Panera Bread — Restaurant in Elk Grove

Food is good but the service has gone down. In the last 5 orders placed over the last 3 months we have been given incomplete orders. At first it was just a missing side (bag of chips or bread), the 4th time they didn't include the pickeld with the sandwich and only gave us 2 of the 3 brownies we ordered, placed all 3stickers on the outside if the box, didn't say anything about the missing items and I had to call to get the missing one refunded, which is when they told us they ran out of briwnies. Tonight, they didn't give us the pickles again and the croutons for our soup was missing and didn't know it until we got home. No longer tipping in advanced for online orders.

Update: removed a star because of continued poor customer service. Tonight, ordered on line. they ended up behind 30 min--Unfortunate, but not the worst part. Because they have shorted us before, I checked the order and they completely left out the baked goods, which no one notified me of. Had I not checked I wouldn't have known until I got home. Called it to attention of one of employees and her explanation was that they ran out. she compensated by offering choice of another baked goods only to find out that there were at least 12 of one of the items I originally ordered. Had to point out that the solution to the problem isn't just compensating for the error but fixing the process behind the counter and the communication with the customer. In my irritation I overlooked that they forgot the pickles for our sandwiches and the croutons that were supposed to come with our soups. discovered that after I got home. THIS IS WHY I NO LONGER LEAVE TIPS FOR ONLINE ORDERS.

Update 5/3/23. Still can't figure out how to count baguettes or use the receipt as a checklist....forgot the chips (again) and shorted us a baguette (again). On the positive side, they remembered to include the croutons for our soups and the pickles that are supposed to come with sandwiches. And when we brought the shortages to their attention they gave us a little extra of both--but this is such a recurring problem it doesn't really repair...

Anybody with some cash can buy a franchise. But remember, employees can make it work or break it! And the only way your going to pick out the gems during the interviewing process is by experiencing the hiring process for a few years. And then, you'll most likely have a well tuned and profitable franchise! I say this only because I listened to a customer complain to a manager about the disrespect they got from one of the employees. Look, making a franchise profitable isn't easy! If it was, do you think the selling company would actually be selling them to you, or keeping all of the locations as corporate owned and operated? They want you to invest YOUR money so YOU have a vested interest to make the business successful! And I totally get that. Average employees treat your business like aa renter treats your property! This is why management that hires and runs a retail business knows that they are just well-paid babysitters! So the lesson is: Hire a manager that knows how to A) Hire good people, and B) Manage good people in a way that they like going to work and want to stay! Statistically, the food business already is doomed from the beginning. A lot of competitors, a lot of employees just looking for ways to milk the job and steal you blind. Sorry, that's the truth of the matter. When the customer has way too many choices for dining out, it just takes one bad experience with an untrained and uncaring employee to lose the customer for good. Assistant Managers, keep your ears open and mostly just listen. Listen to what the customers are willing to share with you, and most of all listen to what the employees are saying to each other. That's where a good assistant manager earns his or her pay. Reward the good employees and don't be afraid to let the not so good ones go. Because bad attitude is like a cancer when it comes down to spreading from one employee...

Over $33 for mac and cheese, a salad, smoothie and two coffees. The food just isn't that good. Outside, the trashcans were over-flowing and piled up with dirty dishes. The location was littered with debris iside the first set of doors. Inside the ordering area, the floor was sticky. The young woman taking my order did not know the menu, or understand that "non-dairy" means no dairy products. Yogurt is dairy. I ordered the peach blueberry with almond milk smoothie. That's literally the name of the smoothie under the "non-dairy smoothie" heading: "peach blueberry w/almond milk" and is listed at $4.69. I was charged $.50 extra for the almond milk. My daughter ordered iced coffee and was told she would get a cup of ice for the iced coffee dispenser. She was given an empty cup, no ice, and there is no ice at the coffee bar. We figured out on our own she had to walk to the other side of the restaurant to use the ice dispenser and then go back to the coffee bar, and then walk back over to pick up the order. I don't mind paying for good food, the extra $.50 won't kill me, and I like walking. The problem is that the whole time, I was spoken too as if I was the one who didn't understand what was going on, and the mistakes were my fault. Twice the manager asked if we were okay and offered us pastries for our troubles. Pastries will never make up for eyes rolling at me, pre-prepared and over-priced dishes, the hair in the ceasar salad, or negative attitudes. Thanks, but I will never be back. To any Panera. I'm glad your parent company, Starbucks, is closing your locations. ...