Panera Bread — Restaurant in Fitchburg

Firstly, I adore Panera from the bottomless depths of my everloving heart.

Trying to cut down details to get within the character limit.

My one-star review is specific to this location only.

Since I moved in nearby, my experiences at this store have gone from Great to Appalling. Over the past year; as of Saturday, 8/6/22.

Granted, I did visit the store yesterday at just after noon on a Saturday, so the staff were slammed.

The reps taking orders were fantastic. I cannot emphasize this enough. They were swamped, super friendly; communicated clearly that they were working on other orders, and encouraged me and others to use the self-service kiosks (which are super convenient) to place our orders if we couldn't wait.

I did so and noticed that many other folks coming in did the same. I used the kiosk option to enter my phone number for a text notification when my order was ready.

I sat at a table for a bit. Knew that my order would take a while. But eventually, I made my way to the area where the orders were being checked and called out.

That's where I heard the person "managing" this process complain very loudly to... (to I'm not sure--I guess anyone who was in the mood to listen?) that people were placing orders with their last names. "Why would anyone place an order and give their last name?!?! Who would do that?!" This individual was making the customers feel extraordinarily unwelcome.

When I got my food and noticed other folks getting theirs, who had ordered via kiosk shortly before and after me, it confirmed my suspicion: When you order via kiosk and select the option to get a text when your order is ready, the system returns your name as "[first initial]. [last name]" (probably based on caller ID, which is brilliant).

So, this person was evidently unaware (and vocally did not care) that they were dealing with a situation that was exactly what should have been expected from the kiosk-ordering system.

But the following is what made me angry. I am to blame, as well.

While I was awaiting my order, listening to the order expediter complain about the fact that last names were being associated with orders (which the kiosk+text situation was evidently set up to deliver), a group of folks with truly kind energy passed in front of me to fill their drinks at the beverage station to my left.

I sincerely hope that I'm not making any kind of inappropriate assumption or saying anything insensitive. But, one of the lovely people in this group seemed to be possibly intellectually impaired: evidently an adult, projecting the most humble energy, clutching a stuffed animal.

The Panera expediter grabbed some plates and set out to the main dining area, bumped into the customer I'm describing; I saw the customer I'm describing hold tighter to the stuffed animal and heard them say, "You scared me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" and the Panera expediter said:

Nothing.

I sincerely regret that I did nothing in that moment to make it right. I am dealing with an anxiety disorder, but that is no excuse. I should have spoken up and demanded that this Panera employee projecting their a-hole energy make an apology, in the least.

Here's how I see things:

1.) Good Panera stores have a reputation for providing friendly service on top of notably [usually] excellent food. 2.) Although I've lived in WI for only five of my 41 years, I consider myself to be an "adopted" native resident of Wisconsin, in large part because the people here are the best. They are [generally] sincerely kind and helpful, to the point of helping you with whatever you need help with. 3.) If you don't live up to Wisconsin's and Panera's standards of courtesy, you have no place working at a Panera in Wisconsin. 4.) Anyone who treats someone who possibly has a disability like what I witnessed yesterday needs to be chased far and away from customer service. And possibly sued.

Because I also did not do the right thing when I saw this happen, I am now committing myself to do whatever it takes to set things right. I believe you will hear...

I typically enjoy Panera. This experience was far from what I have experienced. I ordered food to be delivered 1.5 miles away as a Valentines day gift to my fiancé. The food was to be delivered between 12:00 - 12:15. The food arrived at about 12:30pm. Not a huge deal but come to find out the reason was the driver refused to read instructions and call the number that was that I provided. The driver stated that he couldn't find the right place. The building is labeled outside in about 10 difference spots. They are big signs. Regardless, the building is small its a car dealership. The driver spent time walking around not asking for help from any of the 20 plus staff members that he had passed numerous times. To top it off this driver stated "I can't find the f*g department." This was reported to my fiancé by at least 2 different employees who work there. On my instructions it says who to deliver it to and the phone number. I come to find out that upon delivery of the food that the driver addressed my fiancé rudely stating in a rude fashion that "your not Daniel" and was extremely rude to her. Again, my instructions on the delivery where very very clear of who it was going to. No phone call was placed and there was a HUGE lack of effort and professionalism by this driver. Again, like I said on top I normally love Panera Bread. But this delay and lack of any effort by the driver caused the food to be cold. The sandwich looked like it had been tossed around and was hardly together when it was delivered. Driving 1.5 miles this should not happen. What should have been an easy and smooth delivery was turned into a...

We go to Panera bread all over the place and for the most part we like the food and we enjoy how they present their products and store. However, this particular Panera suffers in many ways. First and foremost. When I go into a place every Saturday morning at 10:00 AM for the last 6 months and they are consistently out of something I get a little aggravated. I could go somewhere else. The reason why is this. We take our son to a special needs therapy place around the corner and this Panera is the closest place to visit. That is the only reason. Today they were missing 3 things off the menu that has no reason to be missing. White cheese? There is a grocery store 100 yards away. I have to believe that this is not an individual store issue and this must be the folks above the store manager. I do not want to see anything out at 10 in the morning on a busy Saturday morning with folks practically lined out the door. Every Saturday the business is like that. If this store were ran better there would people lined up past that grocery store. There is no reason at all for this. This is like some kid running a lemonade stand and running out of lemonade. Or Sonic running out of hotdogs. Or gas stations running out of gas. The same day and time every week? It is almost a running joke. It is almost impossible to be that consistent doing something wrong. I can't wait for the subsequent weekends. I could purchase the store next to Panera to run a gambling business. Put your bets down folks. Will Panera run out of bread today? Many people could actually...