Panera Bread — Restaurant in Elk Grove Township

Came here after a long long day of working labor all day before the holidays. Came in for two bowls of soup, the easiest fastest order to make ever. (Take ladle scoop in soup, transfer to bowl, repeat until full). Should take 3-5 minutes max even if they are busy. Place looked fully staff, one girl at the counter who did a great job of taking more order quickly and making sure I was second in the queue on the screen they have now for pending orders.

This is where the experience goes south, the MANAGER who should be delegating experience was making sandwich’s for to go orders that were not there yet, people in the drive through, which apparently take precedence over the people who are standing right in front of you. At least 4 customers came in and left with new orders while my soup was never prepared. After about 15 minutes I got the soup I heard the manager tell the employee to microwave, but not too long because they didn’t want it too hot.

She gave me my food and said thanks for your patience. At that point I tried to voice my customer survey to the manager making sandwiches. To which she rudely replied “Well you know what there are other people in front of you!”

There were not, I was standing in an empty restaurant. It is COVID times the night before thanksgiving, an hour before you close. Nobody was in front of me. You ignored your customer and should not be a manager. If you knew how to manage you would have had the simple soup order ready knocked immediately so you don’t have to panic to finish your other orders. Get together Sheila! I’ll never come back here, and tell all my friends to never go to that location. That’s how awful you treated your customer.

My favorite part was when I got home 4 minutes later, because I live in the neighborhood, the soup was barely above room temp. Way to keep food at food safe temperatures that’s 140° for a steam table with soup, but screw it, give it to them at 78°. Are you trying to give people food poisoning??? But what do I know about food safety, I’m not the manager of the worst Panera Bread ever.

DO NOT GO TO THIS LOCATION IF YOU WANT TO BE TREATED WITH...

I’ve been a loyal MyPanera (Sip Club) member for years, and I usually enjoy Panera. But what happened today at the Rolling Meadows (1321 Golf Rd) location was truly disappointing.

The issue wasn’t the bagel — it was the way I was treated. The staff were extremely rude, dismissive, and unprofessional. When I asked politely for assistance, no one looked at me, no one tried to help. I went to the register and spoke to Kate, a team member, and she didn’t even look at me — just said, “There’s no one to talk to.”

I later called the store and spoke with the manager, who also wasn’t kind or empathetic. Instead of apologizing or showing concern, she just repeated, “It’s our policy, it’s our rule,” and said she’d “talk to the team” but couldn’t do anything now.

I was left standing there, feeling completely invisible and helpless. No one at any point said something simple like “I’m sorry you had that experience” or “How can we make this right?”

This is not the Panera I know. No customer should ever be made to feel ignored, disrespected, or unseen. I truly hope Panera leadership looks into this location and ensures that basic kindness and professionalism are part of their...

Treated with dignity! My dad just signed up for the MyPanera+ Coffee Subscription, with the first three months being free, and I took him this morning for his first cup. After announcing his phone number to the cashier, he was informed that the number was not in their system. The landline was then given but still no record of him appeared on their monitor. I explained to the cashier that my dad used the app to sign up for the Coffee Club, and after doing so we came right over. She replied, "No problem. What kind of coffee would you like?" My dad received his free coffee, and I took him home. Once at home, I looked into his online account. The number in his profile ended up being my mother's, which I corrected to my dad's cell number. Thank you, Panera, for being so kind and not embarrassing us in front of the...