What a racket this place is. Overpriced tasteless food that you stand in line to order and then stand in line for them to call your name. And the best part of all? You bus your own table. So, what exactly are you paying for??? I could stay home and make a mediocre dried out sandwich for 1/10 the cost. The employees look like they want to kill themselves. read more

After ordering 2 breakfast sandwiches and waiting 15 minutes, we finally approached the area where you pick up food, to find out order sitting there waiting to be picked up. When I asked how long it had been sitting there, I was told 'not long'. We took our food back to our table and discovered it was cold, then had to wait another 10 minutes to heat it back up. They said they called us for pickup, but we were listening just outside the area at a table and never heard the call. They only called for us once. This is UNACCEPTABLE, especially for the prices charged. Wake up, Panera, there are way too many other places to go for breakfast that are faster, better and less expensive! read more

This location is a serious mess. They can't seem to figure out how to run the drive thru and only take an order at a time then make the people already at the window wait until they're finished taking an order. I commute from Denver to the springs and regret every time I stop here because of how long they take. Never again. read more

The service here was awful. Not only did the lady not ask us what side we wanted with our food, it came out cold. When I asked if they could warm it up for me or make me a new one, they told me to go stick it in the microwave. Absolute awful customer service. We will not be coming back. read more

for the past few times that i've gotten my food, i ask for no peppers on my food, but they keep putting peppers on it. should i just go to another panera, or stop going altogether? read more

Really? I mean really? Who runs this store? It is so abysmal it is hard to believe corporate has not just fired the whole crew and started over. Drive thru, Wednesday 6:45, pretty long line. No problem, I have some time. Wait to order. Get to the screen and no one there . Wait, wait, wait. What the hell? Line in front of me now down to 1 car and no one home on the speaker. How can I help you? Nice, here we go, I am ready. Soup, salad and a cookie. Cool done drive forward. Wait, wait, wait. Only 1 car there and they leave. Pull up to the window and you can see what is happening. No less than 5 or 6 teenagers in there. Check. No one is doing anything, chatting, pacing, no one working. The morbidly obese boy on the headphone is the worst. My food is finally made and sitting on the counter. I can see it in front of me. He is LOOKING AT THE SCREEN ABOVE HIM. Pacing again. Looking quizzical, puzzled. 5 minutes pass, no change. More pacing, more confused looks. Food is backing up behind mine on the counter. Tick, tick tick, what the hell? Pick it up and put it in the bag, please. Nope, still looking confused. Is there an algebra equation to put food in the bag he must figure out? Puts the food in the bag. Apologizes for the wait, huh? I ask him what took so long? Oh, we are really busy, he states. Well if you can only make 1 meal every 20 minutes, you will be busy! I drive off. Open the bag, NO SILVERWARE AND THE WRONG ORDER! You honestly could not have a worse experience than this drive thru. DO NOT GO HERE! Never seen something this bad at a national chain. Where the hell is corporate? read more

Horrible experience. Order food, wait 20+ minutes, no communication. Apparently they were slammed with delivery orders and fill all those first. Act like theres nothing they can do about it. Will not ever go here or to another Panera. read more

Love the food at Panera but this one never gets our order right and I'm not ordering anything unusual - just directly off of their menu. I often go through the drive through and have learned to double-check my order before leaving. It's extremely frustrating to get all of the way home and realize that they only gave one out of two items for your Pick 2 order, or didn't give you any bread, or gave you soup but not in a bread bowl as ordered. If I'm picking up food for my family, it's because I don't have a lot of time to put into dinner so driving all the way back to fix my order due to a careless employee is frustrating. read more

Customer service at the food counter was unacceptable. Just watched an interaction where an elderly gentleman asked if he could have his egg cooked a bit more. They refused and said 'that's the way it's suppose to be' and blamed the cashiers for not informing him. Doesn't matter if the gentleman was confused on what he ordered. How hard is it to cook an egg for another minute or offer to cook him a different sandwich. And this appeared to be coming from the head cook who was mentoring others in the food prep area. Sorry, but that lady needs training in customer service !! read more

we waited in the drive through line for more than thirty minutes. i asked for a you pick two with a turkey apple cheddar sandwich and a broccoli cheddar soup. then the guy said they didn't have the sandwich, even though they have it on their menu. then i asked him what was in the super fruit smoothie and he said just our superfruit blend and i said what is in that? he didn't know. then i said i'll just get a mango smoothie and a bowl of soup and he said sorry we don't have the mango smoothie! are you kidding? and don't even get me started on how overpriced everything is. my small bowl of soup and a twelve ounce smoothie was $12. i wish i could give a 0 star rating. definitely won't be going back. read more

I waited 20 min in the drive thru to get a black coffee on a Friday morning at 8 am and what I got was a luke warm cup of Joe that tastes like yesterday's batch of coffee. read more

Another management screw up. Busy Sunday morning and only one register open. She did her best but customers walking out in droves. Common problem here. WTF is wrong with management? read more

I have eaten here twice (BIG MISTAKE) and both times I wished I hadn't. It's too expensive for just a sandwich shop. Just like a very expensive counter order shop. You even have to get your own drinks. I'll definitely give it a two thumbs down and,as for two stars, that is stretching it. Sorry Panera bread. I just love busing my own table. If I only got a tip. Also their drinks are too expensive. Not much better than a burger joint. Save your money folks! read more

Poor service and food. Ordered bistro French onion soup and they gave me beef broth with onions...no croutons, no cheese. My flatbread sandwich was drenched and soggy. My daughter ordered Caesar salad...again, no croutons. The girl at the checkout basically acted like she could care less about helping us. Place is a hot mess. We'll drive a little further to Lone Tree or Highlands Ranch next time. read more

I primarily go to this Panera Bread because it is convenient to most of what I do in Castle Rock. I like the food and the fresh ingredients. I do find that when I go inside to eat the tables, floors, etc are not always very clean. It seems they forget to wash the tables and arrange the chairs neatly around them. I have have mostly good experiences with accuracy on my orders and the food. The last visit I asked the cashier about the Pick 2 promotion that had been emailed to me. She looked at me like she had no idea what I as talking about. When I took the time to explain the program to her she then tried to answer my question but even admitted she didn't really have an answer. I felt bad for her because no one is spending the time to adequately train their employees I guess. Hope you read this review and change that. read more

I love Panera's Autumn Squash soup, and go out of my way to go to Panera's wherever I can find one this time of year. I live in Castle Rock and have been to this Panera before, but I have to say it is pretty consistently off-kilter. I wanted the "pick 2" with the squash soup -- but was told they were out of it. So then I thought I'd try the turkey & cranberry flatbread -- they were out of that too. I finally ordered a sandwich and a cup of hot tea, only to find that there was about 1 ounce of hot water left in the carafe. The tables had not been cleaned so all had some kind of debris on them. The kitchen area seemed lost in talking to each other and meeting the orders of the cars in the drive through. The baked goods case was about 1/2 full. I waited literally 12 minutes by the time on the receipt for my very basic sandwich to come up. I'll probably seek out an alternate Panera for a more consistent experience. This location is too schizophrenic and has not been on the A+ side yet. read more

This place needs to have a health inspection done for food safety. I have had a bad experience all three times I visited this month. They were decent before but something happened since the construction started. The most recent time, the older male cashier touched the food with his bare hands to check if it was warm when I asked if the souffles were hot?! Like wtf?! Then he kept turning away to cough. What if a immune suppressant person was to get his germs and get sick? And I don't want his dirty hands that he touches the register and cash with on my food. I was so disgusted I just walked out without ordering. Then the last two times, it took over 20 minutes, twenttyyy minutesss to make a smoothie(which I also heard the girl making my smoothie coughing so something has to be going on there). Then the third time I went, they were literally out of everything I asked for. I ask for over four different menu items, and gave up and left. Never going to this Panera again. I do want to get sick like the workers there are. I'm only giving one star so I can post this review. read more

What you would normally expect from Panera is what you will get here. This location is HORRIBLE as the parking lot was designed by an IDIOT, but that isn't their fault so I wont deduct a star for it. This place always seems to be packed beyond belief. Every Saturday there is a line out the door. The food is usual. It doesn't blow my mind but its never disappointing coming in for a bread bowl of soup or a quick sandwich with coffee. Glad to have one in Castle Rock. read more

Horrible dinner tonight. Cold soup, cold Mac n cheese. They were out of white bread and gave me a tiny grilled cheese sandwhich that was about the same size as the palm of my hand for $4!! The crew working tonight is not personable and doesn't make me want to come back with the quality of the food I just received. Not impressed read more

Not sure what is up with this particular Panera. They have a great location but everything goes downhill from there. We frequent the Greenwood Village and Highlands Ranch locations on a regular basis which always have fast service and food is almost always good. Have now been to this location 3 times and need to stop torturing ourselves. Service has always phenomenally slow, as in order a bagel with cream cheese and wait 10 minutes for it although the restaurant was almost empty and workers were standing around everywhere and there was only one order ahead of us. All three times the food has been awful, which I didn't think was possible at Panera. This location needs help! read more

This is the worst Panera Bread location. They have forgotten to put tuna on my *TUNA* sandwich twice. I'm not even joking. This happened through the the drive thru. I went inside the first time it happened and the workers (two of them) were irritated by my complaint. They offered me a free pastry because they had no tuna left. Well, you could have told me you had no tuna instead of me driving away and only to discover when i got home that i had no tuna on my sandwich!!! I was LIVID!! I drove back to the store and walked in to confront them about it. The second time my boyfriend went inside for me with my sandwich (this is again after we went home first only to discover no tuna on the sandwich) to ask for the tuna. Instead of replacing it on my sandwich for me or giving me a new sandwich, they gave my boyfriend a cup of tuna to take with him to the car so I could add the tuna to my sandwich. My boyfriend said the workers weren't too happy about this that time either. Um...I ordered a *tuna* sandwich, so I expect tuna on it. This location also usually gives you a hard baguette. I don't remember a time when we didn't get a hard one. So we never go to this location anymore even though we live in Castle Rock. We drive to other locations now. read more

I love Panera bread soups and salads. They never disappoint! The staff is always so friendly and courteous and come around frequently to take away used dishes or ask how our food is. read more

I know they recently removed "bad stuff" from their food, but they also removed flavor with it. I actually used to like Panera, maybe they just changed their recipes too much. The baked potato soup was flavorless, lacking salt and not as creamy as it should be. The Asian chicken salad is an absolute disgrace to food and should be taken off the menu. Between pineapples and oranges I had more fruit than lettuce, and the dressing is excessively sweet...so when combined with the sweet fruit...just horrible!!! On top of that, overdressed. I'm going to have to be in a real pinch to come back here again. read more

Ugh! Dirty, sticky tables, floors. Restrooms were worse. In short, a disaster. When I mentioned it to the manager, no real action was taken. What a shame. Used to be a good place. Won't be eating there again. read more

What a treasure to have a comfortable place with a wide variety of fresh and delicious food on the quick! It is also a great meeting place where seating is always available. There is also patio seating with a view of the foothills. read more

I have had the worst salads at this location. The bread is old and hard as a rock. I do not get my points. What a disappointment........

Pretty much just spent $8 on a salad that was nothing but a head of lettuce I had to go home and add my own dressing to. On top of that all the employees were just messing around, worst Panera I've ever been to. read more

I love the soup, and always come back for it. However, the service and cleanliness always disappoints. Dirty spoons, even the walls in the booths are filthy. I usually get a loaf of bread to take home, and have had to go back to the counter to ask for it several times as they forget to even give it to me. read more

This is a great location of Panera. When I went there, they were very friendly and got my food ready fast. I dined inside, but I figure the drive-through is also good service. They have a patio seating area that has a very nice view! I would recommend not only this location of Panera, but other paneras as well. They have a great food selection! read more

We recently moved to Castle Rock and went to Panera for breakfast. Normally we love Panera but the one in Castle Rock was filthy. I've never seen such a dirty store. When I brought it to the attention of the store, she said they were short staffed. Makes you wonder how clean the kitchen is if the store is so gross. read more

this Panera is okay as it has the food you expect from a Panera, usually. Compared to the ones in California, the service is bad. They bring you your meal California, like Noodles here, and bus the tables so that they are clean. This would really help this Panera since it is so busy and crowded, with rarely enough seating at meal times. Maybe offer a small section for those 'camping out' at Panera, not just trying to eat. read more

Terrible drive thru experience yet again. Taking my business to small local cafes now!

The food is always good of course, but every time when dining in, it's so dirty! It's not just this store either. Other chains in other states and cities are just as dirty. I was there at 9:00 on a Friday morning and all of the tables were dirty and the carpet was dirty with crumbs and trash. Every table had crumbs on it, and the cleanest table we could find, I still had to dump crumbs off the chair. I saw one guy wiping his down with a napkin. I think if it's this early in the day, it should be semi-clean. The dishes were piled high, and there was a leak in the ceiling with parts of the ceiling all over the floor. Crumbs were behind the counter from bread spreading into the register area. I know it can be busy but they def need someone to work the tables, wipe them down, vacuum, and sweep. Having had worked in a restaurant, we focused on that, vacuuming when in the morning and as it got messy, always wiping down the tables and chairs, and keeping it generally clean looking. It just kind of makes me lose my appetite when I have to brush off someone else's food from my chair or table. read more

I am not a fan of this panera... I've now tried to go here not once, not twice, but 3 times this week in an attempt to satisfy my craving for their delectable fall goodness of a soup: the autmn squash. However, my hopes fizzled out and my attempts missed to boat 3 different times. Now mind you, I haven't been going at rush hour or the end of the day, and expecting this popular item to still be around, nor did I throw a fit and make a scene when it wasn't available (even though it is crack, diamonds, and gold in the warmest, most soothing liquid form possible). I went around 6 on a Monday and it was slow, then 2:30, 3ish the following two days, hoping to make it before dinner hits, since my first attempt was at dinner time. Now I am not a business major, but common knowledge for running a successful business is developing a model based on supply and demand... If something is running out halfway through the day regularly, why not make more?? 7-year-olds running lemonade stands even understand this concept! I would maybe give them another star or two had the customer service been better. However, I have gone to this Panera before, and they were very snooty and unknowledgeable. As someone with Celiac, I have to eat gluten free. I know it can be a pain, but I wouldn't be high maintenance if I didn't have to be. When asking them what is gluten free, I've either gotten a very perplexed "um, I don't know" or a disgruntled "uhhh i guesss ill check if i havvvveeee to" kinda vibe. Very off-putting. Then, with this soup incident, each time I went, the staff were very rude, as though I were asking them to leave their shift, wander 100 miles on foot with nothing but a Chewy bar and a plastic butter knife, forage the ingredients in the depths of the wilderness, fight off a bear or two, and return back in a day's time. Guess what Castle Rock, I bet you the Panera downtown off of Grant St. would have done it for me, AND made dessert. I wasn't expecting much, just a bit of soup... read more

My wife and I stopped in here on my way back from north Denver because I had a gift card from last year (unused) and I thought I could go ahead and use it. Despite a disappointing visit to a Colorado Springs location two months ago, I thought to give Panera another chance. Lesson learned. First, when we went to use the gift card ($25 value) the cashier told us there was only 74 cents left on the card. She could not give any specifics on the usage, so I could only assume there were very high "maintenance fees" associated with the card. So somehow we lost $24.26 to Panera. That's a ripoff. But wait, there's more...that was only the start of the bad experience. We ordered our lunches and when we sat down with the trays, I saw they did not include the chicken in my salad. (Note: The Colorado Springs location did the EXACT SAME THING on my previous visit.) So naturally I was further irritated by having to go back to the pickup counter and complain. I remember years ago when I liked Panera and enjoyed the experience. The place was well laid out and wasn't overly complicated. Now, the dining room is a jumbled maze of tables and walls and fireplaces. Additionally, the way they run their membership card is ludicrous. You can't use your points at the cashier. Why not?!?! You must go to a kiosk five feet away and order to use your points. That's just dumb and very frustrating after spending at least ten minutes in a line to get to the cashier only to be told you have to go somewhere else (with a line) to order. Panera has really gone downhill from a nice place to get a bite, to a hipster-oriented, overly complicated mess. I will never go back to this fiasco of a restaurant chain. read more

I never write reviews. But I had to write one for this Castle Rock Panera Bread because we have been going here for years and this place fails to improve. The owners must be seriously blind to how many rotten reviews they have and the poor customer service of their rude employees and the poor quality of food they put out. The quality of Panera food is great- just not at this location - ever! Every time we go through the drive thru, a part of our order is missing. It has happened at least 6 times. The expensive salads they are putting out have shrunk in size since they opened and are missing at least 3 of the 6 ingredients that go on said expensive salad. I once found a shard of glass in my salad- how does that happen? For 3 years, I've continued to go back in hopes that someone who owns and operates this Panera will finally notice how down hill it has gone. Yellow lettuce, missing ingredients, running out of food, cutting down on portion size, GLASS! I have been to Panera's from Colorado Springs to Chicago and this is by far the worst one. read more

I used to be a huge fan of Panera. And when this place opened in Castle Rock, I thought "what a gold mine" opportunity for the company. UGH! I have been several times, and finally, after the frustration and disappointment, I will never be back. The customer service is terrible, the manager (lady with blond messy hair) could careless about the service side of the business. I won't even go into the long rant about cleanliness and sanitation practices I've witnessed of the employees (example: wearing the same gloves to prepare your food as they do to change the trash or mess with their hair - gross). I'm one of those people who don't expect much, but when it comes to the food business - safety and service should be a priority. I don't know who is responsible for running the place, but there's a reason it sits empty with fewer and fewer customers. I'll be one of those joining the group that doesn't return. Sorry Panera, you could do much much better! read more