Panera Bread — Restaurant in Hayward

Panera in Hayward location has been my to go place where I can go and study, that's becaus is closer to me. However, it lack of good customer service. I had encountered many situations already, but this one for me did it. I went to the location to order a coffee. I can say it was only one person at the registered, mmm not so good but ok. Although, they have the self service, it didn't bother me waiting in the line. I'm one of those people that like the personal interaction. After the pandemic I guess I learn to appreciate more interacting with people. The cashier was really nice and friendly. They made the coffee within minutes, but here is what made it so bad. The girl incharge of delivering the orders skipped and skipped my coffee for literally 20 minutes which I counted. She talked to her friends that came to dine in at the restaurant. She gave some other people their food and my cup of coffee she kept putting it to the side.I didn't say anything because I wanted to see what she will do. I looked at her once again, she took my coffee and put it to the side once again and again. She finally noticed me obviously I was so angry. she saw me and realized she messed up. My coffee was cold there was no more wipe cream it was not good at all. To me this was the worst...

The young lady that was there to ‘help’ us complete the kiosk order process was no where to be found when I needed her. The guy preparing the orders had a very bad attitude or perhaps a very bad day, regardless it made me uneasy that he was in charge of our food preparation while nursing a lot of anger. The onion soup was horrible, the croutons were moldy, the cheese was old, the broth was foul. The sandwiches were thrown together...literally. I understand the pandemic was hard on all of us but if you work in an establishment where customer patronage is a lifeline, please step up and make an effort to care about the people who took a chance to venture out and chose your business to do so. The second star was solely for the manager, she was friendly snd professional while trying up manage the crew and impatient clientele. The young lady and young gentleman working the distribution section and beverages were very nervous but super friendly and trying their best to ignore the slowly growing chaos. Kudos to the manager (didn’t get her name, working shift on 9/26/20 around 2 pm). I hope Panera gives her a raise and better food prep staff. Panera, what...

Best menu items so far are the Autumn Squash soup and the Fuji Apple salad with chicken. I was expecting fresh fuji slices and the sweet crispy slices of dried apple was a delightful surprise. The Autumn Squash soup should be on the menu permanently, it's that good. Chicken noodle soup is salty and so-so, I hope they revamp the recipe. The bear claws have great filling but I highly suggest taking them home to warm up. I had an issue with a rude employee but once I brought it to their attention, managers Katherine and Angel made sure to straighten things out, and it has never happened again. Those of us addicted to strong coffee will find Panera's coffee a little disappointing, and this location runs out of half and half occasionally. That said, Panera is worth stopping by for a quick meal. And, any place willing to take good care of customers gets...