Panera Bread — Restaurant in Lexington

Love their asiago cheese focaccia loaf. I like to mix their tomato soup with their chicken wild rice soup. Pecan braids are a hidden gem here. Got all that on Friday and they gave me a wonderful bag of thin sliced focaccia loaf as requested. Went back on Sunday at the drive thru for another Focaccia loaf and asked for it thin sliced. Got a strawberry smoothie as well. When at the ordering microphone they asked twice what I wanted. Got the the pickup window and they asked again what it was I wanted. Uhhh are you people even listening?? It was a simple order. Thin sliced asiago focaccia loaf. The loaf slicing machine inside that I saw them use when I was there Friday has one side with wider slices and the other side with thinner slicing grooves. There’s only two choices. Wide or thin. Which you confirmed three times at the drive-thru windows but yet I got home and opened the bag and found my bread thick sliced as well as unfortunately also HALVED! ??? Ughhhh. Can you please teach all your new employees how to use the bread slicer. I wanted it THINsliced for crostini presentation with layering of turkey and cheese, not thick sliced for pushing food or dunking in olive oil and balsamic. I know the difference because the slicing they gave me at the drive thru on Sunday is bigger than the thin sliced I got when i ordered it indoors at the counter and they sliced it on the machine in front of me on Friday at the same store location on Nicholasville Rd. this one you gave me on Sunday was a mess torn in half. I’d like a replacement please.

The indoor dinning is now closed apparently since Nov2021. You can order inside at the counter and the restrooms are open but dirty. The potato soup is no longer listed on the menu board inside. The Pecan Braids are fabulous. They have a small microwave inside under the coffee machines for public use. The dinning room has in the past been difficult to navigate for accessibility purposes due to tables and chairs being so tightly cramped together without a designated access path thru the seating area. You would have to go thru the indoor pickup window walkway to get access to either the front or back tables but could not easily get to the center of the dinning room without needing some chairs or tables moved out of your way. There is good accessibility to the inside from the parking lot with designated...

I have been to this location numerous times and the service was subpar overall. Every once in a while you will run into customer service associate who is passionate about their quality of work and do their best to get the order right.

I arrived to my hotel room with no silverware and I requested for extra cheese and almonds on my salad and paid for it only to realize after arriving to my destination there was absolutely no nuts despite stressing on this at the drive through yet I paid for it.

As someone who takes pride in the work that I do I took the time to notify the manager(Matt) of my grievances. He apologized and offered me a free salad to which I declined as long as the concerns I had were addressed with the team not just for me but for all those who patronize their business.

Yesterday I stopped by and ordered the usual. Two Fuji Apple Salads and requested they fill my bowl with salad. Out of spite the salad bowls were nearly empty. They were not filled as I had requested and found out when i got to my hotel room. I was so stunned I did not bother to call and complain. I figured come on here and write a review which I had wanted to avoid initially which is why I reached out to the Manager.

If this restaurant cannot take the time to get orders right and ensure a positive customer experience for those who choose to patronize them I will warn those who are not aware. Take it from me. This was a terrible experience and won't happen again.

I will not be returning there ever again.

Stay away from this location if you can help it.

Management if you read this far, do what It takes to correct customer service for this...

I have frequented this fine eatery for a good while now, and a couple years ago this very establisment — Zandale Shopping Center Panera — changed my life. All due to one fateful encounter...with a particularly outstanding employee.

That employee? Well, I can't say here, as that may compromise their top-level operation. Not all heroes wear capes; in fact, this one wears a denim cap. To uncover their secret identity would be both a travesty and a disservice to fine dining.

In fact, the supreme level of service that has been proffered in the name of Paneran justice by this employee resonates with an intensity equal to that of the coming of Ragnarök. If the determination with which this employee brings to their profession were applied by the entire populace of the great nation of America, we would assuredly find ourselves in a second golden age.

Truly, wars have been fought over such quality, hardworking people willing to put their all into a Caesar Salad — which, by the way, is all I ever order. The most notable, of course, was Caesar's Civil War, one of the last baguette conflicts in the Paneran Republic before the establishment of the Paneran Empire (but you knew that).

In conclusion, life comes with many surprises, none of which compare to the joy of learning that your favorite restaurant has been blessed by the holy fervor of Zeus, in the form of a humble employee, named...well, you'll just have...