Panera Bread — Restaurant in Johnson City

Atmosphere matters.

Most people know what a Panera is like. Good food but overpriced.

I was trying to use this place as my weekly meeting place to have coffee with about 5 - 10 friends every Wednesday then finally just gave up and started going to Wheeler's instead because the staff that work behind the counter simply make TOO MUCH NOISE when they use their machines back there. It's so bad, it was causing me and my friends to have trouble hearing each other. Wheeler's atmosphere is much quieter.

4/19/23 Edit: I went to Panera for lunch today, which I have not done in years. I ordered the chicken salad on a toasted sesame bagel. It was awesome...the chicken salad was very flavorful and the bagel was nice and crunchy.

The issue I had today, beside the fact that some staff person kept dragging metal racks across the floor in the back, which made a horrible LOUD noise, is that since I eat lunch at Panera so rarely, I forgot that their sandwiches are not a single, normal sized sandwich. They are two sandwiches, made with bread slices that are maybe 3/4 the size of a normal slice of bread. And if you want a sandwich, you have to order what they call a "half" sandwich. Ugh. 🙄 Why can't they just be normal?

Anyway, when I ordered my lunch sandwich on a bagel, I expected a bagel, not TWO bagel sandwiches. And what I got was TWO pabel sandwich, with each bagel sandwich counting as a "half."

This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Of course, since I couldn't eat TWO bagel sandwiches, I had to take the second bagel sandwich home and put it in the refrigerator. By the time I get ready to eat that for lunch tomorrow, the bagel will no longer be crunchy. And given that it's chicken salad, which contains mayonnaise, I suspect it is probably not a good idea to stick that in the oven to get the bagel crunchy again. So the left over sandwich will be ruined by tomorrow and I'll end up scraping the chicken salad off the bagel, throwing the bagel away, and eating the chicken salad with some Trisciits tomorrow. 🤦

Pantera really needs to learn how to manage customer expectations better.

Lowering my rating to a 2 due to loud noises, over priced menu, and lack of staff ability to manage customer expextations.

The only reason I go back there at all is because their bagels are the best NY style bagels in town,...

I’m giving a 3 star because my other experiences here haven’t been bad, otherwise this would have been a one star.

I am pretty frustrated with the service I received this morning. I normally place curbside orders as I pick up breakfast on my way to work or I’ll pick something up on my lunch break. This morning I placed a pretty small mobile order and it said it’d be ready by 7:15 AM. I arrived around 7:10 and waited 15 minutes with nobody coming out, so I had to go inside to pick up my order. Whatever not a huge deal. Waited in line and when I got to the counter I let the cashier know I was just picking up my order, I wasn’t rude about it and that’s all I said verbatim “I’m just picking up my curbside order”. She immediately got hateful and defensive with me making comments on how she tried to bring the order out but I wasn’t there. Yeah… that’s bs because while I was in line waiting I literally watched the other employees making my food and put it on the counter behind her… I didn’t mention it or anything because I was going to be late for work plus if you want to lie about it that’s on you.

I understand things are frustrating in the food industry and that it’s not the best job, but do not take it out on customers especially when they’re not being rude or combative??? This is becoming an issue no matter where I go and it’s getting tiring. Something needs to change and people need to learn to be nicer to each other. It’s not my fault you hate your job. Nobody is forcing you...

The girl working the pick-up food counter was rude and unhelpful. I placed my order on the app along with my drink order, and I specifically wrote in the instructions "Please include drink cup," since the Panera here is notoriously bad for never including a drink with a mobile order. My cup was not included with my food order, so I asked if she could give me the cup, and she says "you have to go over there and get it," pointing to the line of a dozen people or more waiting to place their order. I am holding my food order of a hot cup of soup and expected to wait in line behind all those people IN ORDER TO GET MY DRINK, and the irony is I use the app to avoid the long lines. I have placed mobile orders at many other Panera locations while traveling and they always include my drink, but for some reason the Johnson City location NEVER includes a cup with your food order, and you have to take your hot food to the line to even pick up your drink. I am getting tired of the rudeness of these employees and their unwillingness to walk a few feet and get the cup in a matter of 4 seconds, but instead I'm forced to waste several minutes of my time in line. Please PLEASE address this with your staff, as I can't be the only one dealing with this issue with...