Panera Bread — Restaurant in La Quinta

Well, I had just eaten breakfast at home, but I had some time to pass so I thought I would set out to graze a bit. And I came to this Panama Bread place and began. First of all, the place was a bit cold, but Anabelle, who took my order, warmed the whole place up. What a smile - kind of reminded me of the girls back home in St. Lou. In fact the whole place looked like a place in Lou called there the Bread CO. Now it's from Panama. Go figure! I love cinnamon, so I first ordered one of those cinnamon crunch bagels with some cream cheese slathered all over it. I even had them put some of it on the bottom of the bagels so I could lick the plate when I had finished . You know, all those little cinnamon grit-fire thingys fall all off and plop! right into that glued on cheese. So it makes the plate lickin a bit more productive. Next I moved right into a cinnamon crunch scone. What is a "scone" anyway? Seems like a stomped-on cupcake kinda like those flattened out frogs you see on the side of Highway 40 in the Lou. But, doggone it, it was good. Darned good AND the cinnamon crunchy things didn't fall off into the nest of cream cheese I had made for it! So, I had to lick off the cream cheese without the crunchy cinnamon do-dads. I remember what Mom - RIP - said about balancing our meals and needed some protein so I next ordered a spinach and artichoke souffle. Lordy was it good! Yummy ukeleles!! I loved it. And fast? I swear on a stack of New Testaments that Anabelle got this out to me faster than my bulldog Nuggy takes his call to nature in the neighbor's yard. And speaking of nature, it was my turn. Now I'm happy to tell you the restroom (or in aviation jargon the lavatory) was spotlessly clean. Furthermore, I took out my trusty tape measure to measure the height of the urinal since I have some mighty short and stubby legs on me because of my parents were - as we like to say in this politically correct world - vertically challenged. And YUP! I'm delighted to say that the Panama Bread company's urinal measured EXACTLY 16 inches from the floor to the rim. The ADA standards, of course, include a 17 inch rise, so Panama did their homework! And even I could make water without leaving a puddle. I washed my hands vigorously for 40 seconds, warm water, the whole magilla out of the Ebola play-book. And then did a pimp-roll up to the counter again to start scouting some dessert items. I tend to get a bit of gas with chocolate, so I asked Anabelle (still smiling, bless her heart!), for an orange scone. Again with the flattened out pancake/cupcake. Maybe a better name should be a pan-cup or a cup-pan, but who's complaining anyway? Maybe Baskin and Robbins will come out with an ice-cream SCONE!!! This orange SCONE was the little cherry on top of the hot fudge! Sooo delicious. So perfect. Made my tummy SO happy. Like when my mom brought home that happy happy puppy for me. That puppy was the happiest ever because he was born with TWO, NOT ONE, peters! So all in all this Panama Bread thing is the real deal. Call first to see if Anabelle is there. If not I'd ask when she was next working and pitch tent till then. If you give me some notice, I can meet you there and lead you through the menu. And we could re-measure the urinal height to see if we can work them for a few Benjamins by the old ADA urinal height shake-down. I have the lawyer, and all he does is make a few phone calls. The lawsuit jargon is all ready to...

I know a one star review is a bit harsh but read on, I think it’s warranted.

First of all, I really like Panera as it is quick and easy with a pretty good atmosphere. Since it’s five minutes from my house I would eat here 2-3 times a week for lunch. Because I live in a touristy area the self order/pay kiosks worked out great. Visitors sometimes have a little difficulty navigating the menu, and they usually wait until they are at the counter before deciding what they want.

I was in the La Quinta Panera five days ago and noticed 3 out of the 4 kiosks were out of service. The fourth was being used by a woman who swiped her card so many times she probably wore the numbers off of it. With eight people in line and only one cashier, I left and went elsewhere.

I went back today and used the only kiosk (seemingly) working. I stopped swiping before my card numbers were worn down. I asked an employee if it wasn’t working and she said they started having problems earlier today. ...wait? Today? The employee appeared to be a manager and without any other comment left the counter. As I entered the line, the family in front of me was involved in a deep Q&A about what lentil soup was, whether or not there were tomatoes in a salad, and whether or a scone was worth ordering. I left.

So here’s the problem: When management stops caring about the business, the employees stop caring about the business and the business starts to fail. This location has been showing signs of this for some time. The booths are worn or broken, cushions are ripped, and padding is worn. The lines are allowed to swell with no help being directed to provide service. Tables are often left dirty and the floors get pretty messy before they receive attention. Oh, and the kiosks are not repaired when they break, and management’s only response is to feign surprise.

When this Panera gets its act together I’ll go back. I’ll look for the sign that says, “Under New...

Ordered online today and asked for it to be taken to my car...which I have done like 10x during this quarantine. Said my order would be ready at 10:21 and got there about 5 mins early...parking lot looked full so I thought okay it might take a little longer to get my food. 10mins later nothing...and I kept seeing people go in and out with their food so then I was like okay then why isn't my order ready if I ordered online. I went inside after about 15-20 mins and it was not even full at alllll. I asked the manager about my order. He walked over to some cubby and said here! this is your order! So he says "oh it looks like you wanted it curbside and our curbside is on this side now. It's new, we haven't had it like this for long". So my point is if they knew and it said on the receipt what type of car I had and obviously wanted it curbside why not bother to check if I was outside. How are customers supposed to know that it has changed. Never said anything online, doesn't have any sign signaling that pickup locations have changed. Sandwich did not have all ingredients and my large drink tasted like water from sitting there for idk how long. Super annoyed and its the last time I go there. Not the first time I have had issues here. I have ordered inside and have been waiting for my food and the waiter/runner was just talking to the cooks and not even paying attention. Had me waiting there for about 20 mins as well and never once asked me what my name was for my order. Manager doesn't care so employees won't...