Panera Bread — Restaurant in Northfield Township

I have things I usually like at panera. I like the Chai. Also like the blood orange lemonade. I like the tomato soup. And I like the broccoli mac n cheese (cup and bread bowl). And numerous bakery items are tasty snacks. I went outside my Panera experience and went with something that I love at other non-franchise establishments. Oops! The Modern Caprese is absolutely gross. I wish I would have taken a pic of it before I pulled it apart into a mess that looks like a hawk disembowled it. I want to make it known that the employees are not to blame. Clearly, the persons responsible for disseminating corporate info on new sandwiches failed. The Modern Caprese has a delicate balancing act of flavors. It is extremely easy to make. But it is not a hot sandwich. In fact, cooking the sandwich like a panini completely ruins the most basic characteristic of a Caprese: it's fresh ingredients. Fresh Mozzrrella is delicious. But when warmed up in a panini, 8t becomes rubbery and tasteless. Basil and tomatoes are great toppings. But when warmed up, the fresh mozzarella becomes limp and slimy. It gets difficult to distinguish a Caprese that sat out in the sun all day from one that was heated up quickly by the Panera panini oven. Why did I give 3 stars when this failure was such a huge bomb? Because the employees did their jobs. And if they had been trained to make the Caprese hot and to cook the fresh ingredients until limp, well, than there can be no fault in service. So, the total loss of stars would be warranted, except that service was quick, the store was clean, and they made a yummy chai. Panera... corporate people at Panera... serving the Caprese hot is akin to boiling a table salad and serving it steaming hot. Gross, right? Same with the...

I am a sip club member so I get to visit different Panera locations while I’m out driving places & I’m usually pleased.

I must say that this isn’t the most terrible place i have visited but for being in a more upscale community, I expected more.

What a huge difference from the Panera Bread just a few blocks down on Skokie Blvd in Northbrook!!! (& I expected that one to not be great because it’s location)

This is the first Panera I visit where the tea bags are not available for self serve. What that means is that one doesn’t have the option to choose wether we want one or two tea bags or mix them or change our minds at the last minute. It also means one has to WAIT for the Panera staff to get to our order! For 1 simple little tea- wait 5-7 minutes???? I don’t think so!!! Especially not if you’re in a hurry.!!! That’s what there sip club is supposed to allow us to do; Walk in, serve ourselves & walk out!

Oh, & did I mention that the woman who was behind the counter was very bothered by me asking where the tea bags were & where the hot water was! She was in such a bad mood & it was only 8:45am

Attention Manager of this location: please provide for a better experience and make the tea bags available for customers to serve themselves! Like every other Panera!!! & check levels of water & coffee right after the morning rush to refill quickly!

(Shouldn’t have 3 jugs/carafes empty all at the same time)

Perhaps Panera could invest in having 2 of each jug/carafe so that as soon as one is done, it could quickly be replaced. Coffee should always be hot & brewed & ready to be swapped after morning rush! I’m sure the managers know their traffic...

This Panera has by far the worst customer service I have ever experienced. I called as there was a mix up with my order. The manager was very rude and was interrupting me every time I tried to explain my situation and I ended up hanging up as I was driving and wasn’t able to give her the information she was demanding from me. I say “demanding” because she was making me feel like I was lying about an order I placed in and made me feel like I was trying to get a free meal. When I called back again I was on the phone with another lady who kept telling me my order wasn’t there for 5mins just for her to finally confirm my order was there. She then proceeded to ask me what I wanted her to do about it. I do not know the companies policies or what they do when situations like this arise as I’m not an employee there. I was highly disappointed in the gaslighting I experienced as well as putting all the blame on me without a solution in the end. I’m still out $20 because of this. This location is only minutes away from my house, but if I ever choose to go to Panera again, it will definitely be at a different location. Read your reviews ahead of time. If I had done this, I would’ve seen they are just terrible at customer service. A couple hours of training in this subject would only benefit the...