Panera Bread — Restaurant in Knoxville

Panera-pocalypse 2025 This place is an absolutely disaster. Visited today at 11:25, placed an order with a trainee for one bagel and one order of kids Mac and cheese. Fought through crowds of people in the galley to get a fountain drink near the disgusting beverage station (looks like it hasn’t been tended to in days)

After finding a small table with crumbs and sticky mess all over it, I helped myself to the Sani wipes that sit half open on top of the garbage can for customers to clean with themselves. My kids were starving and it had been 20+ minutes by this time. I kept staring at the pager wondering if employees were even buzzing them or just shouting orders instead.

I worked my way up to the food line and asked for my order to go, since by this point my kids were fussing and crying. Susan, who wasn’t in Panera attire and I assume was a manager, barely looked me in the eye when I kindly asked her if I could get my order to go. She responded with, there are 32 orders and we only do six at a time so you’ll have to just wait. Since waiting was no longer an option for me, I kindly requested A refund. Visibly annoyed, Susan told me to meet her at the reception area, where she gave me a refund and did not speak one word during the process.

The only employee, and I truly meanthe only employee who is kind and gracious at this location is a sweet black woman, who I can never catch her name. She always greets people kindly, and she offered us a cookie for our Inconvenience. Without her this location would be even more of a dumpster fire than it already it. (I think her name is Charlease based upon other reviews)

I emailed corporate and I truly hope that this location can get an entire remodel, get some motivated new staff, and turn things around for Knoxville. This is a very popular location, and their popularity is the only thing that is keeping them afloat. Please do better and understand that customers do not want to wait 30 minutes for a bagel and mac & cheese, we understand that crowds come in and you guys get extremely busy, but you cannot expect patrons to wait 30+ minutes for a...

The worst bowl of oatmeal I’ve ever had the displeasure of paying for—truly disappointing. It was thick and congealed to the point that I could cut it with a knife, cold when it’s supposed to warm you up, and completely bland. The only saving grace was the upcharge for cinnamon and brown sugar, and even that barely helped. Without it, the oatmeal would have been completely inedible.

Adding to the frustration was the server’s unpleasant attitude. If taking an order at 8 a.m. feels like a Herculean task, perhaps a different line of work would be more fitting.

I hadn’t been to a Panera in years and used to love the brand, but this experience has definitely soured me. The food was overpriced and subpar, making the experience even worse. If you’re spending that kind of money, you’re better off at First Watch. While it’s also pricey, at least they make you feel welcome.

Overall: This visit was a letdown—poor food, poor service, and not worth the price. I won’t be coming back...

This is one of the best meals that has ever graced my wide mouth. Despite being delivered by DoorDash, it was still better than most in person meals I’ve eaten. I can only imagine how it tasted straight at the restaurant and I am drooling at the thought of that as I type this review. I of course have to thank the DoorDash driver who brought the food to me still very warm and the driver was rewarded VERY handsomely for his service to this nation. Now for the food itself, the bread was more salted than usual which was a very welcome surprise and the bread and meat themselves were warm which is something I don’t usually get from Panera. Additionally, the chips were a lot more crispy and salty than usual as well, almost as it they were delivered straight from the factory and almost as if Panera knew it was my birthday! It also helped that I was given a free pastry by Panera for the same reason. God bless Panera Kingston Pike. This is the American Dream that I...