I visited the newly opened Panera Bread on Cross Bay Boulevard in Ozone Park for the first time because it is conveniently located on my way home. As usual, I placed my order at one of the self-service kiosks.
After ordering, I noticed that there were no self-service beverage stations in the customer area and no customer restrooms. The beverage station is located behind the counter, meaning customers have to rely on employees even for drink refills or beverage changes.
About five minutes after placing my order, the order status monitor showed that my order was ready, and I also received a text message confirming it. However, my order was not in the pickup area. After waiting another five minutes, I informed an employee that I had received a notification saying my order was ready, but it had not yet been brought out.
When my order was finally delivered--about ten minutes after I placed it--I was told that the beverage I had ordered was unavailable, so I had to choose a replacement on the spot. It was frustrating to learn this only after waiting for an order that had already been incorrectly marked as ready.
After receiving my food, I asked where the restroom was. Since customers are invited to dine in--the restaurant has tables and chairs--I expected there to be a restroom where customers could wash their hands and use the facilities after eating. The employee told me there is no customer restroom because this location is intended for takeout orders. I responded by asking why there are tables and chairs in the dining area if there is no customer restroom. The employee replied that she does not make the rules and then walked away.
Overall, this was a very disappointing first experience. The order was marked ready when it wasn't, my original beverage wasn't available, the beverage area is inaccessible to customers, and there are no customer restrooms despite the restaurant offering indoor seating.
I understand that many fast-food and quick-service restaurants keep their restrooms locked and provide the access code only to paying customers. That is a perfectly reasonable approach. However, I believe it is completely unacceptable for a restaurant with dine-in seating to not provide restroom access for paying customers at all.
As a result, I ended up taking my order home instead of eating there. I didn't want to drive home with dirty hands after eating a sandwich, nor did I want to be in the uncomfortable position of needing to use a restroom after finishing my drink with no facilities available.
Because of this policy, I will not return to this location unless it begins allowing paying customers to use a restroom. Until then, I'll choose one of the many other restaurants that provides this basic accommodation for its customers. read more
