed with white balsamic vinaigrette flavored with apple and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. It was very tasty. Lots of good crunch. They were out of baguettes so they gave me some sliced bread on the side.
Mom had the tomato soup and grilled cheese. She always orders this and really likes it. The soup is flavorful. Nice cheese flavors on the grilled cheese.
The place was actually really busy on a late Tuesday evening but they accommodated us quickly and easily.

Mediocre food. Small portions. Way overpriced. And all of the food that I ordered was cold as well.
Also I ordered the New England Clam Chowder soup but got the Vegetable Squash Soup instead. Gross.

So mediocre; from the food to the service. On a normal day it’s a 3.5 star place as far as service but today the cashier kinda stunk. I make sure to speak up and clearly when I order but it was as if she couldn’t hear a word I said– and yes English is my first language. It wasn’t that busy or loud either so by the end of my order I literally felt like I was shouting. And I wanted half of my order for here and the other half to go. That wasn’t accomplished so I had to get up out of my table I saved two times to correct it. I ordered sourdough roll as my side and got sourdough slices of sandwich bread. Great let me go bug them now for another correction. I wish businesses could just follow through and do their job. Really how hard can it be?
Oh and when I was at the register and finishing up I said thank you and she never said «you’re welcome.» So I said it again in case she didn’t hear me. And I looked her right in the eye and said it a third time and she didn’t say anything! She should be saying thank you. She should have said you’re welcome. This is a service industry. So why no service?
Oh and as I was leaving I waited a good 20 secs and held the door open because people were heading out. No thank yous, no acknowledgements. Maybe it’s just the ghetto area this place is in– I guess the caliber of people in this demographic are just uneducated in social etiquette.

I’ve only been here twice, and both times they’ve forgotten something — today it was soup, last time it was a whole pasta dish. Boo.
They’re apologetic about it … even got a treat the first time (don’t know if it’s worth driving all the way back once you realize it’s missing, but still nice).
Just check your bag each time ;)

I actually quite enjoy Panera Bread when other options don’t exist. It’s already a million times healthier, cleaner, and better quality than Subway or Fast Food.
Their salads are always nice and fresh. The breakfast sandwich with egg is clearly made on the spot. Service is always great. It’s my new morning road trip or early wake up go to meal when I’m not in a rush.
The only thing I haven’t tried is their broth bowls which seem overpriced for $ 9 – 10.

Love their salads.
Love their paninis.
Love their soups.
Love their rapid pick up too! All you have to do is order online, give them a pick up time and when you’re ready it’ll be on the shelf for self pick up by name –no standing in a long line (especially during the peak of lunch hour). This location is super friendly and clean.

Love me some Panera Bread! This place is awesome. My first time at this location, I got a tuna sandwich. The lettuce was extremely fresh and green, so perfect that I enjoyed just looking at it. The tuna salad was flavorful and delicious. I got my order for take out and really appreciated the way they packed the food. There were actually mini soup bowl holders at he bottom of the bag to keep the soups in place and from spilling. Messier sandwiches were packed in a paper box; cleaner sandwiches were wrapped in paper. The side of bread for the soup and bag of chips were in their own bags, which made the carrying and transporting all the better.
The cashier didn’t say much and wasn’t all that friendly; by everyone else made up for it. Food came out hot, fresh, and fast.

Sad they don’t have the Tomato mozzarella on a Panini anymore, now it’s only on flat breads.
I really love panera bread, but I did get food poison while I was here the other day. Not sure if someone in the building was getting over the virus, or someone didn’t wash their hands thoroughly.
This place scarred me from all paneras.