Panera Bread — Restaurant in Beaverton

We were wanting to try out Panera after seeing numerous commercials on TV so we packed up the kids and headed to the closest one we could find...Boy I wish we stayed home. Upon entering there was a line to the front door, should be good there are a bunch of people waiting here. Once we made it to the register we found the menu to be slightly confusing as we the host had to explain the take 2 options and how what we will actually receive with it. After paying nearly 50.00 for 2 lunch specials and a kids meal we went to find a table. We got our lunches and Coupon for a pastry upon exiting. Next we grabbed our seat just to find out that the Lemonade that I ordered is not taken to your seat but you have to go into a separate line to get your drink....OK, not the worst thing that could happen, my confidence is still high since the place is busy and we just spent more on a family lunch than we had in a long time. When the lunch arrived I thought that there must have been a mistake my Adult lunch consisted of a 1/2 panini and cup of soup which I don't even think that it would satisfy my 2 year old. The panini was consumed in 6 bites and the soup (Mostly broth) was finished shortly later. My wife had a similar situation with her plate and suggested that we go and order another lunch for the 2 of us. I quickly said that we will stop at McDonald's or something similar on the way home because this meal cost way too much for what you get. All is not lost though as we still have the little coupon for a pastry. As my wife cleaned up the kids I went to get a pastry and asked the pastry chef behind the counter if I could get the Cinnamon Roll and Oatmeal raisin cookie....She indicated that she is the baker and I'll need to talk to one of the hosts so back in the line I went. By the time I got through the line for the 3rd time now the Cinnamon Rolls were gone and when asked if they would have more the host indicated that they would need to contact the manager for permission to make more and they wouldn't be ready for 2-3 hours....2-3 hours to make a cinnamon roll (Cinnabon can do it in like 5 minutes). We left broke, hungry and disgusted from this establishment. I'm sure not all experiences are the same and I hope that others have better ones but I will say that for my time, money and effort this place...

I've been to tons of Panera Breads all over the US. But I've never been to one that has a bunch of kiosks open for ordering on a tablet instead of standing in line. I know everything is getting all technologically advanced these days and I'd like to think I'm keeping up. I've got all of the latest tech gadgets from phones to TVs with bluetooth and casting from other devices kind of stuff. I'm well read and can operated most tech gadgets proficiently. This tablet was not intuitive. First off, it asked me to enter in a buzzer number, but there were no buzzers around. There were table cards instead. I didn't enter anything and went on to the food portion of the interface. I knew I wanted a half greek salad. Only whole salads were visible. So, you have click on that to adjust the size. Fine. Now, I've got it. I finished the order and paid through the kiosk. I look up to see 4 girls standing behind the counter, just standing. I asked one about not having buzzers and she told me I needed to enter the table card number in the space where it said buzzer number. Ok. Put up a sign that says: We do not use buzzers here. Enter a table card number instead. I also asked if we were able to order old school at the counter, because I know my 93 year old grandma is never going to stand at a kiosk to order and pay with credit card. Oh yes, she said. Well, then make people feel welcomed when they walk in! Don't ignore them and stand with your sides or backs facing the customers to try and encourage/force them to use the kiosk. Ask customers if you can take their order! That's a thing! The food was good, typical Panera food. No complaints there. The rest was kind of a...

Stopped in this afternoon to try the chef's chicken sandwich with Parmesan crisps. Attached are photos of what they advertise the sandwich to be, and what was actually served to me. With a $1 tip, the sandwich to go cost $13. The sandwich serving size weighed 217g, or about 7.65 oz. KFC's chicken sandwich weighs 10.3 oz and costs $4.59, Popeye's weighs 8.6 oz and costs $3.99. Both are a thousand times better than this joke of a chicken sandwich.

As for the Panera sandwich itself, the chicken weighed just under 4 oz (108g), was flavorless except a salty hint of soy sauce perhaps, and literally bone-dry. The lettuce was wilted, and what they're calling Parmesan crisps were little soggy pieces of Parmesan flavored cardboard discs that were placed directly on the aioli that was spread on the bottom bun causing them to sog out within a minute or two. There was nothing crispy about this sandwich whatsoever.

Out of every fast serve restaurant brand chicken sandwich that I have tried - and I have tried more than a dozen of them, this was by leaps and bounds the worst of all of them. You could have three crispy and juicy Popeye's sandwiches for the same price as one of Panera's really pitiful attempt to get into the chicken sandwich arena. Anyone that would pay $12 for this sandwich after reading this review would likely lose an IQ contest to an...