Paradise Bakery

I love paradise, but this is the worst location. The place is filthy, the employees clearly don’t want to work and take forever all while giving you attitude, they’re somehow low or out of every ingredient, the whole salad that I ordered was the size of a half (the casher even had to ask if it was actually a whole). I could go on, but just avoid this place. The Paradise at Hamilton Town Center is so much better it’s like they’re not even the same chain.

Food is good… but the service is terrible. Employees are angry that they, actually, have to work at work. We walked in at 7:30pm and dined in. It was obvious the employees didn’t want us there… heard an employee shout «my biggest pet peeve!» Another couple came in to order a salad at 7:45pm…they were turned away.
Where is the manager? No wonder no one wants to eat here. We won’t be back.

As a traveler through this area I was very confused by Paradise Bakery. The signage looks like Panera, the menu has almost identical things, but the process was nothing like it. There is almost no direction on how to order and I felt very out of place. Finally someone helped me figure out I needed to order a sandwich to start, but then everything was cafeteria style, but then I had to wait for the sandwich at the end. It was a weird start to what I was hoping would be a relaxing lunch. Now, the food was very good and very Panera. They also had free internet so that I was able to do some work. The best part of my entire visit was the gentleman who was clearing the table. He was so friendly and conversational. He made me feel comfortable in the place where I had previously wanted to eat and run. I wish I could have gotten his name! So if you are in the area and want a good café style sandwich or soup, I would still recommend it. However, dig deep for that new place confidence, haha.

After first reading all of the negative reviews about this place, I was skeptical heading in for my first visit. Having been to Panera several times, it was easy for me to order from the menu. I was able to get pretty much what I normally get from Panera. The ordering process was a little different, but not difficult. The staff was very friendly, and we had no issues. A pleasant surprise was that we got to choose a cookie with our meal, it wasn’t just a chocolate chip cookie either. They had about 6 different kinds to choose from. I got the snickerdoodle cookie. It was soft and loaded with cinnamon, just the way I like it. Even the kids got one with their order too.
The place seemed clean to me. The drink station was clean, the floors and tables were clean. I did not visit the restroom, so I cannot speak about that. The employee used fresh wax paper to grab our rolls and cookies. The soups were covered when not being used. I did not see any issues to complain about. I was in the bakery for 1 hour and someone came to our table twice to clear away our dishes. I feel like either the other complaints are unwarranted, or the bakery has listened and decided to improve. I have no complaints about my first experience here (Sat for lunch).

The mango iced tea is frigging amazing! As are all the cookies. The soups and salads are ok/​fine. But have I mentioned the iced tea? Like best iced tea out there. Up there with Cheesecake Factory good. I like that they have such large size to go cups too. Just wish it was easier to get a to go cup. Ok, it’s the start of my official campaign for a drive thru window for here. Thank you.

The soup I got, Autumn Squash, was very good but I had planned to get soup and salad. The woman said vaguely, «you get your salad over there». After she gave me the soup she said she would ring me up back by the cookies. When she got there she started to talk to another customer about milk options for her coffee. As she was about to go to the back about the milk, she decided to ring me up. I wasn’t about to wait for the salad so I said I would just get the soup and a drink. Since this place is basically identical to Panera and I have never had poor service at Panera, I will stick with them.

Only one person in front of me – waited for someone to help me. A guy walked right in front of me in front of the salad spot. The worker asked if he needed anything and got his order. And I’m still waiting for a good 5mins with no help! I will not be back to that location!!! 5 people behind the work station and not one person could help me!!!

Hmm. I’m not a big fan of the ordering process here. It’s cafeteria style, but if you want a sandwich, you place an order with someone at the beginning of the line. They hand you a slip of paper with your sandwich order, then you move down the line and order your soup and/​or salad. Then you order drinks, then pay. So you get your soup/​salad first, then have to wait for your sandwich. It’s weird. Why do they make ordering so unnecessarily complicated?
The coffee area was a bit of a mess — there were coffee drip all over the coffee lids — but you get free refills, so there’s that.
The only other Paradise Café that I’ve been to was in California, and at that one, the menu was distinct and original. Here, the menu is a mirror of Panera Bread. So much so that I thought I walked into Panera Bread at first after scanning the menu. So, I guess if you like Panera Bread, you’ll like Paradise Café, too!
The awesome thing about this restaurant is that you get a free chocolate chip cookie with your order. They’re really good, too!

Unfortunately, the other reviews said it all. This location is not someplace we’ll likely return to. The soup was cold. They were out of several types of cookies… But the cookies were awesome as always, especially coconut chocolate chip.

The cookies are wonderful. The service is so terrible-it’s laughable this location is still open. On my in house to go order, I asked for a lentil bowl with egg (asked about it 3x) and 6 reg. sizes cookies and 2 of each Chipper cookies. I was charged for but not given any of the chipper cookies. No one greeted me, I was in there and no one cared to pay attention to my order nor be looking to even see me standing at either. Counter. I left 4 cookies short with my lentil Bowl leaking out of the bag because no one cares to actually put the lid on a soup. Came home with soup in my car, missing cookies and feeling taken advantage of. knit wit teens working there couldn’t care less. Please train and test your employees. I would have had better service from toddlers-​it is offensively bad staff, product, service here.

My main two reasons for giving them a one star since I can’t give zero stars is the place is filthy and the employees are awful. They are slow and unfriendly
The only thing here that is consistent is the dirtiness of every area of this place. I have stopped on many times and it’s always the same, I’m done with this location.

after reading the recent reviews, I have decided I didn’t make a wrong decision by not going back to Paradise Bakery for a year. Terrible service, food sub standard and long waits in the line. Too bad. They were good in the beginning a few years ago. Parent company isn’t watching or doesn’t need the money.

My mom and I came here because we were on our way to Castleton Mall and we like the Paradise Bakery in Carmel. After we walked in, we were informed that this location closes at eight instead of nine, even though the website says it’s open until nine. So we had unknowingly walked in a few minutes before close. Some of the employees were irritated that we were there, and they didn’t bother hiding it. We ordered soups and sandwiches, and we got our soup promptly. We had to walk over to the espresso area’s register because they had already closed out the regular register. We stood at the espresso register for several minutes, awkwardly holding our trays, before someone bothered to come over and ring us up. Meanwhile, our soup was getting cold. We finally sat down and ate our soup, and my mom’s sandwich was delivered to our table. I finished my soup, which was decent, and waited some more. Still had not received my sandwich. I went up to the counter and started to politely ask if my sandwich was being made, which it clearly wasn’t. An irritated employee told me, «He’s making it right now.» I waited at my table some more while a female employee cast dark glances in my direction. Finally, someone flounced over with the wrong sandwich, plopped it onto the table, and said flippantly and with no trace of sincerity, «Sorry about the wait.» I was starving, so I ate the sandwich, but it was drowning in some sort of ranch sauce and did not even resemble a tomato mozzarella sandwich. I talked to a heavily-​tattooed manager about my experience, and he apologized. I nicely asked for a refund on my sandwich, and he said the system would not allow him to do that, but that he would write down my name and the next time I came in, I could get a free meal. So he wrote down my name and number, and if I ever return, I’ll have a free sandwich. His courteous manner is the reason I’m giving this restaurant two stars instead of one. I hasten to add that I was very polite to all the employees — I wasn’t one of those rude customers looking for an excuse to be upset. I hope that this was just an off night for these folks.

I tried giving them multiple chances, but this place has gone down hill fast. Most recently, we stood at the counter for over five minutes with numerous employees walking past us until eventually, all of the employees were in the back. Nothing. Nada. No service for over a minute until one of them peeked through the window of the door and asked if we needed a sandwich ordered. Why else would we stand there? We continued the order process as per usual, but were given a snotty attitude the entire time. Paying for the order (we always do the You Pick Two menu), we were wrongly charged as the cashier had no idea how to interpret the ticket.
We once loved this place, but my, how the mighty have fallen. Best of luck, Paradise.

5.99 for a smoked turkey sandwich with 3 slices of turkey and a slice of lettuce… Literally that’s it, not even mustard. Fool me once Paradise! Cookies are good though but that won’t save you.

Same menu as Panera with fancier presentation. I love the Fuji apple salad.

This is my second time at PBC in the last 10 days and each visit has been disappointing…
It’s not clean and the service is not the best… (One person can ruin it for everyone!)
I’m not one to complain, but when the food is just ‘ok’ I would hope the people providing the service would be fantastic
Guess I won’t be coming back!

Every time I have come to this Paradise– all of the pastas are cold. I ordered the Mac and cheese the other day and the noodles were still frozen and the sauce was lukewarm. Very unappetizing. The staff is bad. They’re normally standing around socializing while you’re trying to get your food. I will not be coming back.

First time ever I have gone and I will definitely be back. The staff were very friendly and patient even though they were busy, it was very clean, they had free wifi, the food and coffee was great.
The manager was very professional, and really great working with my spice allergy. She was able to tell me offhand exactly what I had to avoid.
Great service, great atmosphere, great food. What’s not to love?!

Paradise is always a good choice when you’re looking for a sandwich, soup, salad, or any combination of the three. Although owned by the same parent company as Panera, I much prefer the choices at Paradise. There’s a depth of flavor and attention to detail that Panera simply doesn’t have.
A must try is the Fire Roasted Tomato soup, a hearty soup topped with sour cream and tortilla strips if you desire. Sandwich choices are always good, and the vegetarian option with roasted red pepper is hard to eat but has great flavor. And the free chocolate chip cookie that comes with them is delicious.
In fact, all of their baked goods are a step above Panera in my opinion. The oatmeal cookies are particularly good.
Also, if you have the need to cater an event, Paradise is always a hit. Great food, free cookies, and good service, coupled with very generous catering points bonus for those who sign up for a free a Paradise Catering card.
So if you need a quick bite and want to get something that at least technically could be healthy if you make the right choices and skip the cookie, then Paradise is the place to be.