Panera Bread — Restaurant in Naperville

I recently visited the showplace location. During lunch time the restaurant was getting a bit loud, so loud that I wasn't able to hear my call that I was on. I decided to step outside and sit at 1 of the tables( non of the tables were occupied outside) so that I could hear. The call lasted about 30 minutes. After I came back into the restaurant, all of my belongs were missing from the table that I was sitting at on the inside of the restaurant. I went to the register area and asked 1 of the managers If she knew what happened to the items that were at my table. She informed me that she removed the items because no one was at the table and it was busy. Keep in mind that I visit this location often and she walked past me multiple times while I was sitting inside. I am positive she seen me sitting at the table when I stepped outside because I was sitting on the opposite side of 2 floor to ceiling windows( at the time she was continuously wiping down the tables in the dining area). After she handed me my items I noticed that some of my belongings were missing. I asked her what happened to the rest of my items and she informed me that she had threw them in the trash. She didn't offer to retrieve my items from the trash nor did she even offer an apology for removing my items and throwing some of them away. In addition, when I tried to explain to her that I had to step outside because I couldn’t hear my call due to the noise level she rudely looked at me and said “ it’s a restaurant” and walked off. I frequently visit this location and other locations in the area and many of the staff members know me by face and/or by face and by name. I often recommend Panera to friends/family/co workers because of their good customer service, their variety of food options , and their fairly decent pricing. As a loyal Panera customer I am truly disappointed in this...

Horrible experience/service during the lunch hour at this Panera Bread. When I was giving my order at the register, I inquired about their take two combo (as I never ate at Panera before), but after hearing more details, I informed the employee that I will order a full sandwich (because the combo only gives half sandwich). So I ordered 2 whole sandwiches for my partner and I, but instead I received 1 whole sandwich, a half sandwich, and a piece of baguette (which I never even ordered, but it came with my whole sandwich as a side). Mind you that the employee never asked me what side I wanted and just chose the baguette for me because of course I want 2 sandwiches and a baguette because that is the best combo (sarcasm).

Eventually, when I got my order, I told them about the error and the manager attempted to resolve it by redoing the order and informing the kitchen to make another half sandwich. Only problem was that the kitchen was pretty backed up and I had to wait another 5-10 minutes for the remainder of my order and my initial order was getting cold. When I told the manager if I could cancel the other order because my food was getting cold, the manager just told me that the sandwich is in the oven and about to come about and made no attempts to resolve the issue of my previous order getting cold because of their error.

Overall, food was okay at best, probably didn't help that it was lukewarm (bit overpriced IMO), but I felt the service was horrible. I would probably only go when I know it's not busy because they obviously can't handle a big lunch rush hour...

This Panera is the crown jewel of Naperville and Teri is one of the reason I think it is, of course everyone is awesome here but Teri is the best, may because I interact with her a lot :)

There are people in the world whose sole desire to make others life happy and joyful, to make others smile and that's something which makes them happy. This is such a beautiful approach to life and it's the only way one can get true happiness and joy, and I think Teri knows the secret. I hope and pray that others are touched by her true love for other fellow human being and can aspire to follow her path as she retires from this Panera and moves on with her life.

I will definitely miss her, her saying Hi Amir everytime I walk into the Panera, greeting me with the most honest smile and starting conversation on how I am doing. These are simple words and sentences, but it always have lasting impact on people's life!

I wish Teri all the best in life, a happy, joyful, peaceful, healthy, loving and wonderful retirement, wherever she goes. And I am sure she will radiate her love and light of joy and wisdom to everyone she interact with. It's really natural for her :)

We will miss you Teri, stay always blessed.

With lots of love and...