As much as I like eating here, I can't for the life of me figure out why every Panera Bread is so dang small, which makes for a very loud place to eat. You cant have much of a conversation since you are sitting basically on top of each other. Went there today at about 2 and it was slammed (I should have known better). As always, there is no where to sit and then there is always someone sitting in a booth by themselves with their laptop for hours on end. Really people, if you are by yourself, then sit at one of the small tables for one person or in one of the chairs like I saw two or three other respectable humans doing. You are not cool and you are making families wait or set in different areas just because you want to take up a place for four or five for you and your laptop! The rest of us HATE YOU! To the management of Panera bread: Crackdown on these WIFI freeloaders and kick them to the curb if you are busy or you have families waiting to sit. Dont put this on the families, Gyms put restrictions on the use of their Treadmills and Eliptical Machines, do the same for your booths! Get these people in and out of the door! The food is always very, very good though! read more

Love that they have fresh food selections. But I deplore how consistent they are in screwing up orders. I come here frequently to grab a "quick" bite through the drive through. "Quick" is a stretch considering the number of times I have to go back through the drive-through to get my order corrected. I'd give them a solid 60% fail rate. read more

It's good but it's pricey..10 dollars for a salad is kinda steep. The food is however is good.

I was having my lunch and a worker named Anna Laura took my dishes away after I was done and was so kind and we had a lovely conversation about school that really brightened my day. Keep it up Panera! read more

Ordered an everything bagel with butter. After the order was entered by the trainee, the supervisor said, "We don't have any butter." Not in the back, not in the packets. How does a bread place not have butter? How do they not just run to the store and get a few pounds until your stock comes in? read more

Had there Low-Fat Chicken Noodle Soup and for only 120 calories you cant go wrong!! Big fan of their chocolate chipper cookies, but had to make the nutritional decision to pass (that was TOUGH)!!!! Lines can be long, but it moves quick, and by the time I got my drink and a table, our food was ready!! :) read more

Panera is always consistent. Got the caprese panini and half Asian salad (as usual) - very good.

I think Panera is a great chain soup and sandwich joint and this location is no different. Following the "epic" ice storm of January 2014, this was one of the few places open to serve those willing to brave the icy roads and scared Florida drivers. Love the protein bowls and the bagel sandwiches. read more

I really do enjoy the food here, but it is WAAAAY overpriced for what you get. I am not fat by any measure, but when I am still hungry after an $8+ salad, there's something wrong. The past several times that I went through the drive thru, my order was incorrect. The staff has always been nice and they DO try and make up for the mistakes, but it gets so frustrating. I detest having to point out mistakes and I try to be extremely nice, but it happens more often than not. It's almost a joke to my co-workers and family about what's going to be wrong with Allison's food. In their defense, I am kinda picky and typically 'change' something about the standard ingredients like no bacon on the sandwich or dressing on the side, but it's not like I am re-inventing some craziness! Anyhow, after another hungry afternoon, I felt compelled to yelp. read more

Convenient location right in front of Santa Rosa Mall and next to Starbucks. The food is always excellent and the wifi is nice too. Only complaint is the size of the facility. read more

Stopped in for coffee and to get my birthday pastry; had to wait a bit for fresh coffee to be brought out at 930 AM, but we were in no hurry. Good location and clean. read more

I like this place. I've never had a bad service or food. My favorite is the frontega chicken. I ordered that with their new turkey chili,and I must say they make a good combo. read more

Love Panera Bread! Friendly staff and attentive to what you order! Sweet tea- Fuji Apple Salad- barbecue chicken panini all were excellent!! Also love their cinnamon crunch bagels:) read more

Best Panera food I've ever had! Such a beautiful location too it looks like it just got remodeled. Honestly, out of all the paneras I've been to, this one is by far the best. read more

worst food and service ever. will never visit this or any other location due to my experience here. you are better off eating from a trash can than paying money for this crap. read more

I've been here many many times and the food is always great! But I always feel rushed through because it's so busy. I just tried the breakfast yesterday and for the first time I got to take some time looking through the menu and try something new which was nice. I understand that it's a chain restaurant and semi fast-food-esque so I give it 4 stars. Tasty and polite! read more

Home of the cold paninni, three day old bread and rude employees. Take the drive to gulf breeze instead.

Came here for lunch today and I'm surprised by the negative reviews. Our customer service was wonderful and the food was delicious and really fast!! I'll definitely be back! read more

I have been to this Panera many times, and I know that the drive through service is not the fastest, because their food is better quality and takes more time to prepare, so I am okay with that; however, last night was totally unacceptable. My husband and I pulled in the drive through around 9:25 p.m. - the store closes at 10 p.m., we checked- no one came over the speaker, so we waited a couple minutes, he says to me "are you sure they are open" so we look at the hours of drive through on the speaker and it says 10 p.m., so he waits about another minute or two, still nothing came over the speaker, so he says "Hello!?" and nothing... wait another minute he says "hello!?" again, someone finally responds and says "I'll be right with you" ...there is no one else in the drive through at this time, we could see it all, and maybe one person in the store. Anyways... we order our food and pull around to the window to see the girl working the drive through, mocking him, mimicking him "hello!? hello!?" and the other four employees around her laughing. At that point my husband wanted to just drive off and not give them our business, but I think that's what they wanted to happen so we didn't. She then she comes to the window, doesn't say hi or anything, just says our total and takes the card, runs the card, and hands it back to us and says "here". Her name was not on the Cashier part of the receipt, it just said "order", which she probably did on purpose... Anyway! She was very rude, and if I owned that Panera, I would not want her there representing my company. & I work in hospitality management so I understand it's difficult at times, but never acceptable to mock and be blatantly rude to customers. read more

Stopped at the Panera in Fort Walton Beach. I know Panera isn't known for their tea but Dang! The tea is awful! I went through the drive thru and ordered tea. Nothing fancy. I think they brewed coffee first and then immediately brewed the tea. $2.96 right down the crapper! What an effing rip. Not stopping here again. read more

This panera has gone down hill. The food is sub par and the service is poor. Furthermore, they Often get the order wrong. I do not frequent this panera anymore due to the bland food and mediocre service. read more

This is our first and last time to ever go to a Panera Bread. Went on Monday at 2:30p. Crowded, so we assumed it was good too. Very wrong assumption. The soups were JUST warm and on the turkey and cranberry paninis there was a wipe of maybe what was cranberry sauce, and four pieces of COLD turkey about the size of a quarter each with a small pile of spinach leaves on one corner with a smear of cheese spread. NEVER AGAIN and would not recommend to friends ever. Huge disappointment. read more

Love Panera! Especially this one because it has a Drive-Thru!!! I can be in a hurry and still get amazing food without having to settle for a burger somwhere. read more

Panera Bread as a chain has great food and this restaurant is the only one with healthy choices which is why we keep going back despite the constant mistakes. About half the time it seems my drive through order is wrong. I call and complain and the manager seems sincere in his apology but then again something in my order is missing. read more

Poor service every time I visit, and had a couple instances where I saw an employee handle cash and then touch the bread that went in my bag...yuck! I like Panera's menu, but the horrible service and employee habits make it easy to choose another restaurant option. read more

This location has let us down EVERY visit. Their sandwiches are never as good as other Panera locations. The staff is short with you. You can't get the same special, buy 2 meals get 2 $1.00 pastries like other locations. They don't carry ranch dressing!!! We love Panera Bread and go several times a month, but would rather eat at home than go back to this location. read more

I have been to around a dozen Panera locations. It's one of my favorite restaurants. This location is awful! The food is warm, when ALL other locations serve it steaming hot. The wait is much longer than all other locations I have been to. The drive-thru was slower than inside, when at most locations, our food is finished and HOT in 2-4 minutes, this location took 10 minutes and served us warm food. I go hungry or pick up a salad from Publix whenever I am in Mary Esther, because Panera is one of the very few restaurants I will go to and I refuse to go back to this location. The baguette portion is tiny and stale! They refused to sell my a full baguette, which I was grateful for after I tried the one that came with the meal. What kind of a restaurant serves salad but does not carry ranch dressing....which now seems to be an issue at most locations, but at the time I had gone here, this was the only location that didn't carry it. read more

I have had food from this location on several occasions but today was the first time I ate inside. It will also be the last. Service is okay, food is okay but in all honesty the place seems about as clean as a gas station restroom. VERY disappointed going inside. If the public areas are this bad what is the kitchen like? read more

The past few weeks have been a terrible experience for my husband and I. Not only have we had our orders messed up on numerous occasions (wrong salad dressings and missing order items) but yesterday I was given a salad that not only had the wrong dressing (again) but was also rotten. Several portions of the greens were brown and heavily wilted. The salad even had a foul odor upon smelling it. Thinking my soup may be better, I tried it, only to realize it was either old or overcooked (or I was getting the bottom of the pot). The soup was thick and cold. Even after trying to heat it up in my microwave, I was left disappointed and hungry. Not sure if this is happening so often because of the lack of supervision over the employees or a lack of proper management but someone needs to get in and fix it. For us to have been having the same repetitive mistakes made shows that it's not just the restaurant or the employees having a busy or rough day, but that it's becoming a constant problem. read more