Panera Bread

Stopped in for lunch and was extremely disappointed. One cashier working with a line around the corner should have been a sign. Ordered my sandwich plain because I have the palate of a toddler. Cashier asks what do you mean… I said meat and cheese only, nothing else. I sit down, take a bite, and it’s full of stuff. I return to the counter and tell the man working my sandwich is supposed to be plain. He again asks «what do you mean?» I explain, he pulls the sandwich apart with his finger to check, and rolls his eyes. He remade the sandwich and handed me a burnt, although plain panini. While waiting they were redoing 3 other orders that the cashier keyed incorrectly.
Probably shouldn’t be running the b-​team during peak hours.

I am so frustrated and displeased by this Panera Location. I have been here about 4 times for lunch due to it being close to my work. Every time I hope for it to get better and it only gets worse. If it wasn’t for my love of Panera soup and salad, I would never go there (I guess ill start purchasing the Panera brand soups at the Super Market now). FYI I also work part time in the food industry and am familiar with typical procedures.
I am going to skip my previous negative experiences and skip to the most recent two visits. I went for lunch to get the You Pick Two deal. The cashier wouldn’t look at me, barely spoke at a normal volume, and was not friendly. He did not ask me for my Panera card and did not acknowledge if he heard any of my order. I asked for the Power Kale salad without chicken (vegetarian) — he didn’t repeat, look, or notify me in anyway that he heard what I said so i asked again to be sure that he heard me and still got no response or even a nod from him. I got my order and went to the table. (I later realized after ordering online at a different location that the price DOES drop without chicken and/​or you can get something else instead.) He didn’t even offer to add anything which could keep the price the same and didn’t lower the price at all for the salad without chicken. I am not sure what the policies are at all for what a cashier must say/​do/​ring but I was very put off by this interaction/​purchase.
Today my coworker and I went to get take out. He went to order and a different man took his order. It was the exact same experience customer service/​friendly wise. They all seem like they hate their job. Halfway through his order I even asked my coworker loudly enough for the cashier to look at and hear me, «Do you have a Panera Card?» The cashier still did not bother to ask him.
I went to order my food as all the cashiers walked away without saying even a «one minute miss,» and I was standing at an empty counter for about 2 minutes. Then the same man from my experience described above took my order again. Exact same customer experience including not asking for my Panera Card. The guy who gave us our food wasn’t approachable as well– though it is not in his job description to interact with customers, I would assume. On top of that, I get back to the office to enjoy my tomato soup, and for the first time ever there are no croutons for my soup— weird?
I am really unhappy with the level of service, customer service, customer interaction, and verbiage used– or not used. The food tastes great– as usual.
As I sit here and enjoy my lunch, I keep getting reminded of my ⁴⁄₄ bad experiences at this location and thought it was time to share my experiences.
.Goodluck everyone!

It pains me to write a negative thing about a Panera, because I’m such a fan of their charitable actions and that dog-​gone amazing mac and cheese. However, I would say that I can get that mac and cheese at any panera location, and if at all possible, in the future I will not choose this Panera.
The customer service here is so mixed. When I was ordering, the cashier was busy sorting out other orders and staring off into space. I told her my order and asked for it «here» (as opposed to to-​go) then three seconds later she asked me if I wanted it here or to-go…didn’t I just tell you?
While I ate, there were lots of loud, personal conversations among employees. I personally prefer not to have people calling over my head in a restaurant.
There was one nice employee, who I saw spend a good ten minutes explaining the concept of the «chips, apple, or a baguette» to a couple who hasn’t been before.
Sorry Panera. I do like your causes and your food. And that formerly rude cashier seems to be quite nice to other customers now. Oh well, damage done :/

The most mismanaged location ever. If you come after 9 am, most likely they are out of most popular bagels or other breakfast items. The breakfast place without breakfast items. To be sure to get what I want, I need to travel to much farther location. This is so inconvenient for someone like me who lives nearby and love Panera’s food

I come here almost every Sat morning and the staff and food are nice, BUT they are always understaffed! Get it together Panera! You’re Panera! It’s Saturday morning in a busy area! Have more than one person at the register.

This was definitely the first Panera to open in the area, therefore it is the oldest. I just visited recently to remind myself of how great it actually is. The staff are very friendly and some of the customers are actually very friendly as well. There are technically 3 places to order, which is weird, yet here you are able to sort of watch your food being put together, which is sort of cool. They also have great desserts /​bakery items. Brownies and cookies are the way to go, and if you have MyPanera, you can get a Pastry item free.
This is a great place to come someday and get breakfast /​lunch and sit down to watch busy Providence Highway (and cars beeping at each other in the large, yet narrow parking lot, that could be VERY problematic), yet personally I prefer just going to the Panera at the Walpole Mall and using the AMAZINGLY invented Drive-​Thru. Much quicker and more convenient to me.
Also, some other reviews say this Panera is unsanitary, which is completely incorrect. This Panera is is extremely clean and never «trashy».

Had a breakfast sandwich. Asiago, bacon, egg, cheese.
It was ok.
I think the lunch/​dinner menu is better.

One of the dirtiest, unsanitary places I’ve ever been in.
The iced tea dispenser had no cover, so you had people’s germs from sneezing landing in it. I told the manager behind the counter. she could care less and didn’t even acknowledge me talking to her. Lots of old food around the tables. I don;t see how the health dept doesn’t close them down.

Horrible customer service!
My husband called in an order tonight and I picked it up on my way home from work. They told him it would be ready in 15 minutes. I arrived to pick it up in 15 minutes. I still had to wait for an additional 30 minutes!!! This is unacceptable. At least 10 customers who walked in and ordered after me all got their orders while I was still standing there waiting. I asked at the counter if they could check on my order. They said it was being put together and was coming out now. So a few minutes later a bag appeared on the counter… but surprise it wasn’t mine!!! So I asked the person behind the counter if they were making my order. He said it’s coming out now. I asked if there was a problem with my order and he didn’t answer me! All I ordered was a salad, sandwich and a broth bowl. Why would it take 45 minutes?
The manager had nothing to say, no apology, he just threw a fruit cup at me as if that was fixing the situation.
What is the point of calling ahead if they aren’t going to have the order ready when you get there? Having to wait an additional 30 minutes is just ridiculous! I’m so done with Panera. Every time I order there is a problem!

I like this location, parking is a little narrow but inside is clean. Bathroom is always spotless.
The people working here are really thorough, there’s a nice lady at the counter who makes sure to ask you for all the details of your order (because let’s face it Panera ordering is a little complicated).
I love all the healthy smoothies they come out with, there’s a kale and banana one that I like.
Soba broth bowl was surprisingly good, they grill the edamame and carrot chunks so it adds a smokiness to the broth. Soba noodles were cooked perfectly too!
Pecan roll is pretty delicious too, though the dough part was a bit dry.

The place is giant, clean and staff is extremely nice. Unfortunately the sandwich I had wasn’t great. Had the Steak Asiago. All I could taste was horseradish and bun with a bland steak flavor. The chips are always good as are the cookies but main dish is key. I’ll likely try a few more sandwiches but heads up on this one.

Food was good. Quick service. Was super busy when I went, 1:30pm. There were not enough seats. Some people had finished eating and were just not leaving the tables.

I love Panera and have been to several but this is the worst one as far as cleanliness and customer service. I generally go later in the day but the tables and soda fountain should be clean. It looks like it hasn’t been swept for days. Can people really be that messy? Maybe, but the restaurant should be cleaned and it’s clearly not. Seems like the whole place needs a good scrubbing. The workers seem to hate their jobs and putting together a sandwich seems more like a chore for them. I always get the same panini for take out and when I brought it home, it wasn’t even «cooked». The cheese was not melted and it appeared that they used an onion skin instead of the actual onion! Quality is horrible. Panera prices have really gone up in the past year and to get this type of service and quality is not worth it.

The food at Panera is good. I always get the same things: Chicken Caesar Sandwich no onions, Mac n Cheese, or Broccoli Cheddar Soup, or a combo. The chicken on the sandwich has gotten. weirder. They have changed the seasonings or recipe the past few years. Still, I am not ready to try another expensive sandwich I may not like. Mac and cheese is the best mac and cheese but it’s $ 8 for a full order which is a small bowl!!! Panera NEEDS to cut the price on this, it’s ridiculous. It is amazing but you can get a box with more than double for $ 1. I think they should lower the half price to $ 3 and the full price to $ 4.50 because they’ll still be making a huge profit. But Panera is expensive for no reason. Broccoli cheddar soup is the best soup and only soup I’ll eat.
Food is overpriced. Drinks are overpriced. Service here is slow.

I love panera, but I’ve run into too many rude employees at this location. The last time I visited this one maybe have been the last straw. I ordered a chicken Caesar and there was hardy any dressing on it. That’s fine. I have no issue asking for more. But they gave me greek dressing and I didn’t realise until I put it all over my salad and took a bite. I went back to the counter and said I made a mistake and that I’d pay for a second one. The guy (older gentleman) rolled his eyes, huffed, and said, «so you want another salad??» When I said yes he signed and made me another and then dropped it on the counter when he was finished. He gave me extra dressing on the side bit threw in «here, so you won’t come back again» Lol but I had to go back again because he took my silverware and forgot to replace it. I got a plastic fork tossed at me instead.
Idk if this guy was having a bad day, or what. But c’mon, you don’t bring that attitude to the workplace. Even if it is just panera.
I have no desire to go back to this location. I think I’ll have to get my Caesar salad fix elsewhere.

I always order a Sierra turkey sandwich with no turkey, because I’ve been a vegetarian for 13 years and the Sierra turkey was always my favorite sandwich as a kid, and I usually get dirty looks at other panera locations but the lovely assistant manager was so sweet about it here! She even did it as a different sandwich so that I wasn’t paying for turkey! I drive by Dedham on my way to work everyday, and I will be stopping by all the time now! Thank you for being so terrific!

..And, once again, I find myself feeling completely blindsided by all of the negative reviews on this page seeing as I’ve never had a problem at this location for the nearly four years that I’ve lived up here. A lot of you sound like difficult to please, spoiled brats who have a severe case of unwarranted self importance and self entitlement. I also see that some of you are teenagers, but I can’t really be surprised at that. Looks like someone has neglectful parents who gave them a smartphone and just shooed them away so they didn’t need to be bothered with raising you. That explains the obnoxious attitude.
When visiting Panera, you’re obviously free to choose whatever you’d like from their menu (the full thing is online for you to see), but there are several things that I personally recommend: Tortellini alfredo, hot chocolate with chocolate chip marshmallows, the vegetarian black bean soup, the low-​fat chicken noodle soup, iced green tea, the low-​fat black cherry smoothie, the macaroni and cheese, and the Asiago steak sandwich. Their soups and pastas are a god send for me because I’m unable to eat any meat except for seafood. My room mate recommends the steak sandwich to any meat lovers.
Their bakery is great for breakfast, at least to me when I stop in for a danish, scone, or red velvet cupcake. Their best breads, in my opinion, are the Asiago cheese loaf or their French baguette.
I’m here often and I’ve never had a problem at this location. The staff is always nice and there’s never been anything wrong with my food on any occasion. The only thing that I wish that I could change about this place is the lack of computers for speedy ordering, but that doesn’t change my rating. The Braintree location has about four computers in their store where you can just swipe your card and order your food.

My delicious list:
1. Anything (sandwich, salad etc) with chicken or turkey. Chicken salad was great.
2. asiago bagel/​bagel sandwich.
3. soups are also great.
4. iced green tea or mango shake (once they made it weak, less mango but nicely, willingly added more when I asked)
5. Bakery items are a hit or miss for me personally but most have been good. I remember liking the cookies.

I recently stopped at this Panera on my way to work. Barely anyone was in the place at 7 am, but I still had to wait a pretty long while for my bagel and latte. It just seemed like the staff did not have their act together.
Upon entering, there were large clear garbage-​sized bags full of bagels piled on one of the tables. I know Panera donates their leftover food, so I would guess that they were waiting for someone to pick them up, but it was really off-​putting to see giant trash bags piled on the table.
The cashier was very friendly. She was patient when I needed a minute to order. However, she toasted my bagel even though I stated I didn’t want it toasted, and then remembered at the last minute. Another person had to make my latte, and a third person was standing right near the register, taking cookies off a tray and putting them in bags. It might have just been an off day, but it seemed like too much of the «back of the business» was present up front.

Oh my God I’m I love with this place. If you want good food for great price bring your ass here. I love the design and it’s a huge place so ull definitely will find place to sit. Broccoli Cheddar soup just rock! It’s creamy rich and I’m not a big fan of broccoli but I eat whole bowl of that soup that how yammi it is. If you want something healthy try Greek salad or Caesar with chicken. I love the amount of vegetables it comes with and love their dressing. Croutons are awesome I even get then with my Greek salad. And I got I got turkey Breast sandwich that was very good. And they also have done special that you can apply towards your order. Great place to have lunch!