Panera Bread — Restaurant in Coralville

The food is typical Panera fare and quality. The staff and the restaurant itself are just not good at all. We were there just before lunch. The person working the register greeted is with almost zero energy and was actually confusing. If we didn't know the menu and sides, we would have been lost. The layout of the restaurant itself is just a disaster. Access to the seating to your right as you enter is almost completely blocked by the self ordering kiosk and tables, making it difficult to navigate, particularly when carrying an order. The area to the left of the entrance (towards the pickup counter and drinks) is very narrow and congested, with several tight areas also makes navigation difficult in that area. When trying to pick up my drink and again to get our order, members of the Panera staff actually walked right in front of me and then stopped, blocking my progress. I saw another staff member blocking the drink area while customers were waiting to use it. To emphasize the whole experience, while we were eating we watched two customers bump into each other in one of the narrow spots to the left of the entrance, resulting in one of them dropping their order. It was several minutes before anyone from the staff gave any assistance. Then, after mopping the area, they left standing water from the mop and just walked away. Meanwhile, because of the terrible layout and traffic flow, customers were lined up out the entrance (and it wasn't that big of a surge). The staff needs some serious training and the facility itself needs a major rework. We won't be back at...

Edit to add: 5/6/23 - this establishment has improved greatly in the quality of service provided and do their best to ensure items are correct; and if they aren’t they fix them right away.

I have a dairy allergy so I ask for my drinks and food with out cheese or regular milk. My coffee drinks I ask for almond milk, no whip cream. I love panera bread but EVERY single time I come to this location my coffee order is wrong. It is made with regular milk and whip cream. I tell the cashiera specifically I have an allergy and it is still made wrong. Today I came in with my fiancé and my sister. I ordered my drink and of course. It’s weong. Again. I take it up and the girl making the drinks was VERY VERY rude and seemed almost ANGRY she had to remake it. I get the second drink and it is just almond milk. At this point I’m very upset. I have tried to talk to a manager and none of the employees working today had gotten a manger, either that or the manger just didn’t want to deal with the situation. I’m very very upset with this visit and will likely NEVER return to this location. Great waste of $6 (+upcharge for the almond milk). I do not recommend this location unless you want your orders messed up if you have an allergy. They clearly do not care about...

It's a Panera. None of the Paneras I have been to have stood out. This one doesn't either. The food is good the restaurant is clean and the staff have always been courteous and kind. It gets a 4 because the food never seems to be the same (I'd say that about any panera). There are times when the same salad will seem to be twice the size of the last time you had it or have half as much dressing as I would expect. We eat here a couple times a month (a lot for us) and there has only been 1 time that I was truly disappointed. My daughter LOVES their mac and cheese (my partner does too), and once it came cold and soupy so we sent it back, they heated to it was hot and soupy (like thin tomato soup or half-and-half consistency) so we took it back (our daughter wouldn't eat it). The second time they dumped the sauce out so we got the shells with a thin veneer of cheese. Thus experience left a bad taste, but we still go back and my daughter (and wife) get their mac and...