Panera Bread — Restaurant in Maryland

This used to be my neighborhood Panera and as a black resident in a predominately white area I never felt tension or racial intensity while visiting. I’m young enough to understand and know the atmosphere and climate we occupy and the fears and uncertainties we all face, however, the discomfort I felt upon one visit in one move could ruin an entire experience.

Yesterday, I visited the store and was greeted by my pickup order. I could not find my second order (as my device was lagging in service). I was then approached by a friendly young man at the register who helped me recover my second order (a large agave lemonade).

It wasn’t until I got to the drink prep counter that I felt uneasy. Not long after this discomfort, I noticed a young woman come around the counter and begin cleaning the area I was using to prepare my beverage. I took my time pumping the cane sugar and lemonade into my cup but was slightly agitated by the disruptive and intrusive cleaning around me.

I felt this was out of place and strange. Upon leaving the restaurant she remained at the county for several minutes following my preparations until finally wiping the same area we had been in for several minutes then disappearing behind the counter door.

I usually don’t do reviews, especially with regards to bypassing racial profile. However, that young man at the front of the store made this review 3 stars instead of one. Because as a black woman, trying to enjoy her life and live amidst everyone in this world, small micro aggressive tensions can set opinions aback quickly- both emotionally…and monetarily.

I will not visit this location as often as I would like as it’s convenient to home and work. But I do prefer the golden ring location in Rosedale.

I do not want to use this review to discourage other people from going in- hopefully my review is used more as food for thought and not fuel to disrupt without...

Although the food is still delicious, BEWARE what appears to be new management. Order 3 bagels toasted and sliced, 1 breakfast sandwich a drink and a frozen mocha. After 20 minutes the only things we had were the self serve beverage and a the breakfast sandwich from the lunch counter. However we did listen to the (what appeared to be ) new manager reprimand poor Emily (other employee) about how she didn't follow the poorly given vague directions on which register to put her drawer. We watched as the new manager pulled Emily to the front, while patrons tried to order breakfast at the busy counter, and asked questions after question (which obviously Emily didn't know but the manager didn't either) on how she was going to fix this and what to do now. After she dismissed Emily, the new manager pulled the senior manager over for guided on the situation and discover that because no transaction had taken place after the wrong drawer was put in this register, there really was no problem at all.

After all was calm we approached the new manager for help with our missing food and she took our receipt and walked away. Another cashier helped us and made our missing drink.

Now... as a customer I SHOULD NOT be able to tell you about the issue with Emily and her drawer. I SHOULD NOT have witnessed the manager creating more issues than necessary with her staff. I SHOULD NOT have been dismissed by said manager after informing her of our missing food and helped by a different employee. The manager needs to learn how to manage herself a little better.

Thank you other employee for helping us with our order, I apologize for Motorola knowing your name. And Emily, life is too short to be treated that way. You deserve...

Went in to pick up an order I placed online and it wasn't ready. Manager saw me standing there waiting, rolled her eyes, put a different order on the shelf and went back behind the counter. I waited there for about 10 min more until finally I asked the cashier to check my food since I had gotten a message saying it was ready. She grabbed the bag behind her that I had seen before so that let me know my food was just sitting even though the manager saw me waiting. I looked through my bag to make sure my food was prepared correctly and they had put the fruit ON my salad even though I asked for it on the side. Then they put extra fruit in a container on the side along with cucumbers and tomatoes. I had asked for extra chicken and didnt see that. I went back to the counter and was told that the extra chicken was in the container allegedly UNDER the fruit and tomatoes and cucumbers. When I tried to explain what the order should have been the guy that prepared it came out and went back and forth with me instead of just fixing it. Then the manager comes out (the one that ignored me/rolled her eyes when I first got there) and tried to argue that the $3 mushy extra chicken was already in there so essentially I got what I ordered. After spending almost $40 for two salads and mac n cheese, wasting 30+ minutes of my time and being treated with that poor of service I told them to keep it all and refund me. And even then the manager makes a snarky comment "You won't get your money back for xx business days." NO APOLOGY!! NO RESOLUTION!! There food has never been "outstanding" and now just overpriced so after going through all of that I will never step foot in...