Panera Bread — Restaurant in Ontario

So I walk in the door and immediately find myself in a big lineup waiting to order my food. As we inched forward I started to grow anxious because it was lunch time and the place was busy and I didn't even know if we would get a table to sit at. Finally it was our turn to order. The person at the counter was soon frustrated with me, as this was my first time here and I was asking alot of questions about the menu. I finally settled on a bowl of soup and half a sandwich, much to the order takers relief. We were handed a round black device and told to pick up our food ourselves when it went off. " Do we come back here?" I asked innocently. "No!" She replied, and with a jerk of the head indicated that any moron should know that you pick your food up around the corner at the other counter. So off we set, in desperate hope that we could find a table. We wondered around the dining area and finally a couple vacated a table, and we gratefully brushed the crumbs off of it ourselves. We hadn't been seated long when that black device started dancing across the table just when I was tacking a sip of my hot coffee. After the coughing fit I got up to get our food. After some confusion of where to locate the condiments, we were able to tuck into our lunch. To be fair the food was good but a little pricey considering that we had to serve ourselves. I just had lunch at another local pub with my beautiful wife, and the lunch menu was alittle cheaper and it was full service. So overall I don't...

NOT impressed.

We were out getting a few item, lunch time came, we were close to Panera on Bell Blvd. in Belleville, ON, and had never been there, so we figured ok, let's see what they have.

Not quite sure what the two prices on each menu item meant, we asked ... the cashier was behind a plexi sheet, and wearing a mask. She could have said the moon was a blue cheese, we couldn't make out anything.

Opting for one warm and one cold sandwich, we both heard her ask if we wanted "mumble" or apple slices. Having only understood apple, we chose that.

The cold sandwich, a turkey blt with avocado .. fell apart as soon as I opened the wrapper. And for the exhorbitant price, the amount of mayo was ... as if they'd slapped the back of a teaspoon in the jar and then onto two spots on the bread slice! What? Did they run out?? Dry doesn't even begin to describe it.

The warm sandwich wasn't much better, but we both said that for the price, we were eating it all. But there will be no return to this place!

Oh, and the apple slices? Minute bags of kettle cooked potato chips.

Never ...

Panera what happened? I looked forward to a freshly made, full of flavour with quality ingredients, soup and sandwhich dinner. I got served soup that almost ended up on my lap becsuse the fellow who brought it reached across my daughter's meal and leaned over the table while holding an unbalanced bowl of soup on a slippery plate, instead of politely, and safely, waking to my side to serve it. There was wiped up soup on the plate and splashed soup all up the sides of the bowl so it had been spilled even before it got to me too. Take a look at the tomato. It is the last weekend of August and the markets are full of brilliant, sun ripe, flavorful tomatoes. This tomato had the flavour, colour, and texture of a water chestnut in winter. What happened Panera? You used to be great. Oh, and see the box with a brownie in the corner of the photo? ... A) what wasteful packaging B) It tasted like an Easy Bake Oven cake mix that had not even been stirred. Oh, oh ... see the pickle on the other side of the photo? It was so limp it had obviously given up all...