Panera Bread — Restaurant in Live Oak

There was a time when Panera Bread was known to myself as a vibrant, and sofisticated bakery and eatery. The service used to be helpful, happily given and courteous. Today, I was surprised by what I found at Panera Bread at The Forum. A cashier very much unhappily serving the customers, so I opt to utilize the self-serve kiosk, ordering a cup of coffee, a cranberry chicken sandwich and a chocolate croissant. As I was directed to the pick-up kiosk for the cup of coffee, allI saw was mayhem, a bunch of young workers trying to expedite orders left and right, not very friendly one asked me, "how can I help you?" In a tone of, "you are bothering me with your presence", one handed me a cup for the self-serve coffee and to my surprise all the carafes with different flavors of coffee were cold to the touch! The half and half was almost empty and I grabbed the last 4 packages of brown sugar available. I dare not ask anyone to reheat the coffee for me, so I returned and finished filling my cup with which ever carafe had the warmest coffee in it. I proceeded to find a booth, which I had to grab a few napkins and cleaned not only the table top but the seats as well, full of crumbs from a previous patron. The best part of Panera Bread, was the quietness and tranquility it brought to me. The subtle sounds of the kitchen staff preparing orders, the laughter of other patrons with a now and then scream of a child, the buzzing table beeper letting each of us know our order was ready for pick-up. Well, all I could hear today was mostly a worker, possibly the manager or assistant manager, screaming out guests names as if we were in some king of whole-in-the-wall New York dinner. Don't get me wrong, she was doing her job, she was actively trying her best to get the orders off the counter to perhaps what were customers not paying attention to their text message to pick-up their order, she was simply making more room for the cooking staff to finish their load in a timely manner. But in the process, the whole charisma of Panera Bread was lost! My sandwich is no longer what I remember, now the cranberry and turkey salad from any local HEB supermarket taste much better than what I was eating. My usual favorite pastry, warmed up for me and served in a plate with a fork and knife was given to me in a to-go brown bag as if the rest of my order wasn't dine-in. When I got to my pastry I noticed it was cold to the touch, so I asked for it to be warmed up for me. I was directed to the microwave, under the self-serve coffee bar so that I could do it myself. Given the explanation that since I already took it to my table they could no longer return it to the kitchen, I said "ok, thank you", just to see both the yelling worker and the kitchen staff just looking at me as if I was wrong to even ask! As I sit here, eating my lunch, I see the filthy booth I'm in and can't help to fill grossed out of even eating here. The prices are still high for any meal or bakery item here, but I come to Panera Bread for the whole experience I'm accustom to pay for. Let's be honest, there is nothing outlandish about the meals or baked goods here, I come for the treatment and I know it reflects on the high prices I pay to eat here. But now? The high prices are simply not worth the treatment of sitting here and eating a meal! The pastries here are comparible to any Central Market or Whole Foods, Panera Bread is not the only one serving pastries. So now, I will think about returning to Panera Bread twice before actually choosing it as my go-to spot for good hearty goods or bake goods. So sad to see such a booming and happy place go to this low expectations. Is it the actual staff working here or the lack of enough staff being given to the location by corporate? I'd say it's corporates fault for over working the staff and not providing sufficient members to do the clean-up of the tables, fill up of the coffee and cold beverage bars and so forth. That yelling lady? She is a team player, when all past, I could hear her congratulating her staff with a, "great...

This is the second time I ordered from Panera at this location and the second time my order was wrong. It didn't call the first time but the second time I decided to. I've been watching what I've been eating but today I wanted soup and potato chips. It's been pouring rain for the last 2 days and I wanted comfort food. During the torrential downpour, I will Panera to pick up my order. I ran in and ran out. I got back to the hotel only to find out there were no potato chips. Have you ever been on a diet had a craving and finally said I'm going to give in for this one indulgence? That was me today only to find out they messed up the order again. This time I called. I asked for the manager and this girl transferred me. I asked for a credit for my soup and potato chips. She explained to me that she could only give me the credit for the potato chips as her manager would have an issue if she credited the whole meal. Funny enough I thought I was talking to the manager. Now I'm irritated that she didn't identify herself as not being the manager when I specifically asked for one. I probably would have taken the credit for the potato chips but now that she was being deceptive I wanted to speak to the manager as I originally asked. This non-manager told me that the actual manager would be in in about an hour....That was Saturday at 1:30 p.m. I'm still waiting. You can't possibly tell me that Panera had a mad rush all afternoon into the evening and the manager could not call me back.I have never had one problem at other locations of Panera and now the same location within two weeks I've had two problems. Horrible customer service! There are too many other choices in this area to settle for this...

I just picked up the order I placed on the app. I checked my bag because often times my order is missing something. There was no salad dressing and I asked if I could have some. First I was told it was in separate containers and after they looked to confirm it was not there, I was told it was on the salad because the girl that made it put tons on it. I did not see any on there and asked for some (just in case) and she had to describe exactly where she put it. I still didn’t see any and asked for more which seem to put her out. Not to mention, they have never put salad dressing on my prior to-go salad orders…why today? I then noticed that the avocado looked not only really brown but a bit slimy like it had been sliced and waiting there a few hours. I asked if I could have fresh avocado and she responded that she would see if they had any. The same girl that argued with me about the salad dressing told me that she likes her avocado with dark spots and felt the need to tell me about how brown avocados taste no differently than fresh avocados and reluctantly gave me a slice that looked not quite as bad but it was not fresh! Then, there was an eye roll and the other girl started giggling at the situation. I said this is not funny to me! She smiled and said, very coy…I don’t know what you are talking about. Okay…whatever! These girls in the kitchen need to get it. This is not a game…it’s my dinner, my hard earned money and I think I’m have a right to ask about salad dressing and a brown avocado. I think my days of going to Panera are over and that’s sad…I often stop on my way home from work but the missing items recently and now the poor, sarcastic service is just...