St. Louis Bread Co. — Restaurant in Des Peres

The worst Breadco/Panera ever. The cashier didn’t understand what I was trying to order, even though it was right there on the menu above her on the wall. We even showed her. After she took our order she didn’t produce a receipt, so I asked for one. Sure enough, my order was incorrect. She found a manager who said she’d make the correct sandwich for me, but when she said that the mistake sandwich was already in the oven, I said I’d take it rather than waiting longer. Manager then comped us a few cookies that she bagged for us.

On to the pickup area, where our order was nowhere to be seen. Eventually we asked what was going on and they produced our sandwiches. Mine had been sitting on the counter in front of the oven, not yet wrapped. Of course, it turned out to be lukewarm at best. All this time an iced drink sat on the counter, and sure enough, it was mine, after sitting there melting while we waited for my sandwich which the manager had said was in the oven. There were a number of workers in there scurrying around, but the manager that had come to the register was nowhere to be seen. There were almost no other customers. My “overstuffed ham and cheese” sandwich was anything but overstuffed. There was minimal ham on it and it was on about an 8 inch baguette which nobody had bothered to cut in half.

This was truly one of the most bizarre restaurant experiences I’ve ever had and far below the quality that’s normal in a Panera outlet (I have visited some when out of state, where they operate as Panera.) I’ve heard they were sold to one of the national conglomerates, so maybe this is yet another sad instance of a well liked local restaurant chain going down the drain after being swallowed up by one of those national corporations. If upper level management doesn’t sit up and pay attention, I fear that one of my favorite sandwich places will be history. I say this because I see that the others nearby were also poorly rated. The one I most frequently use when out of town...

I am so freaking sick and tired and disgusted with this dam company IT'S PATHETIC!!! I am a business owner and I travel the country, we try to eat healthy, our kids use our mobile account apps so they can always grab a bite when needed, I can't honestly calculate the THOUSANDS of dollars that we've spent with this company over the years only to be so furious every single time we order because it's consistently wrong!! And it's at every single location around the country. Although the Des Peres location ranks high on incompetent employees. If this were a small business it'd be out of business within 2 years!! It's sad when you are shocked and happy when you receive an order that's actually accurate and the way it's ordered. When my business does wrong or makes mistakes we make it right and adjust our fees. I know there are people who live on complaining and let me tell you I am NOT one of them!! It took me probably ten minutes to figure out how to leave a review. My frustration is the culmination of lost time and money, freaking LOTS of money lost due to just throwing out raw eggs, wrong ingredients, wrong orders!! When you have food sensitivities and are careful about the food that you consume and in turn careful about where you choose to eat, Panera is a collosal failure!!!!!! If you can't tell my frustration has boiled over and I'm partially screaming while I'm taking the time out of an extremely busy day to write a review in hopes that Panera not make any changes, but rather the people reading this will make the decision to stop patronizing this establishment!!!! It's taking extreme restraint on my behalf from this review not being one curse word after another!!! In closing, eat healthy, live well and hey...

This is probably one of the worst St. Louis Bread Co./Panera Bread that I've ever been to. There was food and dishes left on tables the whole time I was there, a good 45 minutes, and the food quality was substantially worse than I've ever had from one of these places before.

I'm not sure if St. Louis Bread Co./Panera has decided to cheap out, or they simply just don't care, but paying $12.20 for a small soggy sandwich, a small bag of plain kettle chips, and a 12oz drink is absolutely ridiculous. McAlister's blows this place out of the water. The sandwiches there are much bigger, better made, and there are a lot more sides to choose from. Seriously, St. Louis Bread Co., you still only offer small plain chips, a tiny apple, or a stale piece of bread? Get with the times and give your customers choices. The only things worth getting anymore are the pastries, and even those are usually stale. I used to be able to go into a Panera and find they had Tabasco packets, which would have made the sandwich more edible, but they don't even have those now. Don't order the chicken avocado sandwich. The avocado is quartered, so it's a giant lump that immediately exits the sandwich when you take a bite.

It's just honestly sad to me. I remember when St. Louis Bread Co. used to be fantastic anywhere you went. Anytime I was out of town I enjoyed Panera as well since it's the same thing. Unfortunately, these places have plummeted downhill, and not worth the crazy high costs to eat there anymore. My recommendation, is to save your money, and eat...