Panera Bread — Restaurant in Newington

This place was once the proudful amazing place.... Sadly, it has taken for the farthest worse you can possibly get. The place is absolutely filthy. The service is extremely slow, mind you, when the place is empty and there are no customers in line, nor any take outs being placed. There are times i have seen them prepare my food on the counter without a paper under it. Mind you, it was just used to make a meat sandwitch then they decided to put my bagel on it after wards. They have poor hygiene behind the counter. Not always wear gloves, or if they are wearing them, they touch draws, microwave , etc, as using the same gloves to make your food. They no longer serve your coffee in a dignified coffee mug as it once did. The cashiers are nasty. They make no eye contact. You really feel like you are the one who has to make them smile beca8se your not sure the kind of care you will get from their service. They are disrespectful. Act as if they are entitled to treat you the way they want.. The dining tables are always filthy. I have officially gone prepared with disinfectant wipes, knowing I will get a filthy table. They sweep the floors right under your feet.. disgusting ! 🫣 The bathrooms are gross. Employers just hold their random, dilly dally, conversations with eachother rather than focus on the customers. Always hearing them bickering at eachother and then come to the cashier with that same disposition ! I'm going there this week only to visit one of the employers, but I have given up with this place... I have been going here for years. Then I decided to stick it out, in hope perhaps a new manager will take over and etc. Because I really did love this place ... but sadly, it has only got worse. And it continues to get worse. The place is now pretty much empty even at lunch time, as opposed to it once being so full that it was hard to find a table to eat at. And mind you ... this is NOT just me complaining about this place as to where it is now in life.

They give the impression they will do right by you. I found out it's just to keep you quiet. I forgot my cell phone at home. Today us my daughters due date to go into labor. I was with an elderly woman(90s). I asked them.if they. Would please call my husband and ask him to call here (panera) if my daughter goes into labor. Now, it's not like this is a daily request from everyone. They assured me they will. They took my number and was very direct that they would make sure. Guess what ? They never did. Why make somone belive you are sure to do something for them if it was never the plan in the first place. Just simply say NO if you not...

We stopped in for lunch as I wanted to try the new Asiago Bagel Chicken sandwich with green godess dressing.

You had the option of going to the kiosk or to the main register. As I still believe in customer service , I went to the person at the register. She was pleasant, but you could tell she was just going through the motions. Did she offer suggestions? No. Did she suggest add ons? No. Did she promote the brand as this was our first time here. Not a chance. She seemed more annoyed that we didn't know what we wanted or how to order it. Well, somehow, we got it all done, and my spouse was dealing with sticker shock. We're things really this expensive? Yup. No one told us how things worked, so we improvised. Found a table, got our drinks, then realized we had to go get our order. Staff was trying to look busy for the most part. When I went to go get our order, I was asked by staff if we had gotten our drinks. I informed them that we had. The look of annoyance was definitely clear.

The outward appearance of the dining area was clean. I give them kudo points for that. The kitchen staff really wasn't too busy but the food was presented nicely.

Now, that Asiago bagel was NOT A BAGEL. it was an Asiago hamburger bun. Call it what it is. Bagels are dense and chewy. I was disappointed when I bit into my sandwich. I purchase those bagels at the grocery store all the time. A bagel it was not. The sandwich was okay. It wasn't awful, but it was bland. I couldn't taste the green godess dressing as there was just a drizzle on the sandwich. My expectations were dashed. 😥 My spouse got the full sandwich of the chicken blta. He said it was okay. We spent $30 for okay sandwiches, 2 bags of chips, two drinks, and one pickle spear. It really wasn't worth it. My spouse needed to use the restroom before leaving and reported that the men's bathroom had a urinal out of order, and trash was all over the place. Ew! I opted not to use the ladies' room for fear of the same. Will I be visiting this facility again? Maybe. You really all know what that truly means. It's overpriced, not what they say it is, but more of...

I love Panera bread, but they have to start being mindful of who they hire. Today I went in for a bowl of chicken noodle mostly broth. Before anything this young ratchet lady was NOT feeling being there (body language and tone) I asked for the soup mostly broth, which her reply was we can’t do that there’s no way. In which I calmly and nicely said that’s fine I know it won’t be all broth but as best as possible. She then follows it with a snotty what else! I said a large fountain drink, her response what else! I said the drink. She says besides that what else! I’m like wth is wrong with this girl (in my head) so then I asked for the cup and she says it’s in the middle of the room kiosk. I said where are the large cups? Oh you didn’t say large! I’m about done at this point. So I asked her are we good? I ask it that way cause the way she is coming off at me it’s like she knows me and dislikes me. She said and I almost fell over when she did, “You have an attitude”, (mind completely blown) wait what!?!??? I let her speak and then I started to speak about it since two people cannot talk at once and I wanted to clear up whatever messed up way she filtered it. The worst part is that when I went to the manager Isabel (name given) she DID NOT give two f**ks. She literally acted like nothing and blew my concern away. I’m flabbergasted by this. I’m a laid back chill person and for this to have gone down I feel like I was in the freaking twilight show. I swear I almost thought a tv show was pranking me at first. Panera needs to retrain these people and if you can’t do customer service or you don’t like to work leave it for someone that actually does. Never again will I visit this store. I will gladly drive somewhere else and tell all the social media sites etc of this messed up crazy rude and terrible treatment. These are one of those moments where I wish I was a Karen, and flipped out etc. Shame on you Panera for allowing these treatments, and employees to...