Panera Bread — Restaurant in Columbia

We stopped here on our way back to Ohio. When we gave our order, we were told they were out of the bread that is served with the soup. Ordered a sandwich and was told they were out of chips and only had an apple because they were out of everything else. I asked if I could pay for a cup of dipping for my sandwich and was told no. I asked what they could provide for my dinner in place of the items I was not getting since they were out of everything and was told an apple, that I didn’t want. I asked to speak with the manager and guess what?? She was the manager. My food was put on a bag even though I told them I was dining in. They handed me a plate with my bag of food. As we were eating in the filthy dining room, we could hear them talking about me, laughing loudly and telling each other to shush, because they were so loud. I asked for corporate’s number from the young man who took my order and he told me I’d have to ask the manager for it. He ended up asking her and was told I could get it off the web . The entire restaurant was dirty, trash on tables, floor (including where they prepared the food) and bathroom. The trash cans were overflowing with garbage in the bathroom and dining area.

Their behavior was extremely unprofessional and embarrassing. It was sad to see these young ladies represent the company in such a poor, ghetto, and unsanitary manner. They didn’t have their hair covered and one with long extensions had her hands all in her hair.

I took pictures to show how horrible and nasty Panera Bread is in S. Carolina, in comparison to the top of the line sanitary and professionally ran restaurants are in Ohio. I also wanted to upload them so others could see where not to go to eat. This place needs to have a total overhaul and the staff needs to be replaced or retrained. Terrible service. Terrible treatment....

What in the world is going on at this store? We stood at the counter for five minutes with several employees just 6 feet away and nobody greeted us. I didn’t expect them to drop what they were doing and take my order right away, but someone should have acknowledged us. “I’ll be with you in a moment” is all I needed to hear. We had to ask someone before they said they would be with us shortly. When she finally came over to take our order, no greeting. What happened to “Hello, how are you”? Just “what can I get for you”, didn’t look up from the computer at me. I tried to put my phone number in and the system kicked me out and she just went on to payment so I didn’t get any Panera rewards credit, and I was one visit away from my next reward. We didn’t get a receipt.

So we finally placed our order. There was a mysterious dried liquid trail from the trash can to behind the counter, so that’s disgusting. I know trash drips, but clean it up?! Trash juice on the floor?? All the lemonades and teas were empty, there were no regular size cup lids, there was trash all over the beverage station, tables were not cleaned off…the entire dining area was not clean, and the self busing station was gross.

So we finally get our food….and there was plastic in my tuna sandwich. I told the employee behind the counter who sighed loudly and said “I’ll go get the manager”. The manager did refund our order and I declined another sandwich- I couldn’t have gotten another tuna anyway since they didn’t have enough to make another sandwich. The chicken soup was fine. I’ll say, in their defense, that it was move-in weekend. But for off-peak hours on a Sunday, I...

Went there last week. There was one girl taking orders and preparing the food. The girl was friendly but wow. She was making about three meals and the line at the register was to the door, when I finally left. I didn’t know one person ran the show..

I felt bad for that girl. I typically order ahead of time, but when I initially walked in and seen the line was short, I figured I could just order. It was about 40 minutes before I got my food. I had asked the girl preparing my food, if she had any help and she told me her manager was there but she was in the back. I’ve never seen anything like that before. My sandwich was messed up, but I didn’t even want her to remake it because I had to go back to work. And I did not get to speak with the manager either. I figured I would call. When I called and told her my concerns, she told me she could offer me a bagel, but there was no way I could report that upwards and there was nothing else she could do for me because I ate some of the food. (I ate the soup from a soup and sandwich combo). I order at this Panera 2x a month and never had that issue before. If you don’t have the staffing, you should put a sign or something. I wouldn’t have ordered at all if I knew I was going to have to...