Panera Bread — Restaurant in Natick

Consistently awful. I’ve given them numerous attempts, and every time they screw something up. Last time, I ordered lemonade, and it was fermented well beyond the point of being edible. No surprise there; that’s almost always the case at this location. So I asked for another cup and got tea. That was fermented, too—it must’ve been sitting for days, as it’s pretty hard to get tea to ferment to that degree. They could’ve relabeled it as homemade kambucha and charged twice as much. The panini looked like it had congealed on the underbelly of a slime monster. I’m pretty sure if they had bothered to cook it, at least the cheese would’ve melted. (I really hope it was cheese, but it was hard to tell.) But even then, it would’ve been inedible because it was covered in salt. And they were out of sourdough loaves because they’re always out of sourdough loaves, but that didn’t keep them from charging me for one. The time before that, they marked the order as complete without filling it. When I brought them the receipt, they couldn’t find any record of it, but apparently it had also happened to someone else. When I finally got my food, it was the other person’s order. And the time before that... well, you get the picture. I have no idea how this place is still open; the Natick health inspector must be slacking.

At least the managers are always polite. They never give me any trouble over refunds; seems like they’re used to it. None of the workers seem happy, though, including the managers; the whole place wreaks of despair. Considering they charge nearly $3 for fermented lemonade, I’d expect them to treat their employees...

If my rating was to reflect the quality of service provided by the workers at this location, I would have given them 5 stars. I docked 2 stars because this location does not have a tip jar, instead opting for food bank jars. While food banks are a noble cause, I believe customers should have the option to give gratuity to the workers. I highly doubt that Panera Bread pays all their workers a living wage (at least $21.88/hr for a single adult without any children), so I find it deeply offensive that this location does not have a tip jar available. WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE! UNIONIZE! Both the bourgeoisie and the managerial class will not willingly concede any of their power; workers will only gain the Dignity and Liberty we are owed thru Collective Action & Solidarity! I will not order food from this location until they change their policy & implement tip jars (regardless of whether they continue to have food bank jars at the cash...

We love the food but the service is awful. Ordered curbside pickup as I have my 3 & 5 year olds with me and didn't want to have to leave them alone in the car. Pulled up outside, ordered on the app, pressed the 'I am here' button and it said 'we will bring the order out to you when it's ready'. Waited and waited... finally after 20 minutes I ran inside to check on my order. Turns out it had been sitting there for 10 minutes and nobody had bothered to bring it out to my car. When I said 'I thought you were going to bring it to my car' the staff member just handed it to me without any apology. I saw at least one other customer have the same issue, she had clearly ordered curbside pickup but had also been forced to go inside to get her order. Why even offer it as an option if it's never done? As a result the flatbread pizza was a little cold by the time we ate it. Very...