Panera Bread is a great place to stop in for lunch. I've tried quite a few of their sandwiches and haven't been disappointed. The Napa Almond Chicken salad sandwich has different things added to it like grapes but is good. My favorite is the Sierra Turkey sandwich. I like that the breads are unique. There are a few areas they need to improve on. First they need to invest in a ceramic knife to cut their fresh apples that you can get as a side. All of the slices turn very brown because they are using the wrong kind of knife to cut them. The Strawberry Salad seemed a little off last time we ordered it. The bakery items are good, but not great. Most of the time they taste a little dried out. They leave the pastries sitting out all of the time uncovered. I think they would be much better if you either get them fresh, or they figure out a way to cover all that stuff to keep it fresher. We eat here frequently. Our last visit the place was pretty dirty. Floors and all tables that were open were not clean. We had to flag someone down to clean a spot for us. They also need to revise their seating. With free Wifi people come in with their laptops (individuals) and sit at the booths made for 4 people so they can spread out their work. On the last visit all the booths were filled with 1 person on a laptop and all these tiny little tables for 3 are left. They need more booths. I do like that they have an outdoor seating area along the side which is great on a nice day. The french onion soup is the best and I liked the healthy chicken noodle. One of the most appealing things they have done recently is pull down the atrocious artwork they had on the walls that used to make me almost barf to look at them. There is now much more appropriate paintings on the wall that fit the style of a restaurant with a bakery in it. read more

Smallest bagel I've ever seen, luckily, as it tasted like some kid made it in art class. Ordering it with cream cheese means they put a container of it alongside a knife on your plate. They can't even put cream cheese on your bagel. Now I remember why this is the most overrated chain. Coffee alright, only four flavors, and only plain for decaf. Why do decaf drinkers always get the shaft? read more

Mess up orders- need to check. Poor customer service. Don't fill up coffee and then when you ask- they say it'll be 10 Min- who has that time when trying to get to work. Out of touch with their customer base's needs. Small cups no covers bc they think customers stealing drinks. Way to think about your customers. read more

Always a frustrating experience here between the horrific parking and the unhappy, confused staff. Online order was not ready. They couldn't even find the order. Had to start over. Waited 40 minutes for 12 sandwiches. Finally got to my customer and they were missing 3 orders! Won't be back. read more

I order rapid pick up from this location maybe once every couple of weeks. Once my order was missing the drink cup, and multiple times it's been in the completely wrong bin (my initials are Definitely not G, H, I or J , and it's always in the G-J bin). The amount of fillings on the sandwiches are pretty sad for the cost. Today I ordered a customized turkey sandwich on foccaccia (rapid pickup). I get back to my job and find the sandwich on the wrong bread. I just figured I messed up since the bread type was not listed on my receipt. Not paying much attention, I eat 'half.' Then I look down and realize that I still have toppings between two slices of bread. I guess they were out of foccaccia, and split my meat and condiments between 4 slices of bread. Can't even be bothered to slice the avocado so it comes sliding out in a big chunk with every bite. They get 2 stars instead of 1 because today my order was at least in the right spot today. Probably not wasting much more money here. I used to like it here. read more

The management there is incompetent. I had an issue using my rewards there and the woman at the register was extremely rude! If you go and a VERY heavy-set young woman with dark hair is waiting on you, pick another register! She is rude and incompetent! Her manager is equally incompetent. I will never go back!! read more

good food, a little pricey for the quantity, the staff is hit or miss, sometimes its excellent service, other times i wish i could reach across the counter and slap em. the wait is about average ill eat here again if in the area. read more

Ate here for lunch meeting today - kinda late so wanted a reliable quick meal. I got it. We were both happy with our sandwiches. Nice vibe. Clean and great place to meet. read more

I have avoided this Panera Bread restaurant for the last 7 years ever since I ordered a salad and found a big piece of a plastic bag mixed in with my greens. When I told the manager about it he picked up the plastic and said," I'm so sorry." Today I gave in and went there with a colleague to catch up before the school year begins. I ordered the chopped chicken salad with avocado. The avocado had obviously been pre-cut and was turning brown - it was also spotted like it had bruises. As I ate the lettuce there were more than several pieces that were dark, dark green and very wilted. You know - like right before they start to rot in the bag! Also the tomatoes were the lightest shade of pink. It's August for heaven's sake - you couldn' t use RIPE tomatoes? Of course the bread was really good - maybe Panera should stick to making BREAD and stay away from salads. It will be waaaayyy longer than 7 years before I even think of eating there again. read more

Lousy, half a sandwich with not much meat. Couldn't find much on menus that wasn't chicken.

I love Panera, but this location is much worse than others. Order is wrong the majority of the time, so if you get takeout, you need to inspect the bag before leaving. If this location was like the Panera location in Newark or on Concord Pike, I'd go to Panera all the time. But this location just isn't worth the hassle. read more

OK, so I decided to go back after a rather disappointing experience -- partly because I contacted the company and got a reply that they would address my issues. I'm happy to report that the food quality was much improved -- back to what I used to love about Panera. Country bread was fresh and crusty; onion soup was tasty with good croutons and lots of cheese, and pretty tasty onions. However, I cannot give a 4 or 5-star review since my cashier, Darren (per the receipt), still mistakenly put Cranberry Walnut Miche on my order instead of Country. Luckily, since this is what he did last time, I checked the receipt and the mistake got caught before the sandwich was made. But that's not all. When I first stepped up to the ordering counter, I noticed that Darren did this sniffing back mucus through his nose, like he might have a runny nose and was trying to deal with it without a tissue. And then he wiped his hand across his nose. And then, he continued to operate the cashier station, handing out receipts, drink cups and change...with that same hand. I opted for using my credit card to pay so that I could use the little machine they have on the counter and avoid two of the three issues I just mentioned; and then used hand sanitizer to wipe down the cup he handed me. I am somewhat shocked that an establishment that has posters in their restaurants advertising 'clean food' would not have some sort of employee policy about flu season, safe and healthy food handling, and just basic good customer service. I almost offered Darren my travel bottle of hand sanitizer, but it seemed inappropriate to bring it up if Management didn't notice. Note, there was a Manager buzzin around and helping with the lunch rush. read more

I come to the Kirkwood Highway Panera several times a month and am one of their rewards members. Today I went to buy a loaf of their Assiago bread, which I love. I was really taken aback by the obnoxious behavior of the girls behind the counter. The one who waited on me sneezed and all I could think of was that I didn't want her touching my order! I blame corporations for not giving workers paid sick leave for this one--she should have stayed home. She was also making negative comments about fellow workers and all of them were engaged in negative blame-talk while I was standing there! I was shocked as these workers seemed oblivious that customers were listening! Where was the quality of customer service I had come to expect? I didn't recognize this particular crew and wondered if they were newly-hired. It really makes for an unpleasant atmosphere and is a reflection on the managers' hiring capabilities. I don't know what Panera pays their employees, but I think it must be minimum wage judging from the quality of service I received! read more