Panera Bread — Restaurant in Ottawa

Wish more than ever I could give this place a 0 star review. I'm a huge panera bread fan. Firstly, I accidentally ordered and payed for a small Mac and cheese when I wanted a large (my mistake). I asked if I could pay the difference and the supervisor on shift (Brenda: a short, white young lady) loudly just said no? That I need to take what I payed for? I swear by their Mac & cheese (they advertise it to be tender and that's why it's the only place I ever order Mac and cheese at) and the macaroni was soggy, but I understood that that could've been a location thing. The employees so kindly (with new batches) kept trying to find ways to make the macaroni tender. So, very, kind, and definitely was a courtesy for them to do. They, if anything, deserve a 5 star. I however know panera bread to be a place with outlets to sit. The available seating area only had 1 outlet which was being occupied by others so I asked the employees where I could put my phone to charge while taking an important phone meeting. An employee kindly let me sit in the empty unavailable seating area. Another employee saw that the outlet there didn't work and so kindly tried to find me a new one and waited until we found one that worked. I sat 5 minutes until it came time for my meeting. As I was about to start the call, Brenda comes (with the same aggressive tone) saying I need to move. I apologized and explained to her that her employees kindly let me sit there because there was none in the available seating just until I was done my short meeting. I asked her if there was an alternative and she somehow thought the best way to respond was to throw her hands in the air and give me some nice, aggressive facial attitude and keep yelling at me "I don't care what the employees told you there's papers all around here saying unavailable". I wish I could mimic her rude facial expression that she made with words but unfortunately it was so rude, I don't know how to. She kept telling me to leave without me getting a word in, literally, as I was already unplugging my phone and getting out of the booth. I told her ma'am I'm already going and she kept directioning her arms and opening the pathway for me to leave. I obviously won't treat her with any degree of similar attitude because I'm sure she's going through difficult personal situations. I told her nicely that I'm surprised by the way she talks to her customers and lo and behold, more aggressive yelling. I will absolutely never be coming to this location again because unfortunately this type of attitude by people, especially those I don't know, scares me so much I get speechless and shake. I know we're all working on ourselves to make ourselves better people, but rule #1 everyone knows is not to take it out on anyone, let alone a customer. I pray she's doing okay. I left that location shaking, I'm now so turned off by panera bread. Wish...

I paid 50 dollars for 2 medium drinks, a blueberry muffin, a cherry pastry/danish, a tomato soup, a full sized grilled cheese, a large size bacon mac and cheese, and 3 sides (2 baguette, 1 kettle chips).

Cons: Bacon mac and cheese was served cold and had a lot of liquid in it, almost resembled a soup. The workers also forgot the bacon on top so I had to ask for it. The passion papaya iced green tea drink tasted like water with maybe a hint of green tea, not worth the money. The blueberry lavender lemonade tasted really sour and strong, but not sugary. If you don’t like sour drinks I don’t recommend it. The grilled cheese was soft all throughout even though it was grilled. I was hoping it would have a crisp top and bottom but it didn’t. The cheese used was also questionable, but edible. They ran out of bread bowls, which is the only reason we drove 30 minutes to this restaurant :( it is important to note that this was in the afternoon not in the evening closer to their closing hours. The trash counter was not cleaned in a while. Dirty bowls, drinks, and paper soup cups were scattered all over.

Pros: The lady at the front counter was nice. The decor reminded me of 2000s Pizza Hut which is nostalgic. The tomato soup was good. I liked the bakery items, they were very good. However, I wish we had the option to toast them because it would take them to the next level.

Neutral: Baguette and kettle chips were average; tasted as expected. The worker didn’t inform us that our order was ready even though we sat in front of the counter. I think they were just not loud enough but that is okay. The other staff member apologized and was really nice which we appreciated.

OVERALL, I would go for the bakery items and tomato soup. Avoid getting the full size items because it fills you up quickly (opt for their You Pick Two option). Don’t get the cold artisanal drinks (excluding pop tower and coffees/teas). Personally not a fan of their sandwiches but if you like soft bread no toasted sandwiches then it might be right up your alley. The service clerk was nice but I wished that the kitchen workers cared more about the quality of the food they put out because it seemed like they just threw everything together instead of checking to see if things were made correctly to the...

This used to be my favourite place so I decided to bring my friends today and was disappointed. The staff are very unprofessional. First of all the place is filthy, more than half of the restaurant seating was closed and the rest of it had food and garbage everywhere on the tables and floor. My friend and I ordered their “warm bowl” like a rice bowl dish. Btw do not order this, apparently it is very hard for them to make. When I ordered it, the cashier later grabbed me to say they don’t have a container to put it in so they can’t make it and will issue me a refund. I said you don’t have a dish? We are eating in, she replies “oh you don’t want the ceramic dishes they’ve been sitting here for years and are dirty”. I said I can see into the back area that you have foam bowls or something that it would fit in. She still tried to say that this wasn’t the right container. Then she grabbed her manager and she magically found disposable bowls to put it in. They also didn’t have any bread/baguettes. When we walked in, it smelt like someone had burnt a bunch of bread. One of my friends ordered a warm bowl to go and was told they didn’t have a dish again, and I reminded them we just ordered some 10 mins ago go grab your manager to find you the bowls. The staff were arguing with each other the whole time we were there. There was a red haired high schooler looking girl who was behind the cash making the food and was rolling her eyes at my friend about making the rice bowl.

Its sad what has happened here. Everyone is very passive aggressive. Do not come here.

When they went on about not having a dish, I was about to leave and take the refund but I could see the manager was trying to fix the situation. I hope head office does something about this, it’s sad because it was a...