The cleanliness of this restaurant is like the bubble gum at the bottom of the seats in movie theaters. Just all and all yucky. The employees are forthcoming in letting you know the wait will take 30 minutes if you decide to order inside. I've only come here with my daughter because it was close to campus but the next time the opportunity arises, it will not be an option. What an absolute dump this place is. The health department needs to visit this place. read more

Good Panera experience! We came today in search of bagel variety, which we learned is not common in Waco. It was slow on a Sunday morning and we were able to go right to the register. Food and service met every expectation - classic Panera quality that we choose to come to the chain for. I like that Panera has started the order to your table. For "for here" orders, you get a pager that you bring to your chosen table. The tables are numbered and have a sensor so the food runner knows exactly where to bring your food. This store seems to have changed to getting water cups at the counter.. we noticed they no longer have the smaller cups by the soda station. Between consistently meeting expectations and their rewards program, I will definitely be back. read more

I love Panera ! I got the pick 2. My goto is French onion soup and a half seasonal greens with Gorgonzola and pecans added and a reduced fat balsamic dressing. I always get the baguette too. It did not disappoint. I ordered thru the drive thru and proceeded to the window. The cashier was so friendly and efficient. My meal was packed as requested with appropriate cutlery (plastic). I gave him my phone number for the rewards and he told me I had a $2 coupon ! I gave him a ten and told him to keep the change. He asked if he could get me a water or anything else!! I will definitely go back to this location. read more

Great service- I accidentally picked up the wrong to go bag, and upon returning they cleared up the mixup and gave me a free cookie (even though it was my fault). Plus, they have a fantastic special drinks section - the turmeric lemonade is my favorite. I mean, it's a Panera bread, not an upscale restaurant, but for a fast food chain the food and service was great! read more

Ok, just not what I expect when I'm charged over ten bucks for a sandwich. I like the turkey & cranberry or the chicken salad sandwiches best along with the French onion or broccoli cheese soup. Tried their oatmeal and breakfast sandwich but once was enough. Men's restroom needed attention, and stair rails outside were wobbly. read more

The service here was very slow, and I noticed that the portions have gotten a lot smaller. Not impressed. What happened to the panera I used to know and love read more

The food is...fine. The service is lacking. I order often because they deliver to my work. The past few times i've ordered for delivery, it has either shown up late or been missing items. Last week my order was missing an item and when I called to speak to the manager, she informed me that she would be refunding my whole order due to the error and also because the driver was late. Of course, my refund never came through. After attempting to contact the store directly several times, I reached out to corporate customer service. Big mistake. Not only were they not helpful, they accused me of lying about the manager promising a refund. Do yourself a favor and eat at La Madeleiene instead. read more

I have been to this location 5 times and had problems 3 out of the 5. First time I was there I ordered a sandwich - instead of putting the pickle in a separate layer of wrapping, they left it on top of my sandwich, so by the time I went to eat it the bread was soggy with pickle juice. The second time I went I ordered a dozen bagels and two cream cheese spread. I get to my meeting and find no cream cheese at all. I called and complained and they gave me free bagels next time I went through. Then - yesterday, I drove 25 minutes from my house because I really wanted mac and cheese. I waited 10 minutes in the drive through line and ordered two bowls of their mac and cheese. I exited the drivethrough and pulled into the parking lot to check my order. I got the mac and cheese out of the bag and thought they had mistakenly given me soup. I opened the lid and it was completely liquid milk sauce that was cold and pasta that was uncooked. I was furious. Those small bowls of cost $8. How could someone serve that and think it was OK. So I went back in the drivethrough line and waited another 10 minutes. A manager was at the window. She didn't seem to really care about what had happened. I was specifically upset that at least two panera employees would have touched my order and yet it was still served to me. First there is the guy that ladled that crap into a bowl and KNEW it wasn't cooked and still tried to serve me it. Second was the girl in the drive through that put it in a bag and would have noticed that mac and cheese shouldn't be liquefied. The manager lady said she would refund my whole order (which also included a sandwich). She said she would let me keep the sandwich for my trouble (plus, they would have just thrown it out anyway). She didn't have the key to access the register to do the return so she called over another guy who was some kind of regional manager. I explained what happened to him and he didn't even bother to look at the mac and cheese. He just said "yeah, I guess we have a quality control problem". I told him "no you don't, you have an employee problem". Then - the guy took my credit card to give me the refund and he only refunded the mac and cheese and still made me pay for the sandwich - despite what the first manager said. Then when the 1st lady came back to the window she asked if I wanted a cookie for my trouble. NO - I DON'T WANT A FREAKING COOKING. I WANT MANAGEMENT TO CARE THAT I WAS CHARGED $17 FOR MAC AND CHEESE THAT WAS THE CONSISTENCY OF SOUP. What I have learned about Panera bread is that their employees just don't give a crap - probably management doesn't either. Not a single manager actually took the lid off the mac and cheese to see what I was served. They didn't apologize for the employee that served me that. They didn't even refund my whole order as they said they would and then they tried to make everything OK by offering me a cookie. I will NEVER go to a panera bread again. read more

Panera Bread - This is what you can expect if you order mac and cheese - liquid, cold, milk sauce, and raw pasta. - Sandwiches Near Me - Waco, Texas

At this location specifically::: The drive through workers are always rude and sound very rushed and they make you feel rushed at the same time. I've been here 2 times and have experienced this both times. I don't even want to go in to see if that experience is any better because my food is always given to me sloppy. It looks like they just threw everything together and chunked it in the bag. I understand during peak times it gets hectic and you have to work fast but at least make sure it doesn't look like you put it all together blindfolded. The bread is always really tough or burned and the soups taste mediocre at best. I guess I'm just not a Panera fan and enjoy the food and service better at Newks down the parking lot. read more

Came to pick up dinner, only to drive back to my hotel to sit down and eat and find a hair smh!! Trust me it's not my own either considering I have super curly hair. This is a long straight hair and it was wrapped up deep in my salad. Second time a Panera has disappointed me, this one was disgusting though. read more

Panera Bread - Sandwiches Near Me - Waco, Texas

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I am definitely a fan of Panera bread. I came to this location for my first Panera experience. The staff was super friendly and helpful. The staff helped me choose what sandwich, soup, dessert and smoothie I should order. I ended up ordering the roasted turkey artichoke panini, garden vegetable soup with pesto, strawberries and cream scone and a cranberry orange smoothie. Everything I ordered was excellent. I enjoyed every bite of my meal. The only downfall of this awesome lunch was I spend around $17. It was a little pricey but I would come back and order it all over again because it was that delicious. read more

Each time I go I get the Salads. The foods fresh and the dressings taste unique in a good way. Its a little pricey I suppose however they counter that with an enormous bowl of goodies. Service has been average. read more

Eat here if you are starving and can't make it to the nearest McDonalds. To say the food is mediocre would be a compliment. They actually ruined my chicken Caesar. P.S. the bread is good. read more

I work in Waco and this is a great place to get some work done. It would also be a good place to have lunch with friends. I have always encountered very friendly and helpful staff, a clean restaurant, and good food. The food isn't cheap but it's consistently delicious. My only complaint is that they have the calorie counts listed on their menu board. I like to pretend that I don't eat as unhealthy as I often do. read more

Love this place! I love the online ordering and rapid pickup on the app. You can customize your food by adding and taking off food items. This option is great for my vegan diet and works well for my husband who is not vegan. read more

We checked the menu online but when we got into the drive-thru they didn't have several items because they were "seasonal." We were stuck in the line so I ordered a salad and a cup of soup. I asked them not to include any bread because I'm gluten free and when we opened the bag there were 2 baguette pieces just loose in the bag. Not impressed! Won't be back. read more

I'm a regular here when I'm visiting my company's home office. The people are awesome. The salmon salad was great. I have no complaints here ever. read more

Not impressed by this location. I love the homey feel of Panera, but the staff is pretty lackluster. They take your order and that's the last you'll see of anyone. The restaurant is clean, but that just might be because it's never really that packed. read more

Same pricing, same quality, same customer service, and same decor I would expect from any Panera Bread company in the country. One of the only places to get a healthy soup, salad, or sandwich lunch in Waco, TX. I recommend the low calorie Chinois Chicken Salad, and if you want to splurge on something sweet, get the Lemonade. Pro Tip: If you want to order lunch during breakfast time, you can only order cold lunch items before 10:30am, so you're limited to salads only. read more

Terrible experience at this location. Manager on duty kept whining about the customers in the store being less than ideal for her schedule that day as she was missing her conference call. It was between 1230 and 1300 when all this happened. I couldn't think of a dumber thing to say in front of customers a standing in the window he grabbing their order. In other words we did someone else's job because thirty minutes for a pick two (defrosted and reheated soup sent to you cold) isn't good customer service. Staff this place better and relearn what priorities you should have in the industry chain business. My friends ate and in n out burger and had a much better experience. read more

Colleague went and got lunch as I had never eaten here. Suggested turkey, cranberry or apple sandwich and got tomato basil and French onion soup. I had the turkey with apple and French onion. Soup was ok not great but the sandwich was bland and had no flavor! She said the same thing but tomato basil soup was good. I'll stick with Newks! read more

Came here with my mom for an early lunch (10:30) They were open before 11am, unlike a lot of places, because they have breakfast too. I had the chicken cobb salad with avocado and a bowl of the lemon chicken orzo soup. Both were great. Love the house vinaigrette. Prices are decent and the staff were super courteous. read more

Panera Bread - Chicken Cobb salad with avocado. - Sandwiches Near Me - Waco, Texas

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Bad experience.. wanted a quick breakfast.. turned into a bad experience... they don't even cut the bagels so both sides are even.... seriously oh wait you want cream cheese.. here is a very small container and a knife... why I'm I paying you to prepare my food if your not going to do it all the way...... it's like buying a peanut butter & jelly and they bring you out the bread with a jar of jelly and say.. here Will not be returning... then they ask if you want to tip... and look down there noses at you when you press no.... stupid. Don't waste your time or money. read more

Terrible terrible care with door dash orders. They literally tossed the soup into the bag and when I got the order the food literally ripped through the bag because of how soggy it was from the soup. Like c'mon. It's really not that hard to just put it in gently. Waste of money, had to spend my dinner cleaning up the mess it made. Honestly wish I could toss the soup at whoever packed it in. Ruined my night. read more

BUSINESS PEOPLE BEWARE!!! RECEIPT WAS ILLEGIBLE and the manager said she could email a receipt. It didn't have the business name. She was also way too cheerful when I told her I guess I just won't come back anymore and I'll have to eat the $36 because I won't be able to get reimbursement for it. Her oh OK, was so happy because she didn't have to deal with me and she thought she was going to have an argument for 36 bucks I just won't come back. read more

This location is meh. I'm not sure if i've just hit it at bad times, but I could hear the staff complaining, they were running out of most things (teas, soups, bread for my sandwich). read more

We eat at Panera for lunch quite a bit. The food is pretty good, although a bit pricey for what it is. They have a nice selection of breads, sandwiches, soups and salads. Lunch can be crowded, but you can usually find a spot. When the weather permits, they have a small outdoor seating area (if you feel like fighting the birds). Kids have options, and they have good cookies, muffins, etc. read more

Panera Bread - Sandwiches Near Me - Waco, Texas

Worst Panera Bread anywhere. Their coffee machine was broken so I got a soft drink only to walk over and see the sign that their ice machine was broken and that soft drinks were all warm. Then order was wrong. Unfriendly staff. And to top it off the internet isn't working. read more

Went here once with some friends. I remember ordering a salad. The food was bland and small. I also asked for a large cup so I could get their green tea (panera's green tea is normally fantastic), but their tea was very watered down and almost tasteless, which was extremely disappointing. I will admit that the shop itself is pretty and very cute. read more

I came here with my sis, her mom in law and our girls. I got the soup and sandwich option. I tried the broccoli and cheddar soup with the chipotle chicken avocado sandwich. The sandwich was delicious but the soup was on the bland side. It was good as is but I am a salt loving kind of girl lol. I went to clean up my plates but this nice worker told me he'd get it for us. I am not used to leaving my messes for others to clean, I feel if I can do it myself, I'll do it. I don't know how it's supposed to be like but that person was nice. Thank you for that, I'll be sure to come back sometime. read more

How Hard is it? Really?!? Cook the food make it warm (at least) hot would be better. My bread for my bfast sandwich look like it was cut by a drunk person. The egg on it was cold and it wasn't even panini'ed. (Is that a word??) and their drive through is strange. But hey two stars the coffee was warm. read more

Okay so I go through the drive through, the girl is totally rude & everything I tried to order they were out of- including their seasonal feature soup the autumn squash. The girl didn't apologize- nothing, she wasn't out front to see what bagels they had so she said she didn't know if they hadn't it available. When I got to the window to jokingly ask if she was sure they were out of the autumn squash she very bluntly said "no, I'm sure." "I know because we've been out since 5:00pm) - it is now 8:15 .... You can't make more soup? Considering you are a cafe?!? I could've handled the whole situation if she would've at least been kind about it!I love Panera but this is the third time I've come here and had a bad experience!!! go to another location! read more

The service here just plain sucks! I stopped in for lunch on a weekday and was basically ignored for 5 minutes. The girl at the register doing register stuff then stated the other girl who was sweeping the floor would help me out. That'd be great if she wasn't busy sweeping the floor and ignoring the three customers waiting to get our order taken. The kicker was the manager walking by us all three times and not doing a thing to see why there were customers waiting in the lobby during the lunch/rush hours. Whatever happened to "all hands on deck" to get the customer in and out as fast as possible? I digress, back to the cashier who finally was able to take our order. For some reason she decided to pass off the rest of the order taking to the girl who originally was too busy. So sad. The foods good but not good enough to waste my precious time. read more

Prices are insane. $9 for a salad. And not made by some decent chef, 9 dollars for a miniscule amount of microwaved chicken and frozen vegetables all slapped together in a terrible way. Garbage prices, Garbage service. It's McDonald's meets McCallister's. The food is about as tasty as eating drywall, yet you pay as if it's cooked by Gordon F****** Ramsey. Pass on this. You, AND your wallet, will thank me. read more

Tomatoes were green. Soup was cold. Forgot my frozen lemonade. Guy tried handing me an entire baguette loaf that I did not order..

Panera Brand but...quality was off. The taste was right but it was crystal clear the workers here have not been properly trained in the Panera Methodology. Soup was room temp, salad was ok and made with the correct ingredients, and the bread had the right Panera taste. Overall, everything seemed right but knowing how a well run Panera tastes and feels, a difference was observed. Waco seems to lack healthy choice options so Panera has a fair base of non Pizza/Burger eating patrons to keep management feeling happy with sales. Location is a premium and could break some sales records with some Panera quality upgrades. Doubt I will go back to this franchise anytime soon. There's a deli near that offers far superior food that is about 10% less expensive than this hip bread chain. read more

Been on the road since 8am. Walked in to Panera 15 minutes before close to be greeted with "are you serious?" Nice. real professional. Had to leave and find something else. Sorry we didn't understand that open to 9pm meant open to whenever we don't feel like working. read more

3 stars only because the food is delicious, so 5 stars there. Service and employees 0 stars. They are out of things A LOT! I ordered a chicken salad as was told they were out of chicken. I asked to have the price reduced due to no chicken. I was told no. To go orders and drive thru orders are always missing items when I get my food. If I go through the drive thru and want to redeem a reward, I get eye rolls and was even told I couldn't use it on the order and had to wait until next time. I mentioned that the reward has been on there 2 visits ago. Still argued with me. I suggest some customer service training for this location instead of test market for the food or technology. read more

Horrible experience There was no water in the restaurant and there was talk among employees of an electrical fire as well. My 5 year old granddaughter was served a sandwich with the packing paper still on the cheese in the sandwich. this is my last time at this place read more

Never go through drive thru. Orders are incorrect regardless of what the person at the window tells you. Management says they will get with them again and again. Wow? $9 for a salad.....you think they could get it right....! read more