Panera Bread

Waiting in line, oh wait, I was the only one. Being ignored while 4 people using the self serve computers were able to pay before me, I thought I was invisible.
Now the cashier just stared back at me and not at one point asked” can I get your order” until 6 minutes later, unbelievable.
After receiving an attitude for not signing up for a Panera card so I could use the self serve computers, I bit my tongue before I could state to the cashier that those machines… Will steal your job.
The food was great, I recommend the turkey caramel panini, just the right amount of salt.
Go for the food, but avoid the service staff and start talking to the computer.

Panera Bread in general is a decent restaurant with pretty consistent food. However, Balltown Rd. Location leaves a lot to be desired. My daughter and I noticed they changed their menu again so I asked the woman at the register if there was a comprable substitution for what they took off she made no eye contact and took no time to even think about the question she just shot an answer off to me «NO»! I decided to step back and look at the menu for myself and easily found a substitute for my daughters old favorite sandwich. Because my daughter was with me I did not say anything to this very aloof employee who I’m sure wants to make $ 15 an hour. To me if I owned that Panera I would let her go along with about five other people I’m disgusted with this Panera and will go out of my way to go to a more friendly location where the people actually take pride in their work one of those locations would be the Glenville store very consistent friendly atmosphere.

Great atmosphere, great food, needs some cleaning (air vents dusty, dead bugs in the lights). Its the small things tht count.

Usually get soup or salad only. Kinda overpriced and line is always crazy long while waiting on order.

I love Panera such as the one on Wolf Road but this Niskayuna location has gone to the dogs. The employees have shifted from Niskayuna locals to City of Schenectady types and they just don’t care and are unfriendly. cashiers stand around while there are long lines. They are consistently out of items. A lot of items including salads are previously frozen. Can be long waits at times. Have found foreign objects in the food.

The Olympics are going right now, so it’s a good time to talk about mandatory deductions. If a gymnast falls on a vault, it’s a mandatory 1.2 point deduction. If you give me lip while taking my order, and then get the order wrong, twice, that’s a mandatory one star reduction.
Despite my previous upgrade I’ve decided that this Panera — and I, at this writing, and the Duke here — is going downhill. They’ve been getting orders wrong, and the clerk staff seem more sullen and undertrained with each visit. Tonight we got a «Cobb» salad dressed in balsamic vinegar and got a half a vegetable sandwich that had three vegetables (total) on it.
They’re on the precipice of falling to two stars, so all I can say is they better stick their landings on the next visit or we probably won’t be back until the Rio games are underway four years hence.

What to say, Panera Bread is Panera Bread. Always great food.
But, noisy!

Pick two for lunch is great. I love the soup and have to get that every time. And then depending on my mood either a salad or panini. The bagels are pretty good and creative, like the cinnamon crunch. The bread is good and lets be honest, that’s what really makes a sandwich. Breakfast is okay but not as good as lunch.

I’m still not on the whole Panera bandwagon. It’s a more expensive Dunkin’ Donuts with slightly better ingredients, wifi and fewer sweets? Is it the Starbucks of Subways?
I don’t know.
What I do know is that the egg and cheese sandwich felt like some industrially produced product. And when I was there a recent Sunday it was difficult to find a clean empty table. There were plenty of empty tables, but many of them could have used a wipe down.
We also sat down near the food production station, where whoever was making sandwiches, pushed an entire loaf of sliced bread off the shelf where it spilled onto the adjoining table.
Accidents happen. And I’m glad I wasn’t sitting there with my hot coffee next to my laptop. But nobody came out from behind the line to make sure nobody was soiled. Nobody even came out from behind the line to clean up the mess.
There the bread stood. And it sat. And sat. And sat. Until ultimately some manager noticed it and thankfully threw it all away.
The next time I need free wifi, I think I’ll be going elsewhere.