Panera Bread — Restaurant in Canton

I am a big fan of Panera restaurants. This is one chain where food is consistent and healthy across many locations and that is to be celebrated. I can't say enough how consistently disappointing this Panera location is; they are always understaffed; have changed their hours without posting updates online multiple times; the men's bathroom is frequently unclean and there is often a line out the door at peak times. This place is mis-managed. I would recommend, if at all possible, do not go here. Go to another Panera location. Otherwise your experience will be poor and you will regret coming here. Fortunately, there is a competent efficient Chipotle right across the street from this location if you ever need a reliable option. The excessive lines at peak times and understaffing: Frequently there are massive lines here with only one person working at the register. Many times, it will be the manager reporting that they are understaffed and they try to be apologetic for the wait. This doesn't happen at other Panera locations. Why are they so chronically understaffed? I've even seen an employee sitting in the bakery area on a laptop taking a company training during peak hours while the shop is swamped - what is going on? Unprofessional business hours: The entire store closed without warning during peak evening dinner hours one day in 2023 and there was no posting on the door. People from all over were being turned away by an employee greeting the door and explaining that they had a staff meeting - well then post an update online about it! I saw a friend of mine that same day who placed a mobile order and was going to pick it up--guess what? they said it couldn't be filled and he had to cancel through the app only after arriving. Luckily we both were smart enough to go to Chipotle which was able to handle an influx of disgruntled people who did not expect Panera to be closed. The mis-management here is consistent - it has been poor since 2020; all these problems are easily solvable which is the most frustrating part. I recommend - if you value supporting well run restaurants you go to Chipotle or American FlatBread (both infinitely more customer focused and in the Canton Shoppes locale) or better yet - a different...

Nice spot to have anything from coffee to breakfast or lunch. Plenty of seating, a gas fireplace for colder evenings in the main dining area and a pleasant interior that makes the eating-in experience enjoyable.

A kiosk with a few touch screens for patrons to punch in their orders was a bit user unfriendly to us, with so many pages and choices for add-ons or things that come with your meal. We found spending over five minutes to place two orders a bit cumbersome. Maybe we prefer actual wait staff that just asks us what we want off the menu. Or, maybe you can order at their counter and skip the kiosk, but we did not see anyone there except for the person who puts out your tray once your food has been prepared and your purchase has been sent to the kitchen. Choosing a simple drink or muffin must speed up the time with the touch screen.

That said, both of our sandwiches were very good. My partner's was hot. He had the smoky buffalo chicken melt baguette which he added spinach, frizzled onions and chipotle sauce in addition to the hot sauce that's a component of this sandwich. He wanted red onion, too, but the computer said they were out of this ingredient.

My lobster salad on a New England style bun was cold. I did not expect it to be as these rolls are usually served warm. I selected it as is with no additions. Full of fresh lobster and some lettuce, cooked perfectly, it is an impressive sandwich.

We chose the fruit cup for our free add-on to the meal. It was fresh with a good variety of fruit: pineapple, strawberries, blueberries and cantaloupe. The Madagascar vanilla latte we shared was really delicious. Creamy, warm and the right amount of sweetness. No need for dessert with this coffee but Panera's has always had a fine selection from chocolate croissants to lemon drop cookies along with...

I have been holding onto hope for Panera for a long time. We have been going since I was in middle school so I wanted to continue to keep the good memories. However, these past few trips have been so disappointing and this last one was unfortunately the end of the rope for us. This last trip we placed a pick up order. Two "You Pick 2s" and a small mac n cheese. We placed the order online and were surprised at the limitation of ways to modify for You Pick 2s, when you can for other items. I made a few notes in the "other instructions" section before checking out. I went to pick it up and did a quick glance inside (something you shouldn't have to do). I noticed that they had not read the notes and we were missing one bag of chips and chipotle sauce. Not a huge deal, I asked for them and they gave it to me. Drove home to my husband and toddler, hungry and waiting for dinner. We unpacked the bag and found the mac n cheese, my toddler's dinner, missing. I was pretty upset since she had been waiting and so I called the cafe. I asked if someone could deliver it since I am 8 months pregnant and didn't want to have to drive back out again. They don't have delivery. I had to then ask for a refund, which I have NO idea if they actually gave me since my only two options were for a gift card or for it to go back onto my account- not CC?? I got off the phone and when we went to eat our sandwiches, we noticed there was barely any food inside the bread. Mine was tasteless. I also noticed that no one had "signed off" on the items, why even have that there if you aren't going to do it? It was the final straw for us and we will not be going to back to Panera. Unfortunately, it's not just this location- although I have had issues many times here- aka a very...