Panera Bread — Restaurant in Columbia

Very poor food this evening! First, they had no dishwasher, so we ate out of paper sacks. I ordered a sandwich with avocado and was told “sorry, we’re OUT…” Next I ordered de-caf coffee— and it was barely lukewarm; I had to ask them to make coffee (it was only ~6:00 pm!) Then I ordered a grilled cheese and bowl of tomato soup. I got good tomato soup— with hot bread (not grilled) and melted cheese. So I took it back to the kitchen window and was told, “yeah— that’s a grilled cheese.” (The bread was still white!) I explained that if it was a grilled cheese— it needed to be GRILLED! So the guy took it back and “grilled” it some more. But when I got it the second time, there was still no “grilled to a crispy brown deliciousness” on the outside—again just hot bread. I was hungry and had errands to do, so I ate it anyway—reminding myself that some people in the world had nothing to eat this evening. So I was determined to be thankful and move on. Next time I’ll be thankful at a different restaurant. Not worth going back to!… and I’m usually a...

Had an unacceptable experience with the curbside delivery at the Columbia Mall location last night. I arrived prior to the time we told to pick up the delivery, parked in the designated area, and pressed the "I'm here" button on the app. Fifteen minutes go by and we try to call the store. The call was answered, but it was clear the phone was simply laid down because there was no response, yet we could hear talking in the background. I went into the store around 20-25 minutes after the pickup time and the young man at the counter simply gave me a half-hearted apology, stating he didn't hear the alert on the tablet. I complained that the food is probably cold by now and he said it wasn't. I was given another shoulder-shrug and "sorry". By the time I got home, the soup was cold and the sandwich was cold and soggy. Panera has a lot to learn about customer service and shouldn't offer curbside pickup if this is the best...

Updated 7/25/23: Bathrooms still incredibly gross. Bathroom hygiene seems to be a problem for Paneras in general, and definitely for this location in particular most of the time. Trash, grime, water puddles, no soap, low light, doors gapping, and toilet paper on the floor... this was in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon. If you use the restroom before you eat, it will be pretty hard to enjoy your meal after what you see in there!

2019: Ordered cinnamon coffee cake for a breakfast party. It was supposedly made fresh that day, but was very dry and tasted like way too much sugar. Berries and cream couldn't save it. Pitched. This particular Panera (in mall) also needs a thorough cleaning. Bathroom, no matter when we stop in, is consistently gross. This Panera location does a high volume business but has almost no direct competition, but if they ever did get any decent...