Panera Bread — Restaurant in Gainesville

Location Review: The main reason that my wife and I are giving 3 stars is that there was incorrect (outdated) pricing on the menu display signage. An employee explained that minimum wage increases inadvertently raised the prices of their products recently. However, this store has not changed their signage yet (as of today: Aug.13, 2021).

Also, FYI, the store door sign "asks" patrons to wear a mask for the safety of all, but the decision is up to the customer...

We were given a $50 gift card to try out Panera Bread and we chose this location. We were greeted by a friendly cashier while browsing the menu boards posted behind the counter.

This is where things got confusing. We decided on the family meal with 4-half sandwiches 🥪 and we started to order the the sandwich types that we wanted.

After we picked 4 of them, our cashier politely, but apologetically told us that the choice we picked was not applicable to the family meal that we ordered (bbq chicken is not included).

We asked her if there was an up-charge for the bbq chicken, and she said, "yes, $37 total". Mind you, the menu board listed the price as $32. That is a 15.625% increase (if you're a stickler for math, which my wife is). The cashier explained that the increased price for the family meal was due to the wage increase for the employees. I wonder how many orders they get and if the increase is for wages, does the extra income go to employees?

Anyway, back to our order, the cashier compensated us for the increase by giving us a substitute treat (manager approved) for the 4 cookies included in the meal. We were here on a Friday afternoon so most of the pastries and baked goods were out of stock, but they still had many chocolate chip cookies, croissants, and (of course) bread loaves / bagels on display.

Our cashier, Zoe, was most pleasant and did a great job of explaining present issues in updating their pricing and answered any questions that we had about the food contents (5 stars for customer service). We spent nearly all of our $50 gift card, including the tip.

After we placed the order, we made our way to the pick-up counter and checked out their drink selections while waiting. They called my name and I grabbed the order. My wife and I inspected our order since it was in a large bag with several smaller bags in it.

Once we finished looking thru the bags and making sure our order was correct, we noticed that the baguette that came with the family meal was missing. We first thought that maybe they cut it into sections, so we checked each container and bag again. No baguette. I returned to the pick-up counter and asked for the missing item from the sandwich builders. It was handed over quickly and we exited the building.

We did a fast photoshoot outside before heading up the street to get pastries...

Food Review: We had the steak + cheese sandwiches during our road trip. Those were smaller than we expected, but were quite tasty and kept us somewhat full/satisfied before we got home (2 hours later). When we got home, we ate the chicken avocado sandwiches with our chicken noodle soup. We also had the greek salad that was included with the meal.

This was the first time that we had an entire meal from Panera and we give it 4-stars for the food alone since we expected larger portions for a 4-person family meal. My wife is a petite Asian woman and I'm a lanky white guy; we split the entire meal between the 2 of us, but we were 💯% satisfied...so we don't how well this would feed a very hungry family of 4, but it makes for a filling treat. The prices might be prohibitive for some people, so be sure to check the menu online if you're planning to go here for the first time to prevent sticker shock. Be prepared to potentially pay a little extra if the posted menu prices haven't been adjusted to reflect the...

I’ve always heard that Panera‘s is famous for their broccoli and cheddar soup, so I decided to try some. The soup was very good. However, it had a nice thick, creamy consistency when I first received it and before getting halfway through the small bowl I noticed the consistency had become watery. That in itself with displeasing. The Mango drink was refreshing. I also chose the steak and cheddar sandwich. I was disappointed that there was no lettuce. As I was told there was a shortage on Romain lettuce by the cashier. He was snappy, commenting to me, “didn’t you read the sign here and on the door?” I was shocked about his attitude. I did not notice the two signs, someone opened the door for me. Secondly, when coming up to the register he began speaking to me, I immediately looked him in the eyes when he spoke, then began looking upwards towards the menu….. No, I did not see the signs…. How RUDE! I have not heard of the lettuce shortage anywhere else, except from Panera‘s. The sandwich was OK. There was a nice selection of pastries from the bakery. We dined in and I noticed that many of the tables and booths towards the back were not cleaned off and remain so for least 45 minutes. One customer cleared a booth off so she could use it. The tables and booths towards the front of the store were cleaned promptly. Personnel there were very friendly (except cashier). There is ample parking and the store is located and a great location. There seemed to be a majority of college students and others using their laptops, I guess for the Wi-Fi service, customer turnover was slow, thereby limited seating. Would I return to that location? No… perhaps I’ll try a different location, out of...

CATERING Review:

I ordered a catering order here for my wedding brunch, a month prior to the event. A week out, I called the store to confirm everything was good with the order, which they did confirm.

On the morning of the brunch, I called the restaurant 5 minutes after the delivery window ended to check on the order. The girl informed me that the doordash driver never showed, and she would contact them for info. At no point was I informed prior to this moment that Doordash was going to deliver the breakfast. She said she would check with them and let me know. When I contacted her back, she said that there system stated the order was delivered, and she was not really sure at that point what to do.

I had to leave my event to drive and pick up the food at this point, while my guests were all waiting. I arrived, had to wait for them to get me the food, and the manager on duty was largely unapologetic. When I inquired why they didn't at least contact me when Doordash didn't arrive, she did not have an answer for that.

Finally, once I got all the food loaded up and ready to leave, I noticed that they did not pack any of the orange juice order, so I had to go back in and inform them, and wait for them to get all of that ready.

I would absolutely recommend any other restaurant or service in the area for your...