Panera Bread — Restaurant in Charlottesville

I went through the drive through and ordered soup and some other things. Apparently, I need to start checking my order every single time I go to ANY Panera location because it's almost always wrong. I get food from Panera about three times a week and have been for the past three years bc I'm on a restricted diet and Panera carries delicious things that I can have. Great things....if I actually got them when I ordered them. I'm also too sick to cook often. So, Panera it is. This time, in particular, made me upset enough to actually write a review. I don't write reviews. I don't complain often. I go to businesses knowing people aren't perfect, mistakes happen, and if I don't like sometching about it I don't have to return. Every other time this has happened(other than the first SIX times I didn't complain about it), I've been offered a free pastry...I have about 12 stacked up because I can't even eat them but anyway...This time I drove to Panera, drove home, realized that what I ordered wasn't what I received, drove BACK to panera, and then drove back home. I'm sick. Extremely sick. Before I left my house THE FIRST TIME, I took medication that I needed to kick in by the time I got home because I have to take meds to eat. These are meds I'm not comfortable driving on. Welp, I had to drive back to Panera! When I explained what had happened, which I wasn't any too thrilled about and my tone made that clear, I was told to pull forward and they'd help me. I pulled forward and the manager (seriously??????) opened the window, put a bag in my face and said HERE YA GO! I had just spent 24 dollars here, am an extremely frequent customer, and all I got was a HERE YA GO! No "I'm sorry for the inconvenience"....no "free pastry" which I'm not too worried about but that's not the point....honestly I felt like I should've been refunded because of how many times this has happened. I took the soup and drove off because I didn't want to get nasty and my blood was boiling at the time. This situation was handled so poorly that I'm inclined to never visit this location again. I say that and then realize that my order gets messed up regularly at this location and the barracks road location...and I'm certainly not driving all the way to the forest lakes area every time. Panera offers healthy and clean options and for that I am very grateful. As I've mentioned, I am on a very restricted diet...I'm also chronically ill and cannot cook for myself often. I won't bore you with all those details as I have rambled on enough here but I will say that this was a huge inconvenience for me and it wasn't even acknowledged. I am so happy with the food that Panera Bread makes and the variety of options they have...the fact that I can customize things if necessary...what I'm extremely disappointed in is how often my order is messed up and what is offered for this inconvenience. Has this happened just a few times? NO. That's why I have an issue with this. I wish I could say "I won't ever be going back to Panera...the company isn't getting any more of my money."....but I can't. All I can do is make others aware that if you order something to go, you should probably check your whole order before leaving. I should've known to do that this time...but again, I'm extremely sick and was dumb enough in the moment to assume they got it right. If anyone wants a free pastry, let me know...because that's all I've ever been offered and I have a ton of IOUs for them since I can't...

My Chicken Roma Asiago Bagel Stack sandwich was good, but it didn't look as great as it did on TV. I was expecting more flavor, but the Green Goddess dressing was good. I probably would have asked for some extra, though. I'm thinking I should have put some Himalayan pink salt and pepper on the sandwich when I got home. They say they put salt and pepper on the sandwich, but it didn'tlook like it or taste like it to me. Also, I think a better cheese choice on the sandwich would be a slice of Asiago cheese (instead of fresh mozzarella, which doesn't have much flavor). I'm thinking they should match the sliced cheese with what is used for the bagel! I didn't taste any garlic aioli drizzle (I LOVE garlic aioli at Wawa - can surely taste it on my food; and I'm definitely not being paid to endorse Wawa, lol!!)

I give this new sandwich a 3 out of 5 - just my opinion.

As for my son, he ordered the Asian Sesame salad with chicken. Not only did he say it wasn't filling, he gave it a 2 out of 5. He said there wasn't enough dressing, and he was definitely disappointed with the ingredients. If you're expecting the more traditional elements of an Asian Sesame salad, then you'll likely be disappointed, too. There's no green or purple cabbage. They use almonds instead of cashews or peanuts, and there's no ginger in the dressing; no celery, green onion, or carrots in the salad either. So we're surprised that Panera is calling this salad an Asian Sesame salad - see the photos.

Sufficed to say that for paying more than $31.23 (see the receipt photo), we were disappointed. Could have spent less elsewhere and got fresh ingredients but more flavor. :-(

On the positive side, the potato chips were good - 4 out of 5. But as for the 'chunk' of french baguette that they include with the salad...if you enjoy cold, slightly hard and tough bread, then this is the bread for you. But if you prefer warm, soft, buttered bread that you can eat right away with your meal, then like us, this isn't the...

If it were possible to select a negative rating I would. This is by far the worst Panera we have in Charlottesville (store 4439 - 5th Street Station Shopping Center). We reluctantly chose this particular establishment today because our kids always enjoy the play area, but it honestly isn't worth considering the extremely poor service we receive each time we visit. With the exception of the assistant manager Jay, almost all of the employees have horrible attitudes. They are beyond rude, I don't even know how to categorize it. This includes the store manager. It's as if they don't want to be there and you're an annoyance to them by showing up to be serviced. Isn't that what customer service is? Is it too much to ask for your order to actually match what's on the receipt? When I shared with Gary behind the pick up counter that he'd made my order wrong, with an attitude he tried convince me otherwise. When I asked him to remake it , I received more attitude and then he still got it completely wrong. By that time I was done. Fortunately, the assistant manager stepped in and refunded my money and provided me with an alternative at no additional expense. He apologized profusely and said if I ever have any problems in the future to contact him. It's as if he knows he has a problem staff. What's even more challenging for him I assume is that he has a manager who offers no better example for the employees that he leads. Just horrible!!!! If at all possible, and if you don't mind the ride, make your way out to the Panera at Hollymead Town Center. Avoid this establishment...