I come here often as its close to my office, but somehow I'm always disappointed. I love Panera as a brand, but this location just does not do it for me! =( I'm really a food lover and hate for my food to be incorrect; every time I stop by this location my order is ALWAYS incorrect. I get it I like to customize things, but that's the beauty in this whole thing, being able to eat my way. I find myself wasting my entire lunch break just waiting for food, they constantly have to correct my order and they still get it wrong. I'm not sure if the managers here think my colleagues and I are unable to pay for our food or that we voice our concerns out of hopes of getting free food, but they always want to offer a refund (as if that's the first solution). The first solution is getting the order right in a reasonable time frame. It does not matter if we come during peak lunch hours or off peak, they still make mistakes (missing ingredients, missing add-ons, ingredients we're allergic too...just to name a few). One time I ordered BBQ Mac & Cheese, which comes with chicken & they never added the chicken; I came back expressed my concerns and they never added BBQ sauce, by the time they were on track to do it properly my lunch break was over and my appetite was ruined. This location seriously needs to do better! Overall, my favorite thing to get is the pick 2: BBQ Mac & Cheese Chipotle Chicken Sandwich I also really love the green tea they offer, its not too sweet and not too bitter. read more

Masks were not being worn properly , I seen an employee put there hands in there pants and grab a bag , there was also missing items and the customer service was terrible , there was a lot of ignoring going on , and they were taking there time when the line was going out the door , would 100% not recommend this location , bad service overall , and the way corona is heading I think they'll get people sick . read more

This kitchen staff is horrible spent 30 mins waiting for a breakfast sandwich for it to come out messy and on top of that have hair inside of the sandwich..... worse experience at a Panera bread ...EVER read more

Where to even begin? This is one of the worst Panera's I have ever gone to and I've given them countless tries over the course of a year. This place is religiously out of key ingredients, charges you for customizations to meals and does not actually give you the customization and I have seen some very questionable behavior during COVID which brings into question the cleanliness of this particular Panera. I have seen employees pick up straws, napkins and coffee cups and holders from the floor and place them back on the table setup for use without replacing the items. This place leaves me at a loss for words really. I still can't wrap my head around the fact that they are constantly (almost every visit) out of key ingredients. They also take forever to give you your food-expect at least a half hour wait. read more

I am so disappointed, my co worker order me lunch for delivery and they claimed they were at my address and never showed. The manger Carlos was very rude. Instead of apologizing he was so quick to refund the money to shut us up. Just bad customer service. read more

Said my order was going to be ready at 1:50 and it wasn't ready, now I'm going to class without eating and without the money I paid, don't go here, they will make you late for your class read more

This location opened up in my neighborhood and I had high hopes for it. However, the customer service falls short. As a walk up customer to the register. I wanted to order a smoothie, but it wasn't possible because she said there isn't anyone there who could make it. Every weekend, it is stated as sold-out. Only able to order a sandwich, I had to state repeatedly. Also, after telling my number to pull up my account, she couldn't retrieve it and while walking away stated to punch up my number. I am unsure if the company is fine with inadequate service, but that is the impression it is leaving. read more

This was the third time that my wife and I give another chance to this Panera, thinking that perhaps the bad experiences we had the first two times were just bad luck. Apparently, we were wrong. Although the staff is very helpful and seems to have a great positive attitude, the food is consistently subpar (I am comparing to other Panera stores). We've had sloppily-served tomato soup, a sandwich with very tough/hard bread, and every time, sandwiches that are served with very little fillings (tonight, the amount of meat in my steak and arugula sandwich was laughable). Also, many of the items are always ou if stock. We hope they somehow turn it around. We were very happy when we learned it opened so close to home. read more

First and last time visiting this location. They mess up on your order and the manager herself has the audacity to blame the customer when the order is clearly written on the receipt! I understand that mistakes happen, but they are not willing to accept when they mess up on your order. After much back and forth, the manager finally agreed to give me what I actually ordered, but her attitude was ridiculous and so was the wait. It wasn't even busy! Please get a manager that knows how to treat customers. Also they messed up on every single persons order in my group as well! Based on other reviews, this is a daily occurrence. read more

I had a pretty good experience, 7:45pm on a Wednesday night, placed $30 order to go on the ipad, order was correct, food was all very good, inside of restaurant was clean and inviting, wait for food preparation wasn't long. All in all a good experience... probably gets a 5th star just by way of sitting next to the abomination that is the Chipotle next door. read more

Absolutely horrible. I always heard about the Jersey attitude but these guys take it to another level. While visiting this site last week my wife and I were at the counter placing our order the cashier made us feel like she was doing us a favor. I've seen people treated better at the food bank. She huffed and puffed as she took our order. Then I asked if she was Ok and she grumbled something about having a long day. All while the manager looked on with a smirk on her face. Later I heart two staff members arguing. Avoid this place! read more

I love Panera but this location needs work! I think I'm missing a few ingredients to even consider this a salad. I just got dry chicken, wonton strips, and some lettuce read more

Panera Bread - Thai Spicy Thai Salad with Chicken missing 90% of its ingredients on a to go order! - Salad Near Me - Union, New Jersey

Its always good to know that there is a reliable Panera nearby when you are looking for a quick bite! The manager helped me find my car keys too!! read more

So I get that they are new but it wasn't busy and I had to wait 25 additional minutes for a pickup order. The smoothies were melting already and not filled up. The lady at the pickup window was rude just because I was standing there waiting and checking my IG. They need competent people to work in the back because it will get busier and the service will get worse. Also, I didn't get a refund for an item that was not available. read more

Last Time I'm visiting this location. Just not worth the aggravation. As most of the reviews said, they are always out of everything. It's either that, or the espresso machine is broken. For a cafe, that's a big problem. Lucky for me this time, it wasn't. Ordered a sandwich from the app, and ordered a coffee in the location (will get to that later). App was saying that they are out of bagels but clearly something is wrong, as there was a rack full of bagels visible in the kitchen. When I ordered my drink, the name "KD (or Katie") was called out 5 or 6 times. Didn't think much of it until someone from the crew called to my attention and asked me if i ordered from the kiosk. I said yeah and they asked me if i ordered a latte, also yes, Turns out that my First name and middle initial was being called the whole time... As you can see by my name, my initials would have been K.A. This could have all been avoided if they called me by my actual name, which could be a system error but whatever. I lost confidence when the staff asked me if i wanted half and half for my latte. As a former barista, this troubles me. A latte is already creamy enough, especially when adding flavoring. As i got my drink and was stepping out (remember that I ordered on app and in store), staff stopped me from going out because they thought i was stealing an order... I used to work in the food industry so I tend to be understanding, but this experience was so bad that I had to write a review for it. Never again. At least Starbucks is opening soon in this compound, hopefully it's not as much of a dumpster fire as this Panera. read more

The service at this location is so damn ridiculous. William the cashier at the front always seem to have a chip on his shoulder. I've been in here a few times being that I've just move in to the Vermelle complex across the street. This guy have the worse attitude towards customers. It's like you're not suppose to order from him. You should use the self check to place your order instead of ordering from him. My husband and I was sitting eating, he walks over, doesn't even ask if we were finished with the use of the honey, he just snatched it of the table and walked away, keep in mind, I was still using it. It not his business, so I can see why he Wouldn't care about what a customer would think of his disrespectful attitude. I was so over it, I took the time to write this before I left the restaurant. I'm going to have to find a new place to walk to on Sunday Mornings for breakfast. read more

Not sure why this place only has about two stars, they are the best. They just opened up about two months ago and it's actually a quick drive from my house, I can even walk if I wanted too. The building is extremely clean, and employee's are very personable. They normally have a line once in awhile outside as well, and the wait really is not terrible. It has a nice cozy feeling to it, I love the tuna sandwich dish and fresh apple. I can't wait to see how much this location is going to succeed now that the college kids are back, it is a perfect spot to grab a quick lunch! read more

Placed a pickup order through the app and they were so backed up that I waited for 45 minutes and had to cancel my order as I had to leave and they didn't have it ready. Very disappointing have never had this happen at a Panera. Staff acted like it was the customers fault. read more

This place definitely looks nice inside and out, but service is lacking. I have ordered catering from here twice over the last 2 months and both times experienced issues that will have me visiting a different Panera going forward. In January I ordered a large breakfast catering order to be delivered between 7:15-7:30a. I ordered the night before, it contained coffee, breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and fruit. The morning of delivery I was called from Panera and told they actually didn't have the wraps that I had ordered and wanted to know if they could replace with a comparable sandwich. Fine, no problem. 7:30a comes, and I am sitting in a meeting with clients. No food. 7:45a. No food. 8:00a. No food. I tried calling the location maybe 5 times and each time was not once connected to a human being. 8:30a, no food, but finally talk to someone. Apologizes for the delay, the driver is 10 minutes away (the location is 10 minutes from my location). They only had one driver this morning and were overwhelmed by catering orders. Again, not my issue. I then ask if all my food and coffee was going to be cold. She says no, its hot food. And then I ask, if it was made over an hour ago, and supposed to be delivered over an hour ago, how can it still be hot. She acknowledges that some of the food may be cold. End of the day, the food gets delivered around 9:00a, a full hour and a half after it was supposed to arrive. We ordered catering again for another meeting with clients today. Instead of risking a delivery snafu like last time I do catering pickup at 7:45-8:00a. I had very low expectations. I arrived at 7:55a and the food was already packaged and waiting in bags. Awesome. But that's where it ends. When I unpackled the food at the office about 10 minutes later, the coffee was luke warm at best, my single breakfast sandwich that I added to the catering order was legit cold, not warm, not luke warm, but cold (how long ago was it made and sitting there?). Interestingly, it also had a scrambled egg, not an over easy egg, which I specifically selected this sandwich for. I was told my Panera Twitter support that that sandwich was not supposed to come with an over easy egg, to which I responded with a screenshot of the Panera website that shows that sandwich, availabile at that location, with an over easy egg AND a tag on the picture that says the same. Also, the 3 large fruit balls we ordered had an inconsistent mix of fruit (some all melon and grapes, one almost exclusively pineapple, one a good mix). The 3 were also filled very differently. One filled stuffed to the top, one barely half full. As a side note, as I was there picking up my catering order this morning I overheard the counter telling a patron that they were sorry they ran out of butter, so instead of giving her a buttered bagel it was just plain and toasted. She asked for a refund. Funny enough, my catering order contained a huge bag of maybe 50 butter packs, all went unused... read more

Terrible and rude service. They made me wait 30 minutes for a salad!! Wow wouldn't recommend

I'm writing from my boyfriends account because I cannot get to my phone. I wish I could give them negative stars. I was sick all night and it was from the chicken noodle soup. Never thought that would make me sick considering it's suppose to make you feel better when you're sick! Besides this, they take forever and never have anything. Idk how since it's brand new. I wish I could get my money back and I hope I don't get food poisoning! read more

Incredibly rude. The staff feels entitled and when asked a question the response it "can you wait, I'm talking to my coworker." They don't have how they make you're food and serve only sloppy sandwiches and salads. read more

Upon arriving at this brand new Union NJ Panera location (at 9:52 pm) I was immediately taken back by the less than enthusiastic employee who seemed very put off by my sudden presence at the counter. The first thing she said to me was "I hope you know what you want because we're about to close" I proceeded to order a plain steak & cheese sandwich but before I can continue she warned me that "they may not be able to make it because we shut down the ovens" I then asked for a sesame salad and she responded "let me check because I think they already broke down the ..." I asked if they were closed or still actually open, she rolled her eyes at me and sarcastically said "we're open" she proceeded to walk away leaving me standing for minutes wondering whether or not they will make my order, during which time all I can hear is the Quran (islamic prayer) playing over the loud speaker, which I thought was rather odd on a Wednesday evening at Panera! Suddenly a different employee came out of the back and asked me "do you know what you want?" I replied that I had already ordered and was waiting to pay, she walked over and punched a key on the register and said "insert you card". Before she too can walk away I advised her that the last two times I ordered a plain steak sandwich I got home and found horseradish on it causing me to discard it both times, she seemed indifferent given her lack of response, so I felt the need to ask her to please make sure that the sandwich is only made with steak and cheese, she walked away without a reply. As I waited for my order, another 20 minutes or so because the oven had to be warmed up, I noticed white dressing drizzled on the bread, I asked what that was and the woman making it said "horseradish"! So guess what, she had to make it again as I waited some more! I understand that the employees like to begin pre-closing procedures in order to finish their work shift timely but compromising a customer's experience to this degree is a clear demonstration of lack of care, respect and the unwillingness to do the job they're being paid for! Although I noticed the MOD hovering by the front counter, at no point did she greet me, ask if she can assist or engage with the employees in any way. All she did was check the time on the register and scurry to the back. I felt invisible and rejected for interrupting everyone's work. Everyone who took part in preparing my order had an attitude towards me first for being there and second for being "picky". Although in the past I have enjoyed Panera's food very much and although I had been so excited and looking forward to this new convenient location to open up, after having such disappointment with all three visits, I'm sad to say I give up because after a long tiring day at work the last thing I want from anyone is to treat me this way, specifically when I'm paying for the experience! And by the way, instead of sesame salad I got home and found a lettuce salad, yes, just lettuce in the bowl!!! read more

The worst Panera Bread, was there on the first day they opened and I loved their service but, today 10/07/2021 was the worst. they put on the A/C and it was freezing, people started to go and sit outside because it was warmer, they put the music volume up so we couldnt even hear each other speak, the guys started cleaning up at 7:34pm, we asked them what time they closed and they said 10pm, the guy was taking the empty chairs and putting them on top of the tables so he could vaccum( while we were eating), right by our feet, It was obvious they were trying to get people to leave, people were coming in and turning right around becase there was nowhere to sit. there were about 6 people only. To top it off they were out of most foods on their menu, I love Panera bread but the one by Kean University is the worst. We were chased out of the restaurant by 9pm, and you could see them laughing, this is my first review ever, I try not to be negative about people's business. I believe the manager had left and there was just young boys not really customer service oriented and wanting to go home early. read more

This Panera is trash. Everytime i come here they forget something in my order. This particular time the self pay station was not working and they didn't put a sign out or anything, when i told the cashier they said they knew of the situation. I ordered a whole chicken Caesar salad, not only was the salad not even filled halfway but the chicken was FROZEN. I'm a student at kean and i commute an hour i don't have time to eat or bring food and they waste my time everytime. Don't go to this place read more

Good for, but the service sucks. I waited 20 minutes for a salad and it wasn't busy. 8 pm and they couldn't get my salad done in a timely manner. read more

This location is always out of everything. You cannot possibly get a soufflé or even scones if you aren't the very early bird. I don't understand it. It's every time. Now we just don't even consider it as a choice for breakfast anymore. Too much hassle settling for something we don't really want. read more

I have been waiting for 10 minutes and there are still 10 people ahead of me in the preparing line. There are several people after me and literally not a single name in The Ready line. I understand that they are new but they are clearly understaffed and need to figure out how to work considerably faster. It is not even crowded in here whatsoever. I will not come back until they get their act together. read more

No sense of urgency what so ever at this location. I was literally the only person waiting in line to order, while the cashier literally watch me stand there waiting to order as if he wanted me to use the kiosk instead. It wasn't until I asked "Do I have to order at the kiosk?" that he offered to take my order. While waiting I observed another patron sit at his table waiting for his order to be done and delivered to his table, like it's usually done at other Panera Bread location. The worker called his name but he was seated too far away to hear it. Instead of taking the order to him, she simply placed his order on the counter and went on about her business. The patron after waiting about 5 minutes, later checked in at the counter and stated that he thought when you dine in, it would be brought to the table. I thought this task would have been feasible, considering the place wasn't even crowded. As I was leaving I overheard two other patrons complaining about the same exact thing. This location really needs to get it together. The staff isn't pleasant, and the service isn't good at all. To be in such a high volume area, you would think they would work harder towards moving faster and providing quality customer service. Never again read more

This place cant get a coffee right if it smacked them in the face.... smh. Lord had mercy... i have been here 3 times.i always get the same thing... ( a large Madagascar vanilla espresso latte) and every time its soooo wrong. 1. The gave me a cup that was a quarter of it full..... i complained and they redid it. How ever it was a regular latte no espresso no vanilla... nothing at all... so i tried again.. 2ed time i went here again a cup with hardly anything in it. Again my regular large espresso vanilla coffee was not even half full. So i asked the girl if it was normal that i paid for a large but i am getting damn near empty cups.. she said it was not and she would fix it...... she fixed it by only adding milk to it.... it tasted like i ordered steamed milk for 6$. 3rd and the last time i will ever be going in here is i ordered the same basic drink i always do ( vanilla espresso latte) and again it was half full but there was no vanilla flavor. When i ask to speak to a manger or someone i got told to stop bitching and go about my day... these people in thos location need better training or something.. because this is ridiculous. If im paying for a latte that i been drinking for months and is great evert where other then here.. there is a big problem.. please fix it.. cause im not the only customer you lost due to poor customer service. Other people where "bitching" as well due to the poor quality the stiff was getting out to the customers.. its a damn shame.. read more

I visited this location for the first and likely the last time on 10/8/19 at 7:56 P.M. on my way home from work. I was impressed with the technological design of the premises: orders are placed via tablets sort of on a station like a desk; everything very slick and chic. The problem is that it is a restaurant, so patrons come for food served in a timely manner and at an acceptable level of quality. I placed two orders to go: One chicken baja grain bowl and one baja grain bowl. I decided to try these platters after having them at another Panera located in Clark in which customer service was less techie, better and the portions were the regular size. OMG what a disappointment!! After waiting like twenty long minutes of uncertainty, the food orders finally arrived, I quickly noticed the light weight. In my car I took a glimpse and was shocked with the ridiculously small portion they placed on each container. On arrival at home I ate both and still had to order food from someplace else. I am not over indulgent with food, but the portions were so small that I had no choice, which is just a shame. I will give them a star for the beautiful facilities, that's it!!...... read more