Panera Bread — Restaurant in Indianapolis

EDITED REVIEW 7/9/25 WOW! I wasn’t sure it could get any worse, but this Panera said “hold my beer”. Went here LAST WEEK to get breakfast for two grandkids, both of whom wanted bacon egg and cheese on ciabatta. I received one bacon egg and cheese and one sausage egg and cheese; the older grandkid sucked it up and ate the egg and cheese ciabatta without the sausage. I had also tried to get the flavors of the soufflé from the guy at the drive up who was totally disinterested in actually TALKING and he mumbled something about four cheese, bacon and spinach which I took to mean three soufflé flavors, so I said “give me one of each”. Got home, discovered the wrong sandwich and only two soufflés, not three, called the store and relayed the problem and they had not charged for three soufflés, only two. The manager took my name and number and asked me to return to get a replacement sandwich for the one with sausage instead of bacon. That was six days ago. This morning my husband said he would run over to Panera for the supposedly free breakfast sandwich and another try at soufflés; he got there and they didn’t have ANYTHING ABOUT A FREE SANDWICH BC OF THE PRIOR SCREWUP and told him he would have to get a cup of soup to get A BREAKFAST SANDWICH. Apparently, they are now serving breakfast soup? Now I’m REALLY confused.

So, the upshot is, I didn’t get a free breakfast sandwich to replace the screwed up one and they tried to sell my husband soup for breakfast! WTH is going on? I’m going to call the store AGAIN bc I still didn’t get a replacement sandwich for the original incorrect one, but I’m not really expecting an actual replacement breakfast sandwich…maybe they’ll give me a free breakfast soup? This would be comical if it wasn’t so irritating. We seldom go here any more bc of this total comedy of errors, even though we still like the food.

ORIGINAL REVIEW-I'm giving three stars because Panera is great food. The service, however, is steadily declining. I used to not even check my order at the driveup, but the last few times have been horrendous. One time I ordered a bacon, egg and cheese on ciabatta, got steak, egg cheese on ciabatta. One time, totally didn't get one of our sandwiches.

To be fair, when I call the manager to complain, they always try to make it right; however, this store is very busy and even though we live close by, it's a hassle to run back over there. I shouldn't have to make two trips to get what I order.

Also, we got a box of bagels last week and the bagels are starting to taste different each time: on two different bagel orders, the bagels were bland and tasteless; on another they were the usual good flavor. Don't know what's with that, but next time I get an order that's tasteless, they are going back to the store for a refund. And these orders are always two different flavors, asiago cheese/chocolate chip and BOTH were tasteless. So whatever is happening in the bagel process is also beginning to fail.

Please, Panera, clean up your act! We really do want to come back, but you're making...

We met some friends who were passing thru Indy and suggested this Panera location to meet-up for its easy access to I65. We had to wait for the staff member to acknowledge that we were interested in ordering, as he was on his cell phone with his back to us. Once we had his attention, I asked whether they had decaf coffee and was told that because it was after two o’clock that the there were only the two caffeinated options on the self-serve counter. Our friends then made their orders first. “No, there wasn’t any sweet tea, but there was unsweet and sweeteners available.” After as we took our turn to order, upon asking for cups of water we were asked if we wanted ice. I responded oh, we can just get it at the fountain, but then my friend said, actually no he has to give you the ice here. None was available at the drinks machine. We got our cups filled with ice, and our bakery orders and then got water from the drinks machine. I checked several napkin dispensers and there weren’t any napkins available, I had to ask for some at the pick-up counter.

After eating, my friend and I went to the ladies restroom, she went first into the larger of the two stalls and I started to go into the other stall. But I quickly backed out as the seat was up and the toilet was too filthy to use. The toilet rim was black, it was disgusting. Another customer entered the restroom and also was shocked at the condition of the stall. Wish now I had taken a photo.

I frequently dine at Panera, this location and others in other states and have never had this type of experience before! For a restaurant that is supposedly open until 10 p.m., to be so poorly stocked or cleaned at 3:30 p.m., is unacceptable. There appeared to be plenty of staff there to provide decent service. Management?

I would say that this location is perilously close to permanently closing, especially if food and safety make a surprise visit. Won’t be back, and will share our experience today with our...

04/04/2020 Delivery order 11:30-12:30pm This review has been a long time coming so fair warning: it’s a bit long. We have frequented this Panera Bread location many times over the years. Mostly done in rapid pick up. It’s often when we order there is an issue. Simple things like: requested no cheese on customized sandwich - there is cheese on it, ordered and paid extra for a side fruit cup - is out of stock and they give us nothing to replace it, side orders of chips or apples are missing from the bag. Regular occurrences but small enough we have let them go. Today delivery drivers were both fine, food we ate was tasty, and prices were fair. However, our order arrived without the bbq mac n cheese with the note saying they were out of bbq. Understandable that items run out. But no replacement for the food I ordered? No refund in process? No call asking if I want an alternate?

I call the store and the first gentleman I spoke to was kind and apologetic. He asked to place me on hold with “you may be sent to a manager” Wonderful. She gets on and immediately tells me they called “this number and a child answered the phone”.... This was a lie. I informed her they hadn’t called and she said she wasn’t going to argue with me. I began to laugh at the absurdity of lying when she could have just admitted they should have called but forgot to. I also pointed out that this wasn’t even the phone number attached to the order. She corrected and stated again that she called the number attached to the order and a child picked up. She asked if I wanted them to send out the order but without the bbq. I agreed, still laughing a bit at her lie. There was no missed call and no child could have accessed the phones without us knowing. While we do enjoy Panera bread when we have it, this may be our last visit to this particular location. Mistakes happen and can be excused, lying from a...