Panera Bread — Restaurant in Owasso

If not for the KFC, this would be the worst restaurant in Owasso. My wife and I, not so jokingly, refer to this location as Panera NO Bread. I've only been there once when they DID have the bread I wanted. Usually, I order French Onion in a Sour Dough Bread Bowl... and, as this is the dish that built the franchise, you'd expect they'd always have it. Nope. By 7, they are out. And often out of bagels, rolls, and some of the other bread selections. And some meats, often, too. On the last visit, I had a 15 minute conversation with the manager. He explained (or gave excuses) that he doesn't have control over ordering... they get their bread from Springfield... they do not prepare it fresh. All they do is bake it. And what isn't used at the end of the day, he claimed, they give to charity. The orders are automated and based on the past two week usage. But, he can increase that manually, before 4PM, by as much as 10%... if he thinks he needs to. But, there's no way to increase more than that... and nothing he can do on days like Trail Days or other in town events that increase business more than normal. His excuse, for the day, was that someone came in and ordered several dozen bread bowls. He said that it's first come first serve and he doesn't limit on special or large orders and knows that if he fills such an order, he's going to run out. But, he allowed such an order anyways. He claimed they had run out this day before noon. --That is simply pathetic management.-- Of course, the back story shows this as well. When I put in my order, the girl at the counter said they were out. But, she was rather rude about it. When I decided to order a ham and swiss... you guessed it.. they are out of swiss. And ham. And she said so like it's just normal. When I asked her why they are out of so many things... again... she said "Well, that's just how it is, if you don't like it, leave." So that's when I asked for the manager... she didn't even bother to reply, even though he was standing less than 20 feet away. (but not wearing anything showing he was a manager) When I explained to him what she had said... he just shrugged. I told him he was a xxxx-poor manager and that no place should ever condone such rude behavior, even if they have a supply problem. Again he just shrugged. So, like KFC, until this place has everyone in it fired and replaced with a competent group of people......

It is no hidden fact, that Panera bread is extremely expensive. Sure, they have their competition here in town; they are also expensive. However, the staff in and of itself at this location, is truly poor. Poor Customer Service, poor training, poor sanitation, and overall makes your experience negative. I view this location as a simple coffee spot to do a business meeting, studying or maybe a Bible study. That’s what we’ve used it for multiple times on the inside; however, their drive-through is absolutely dreadful. One of the longest weights of any fast food place you will ever visit. Overall, the food quality is consistent and their coffee selection is diverse. The quality of said items items varies. I was leaning towards a three star rating, but based on multiple experiences, including some poor judgment calls by management team, I am forced to give them a two star. If I was judging it purely on the food, they are a three star establishment. If I’m basing it on the sit area, and the atmosphere of the needs mentioned above, they’d be a solid four star. When you can pile everything together and take consideration the staffing issues, the friendliness and speed of ordering, it goes downhill quickly. Not to mention, I feel like they never use their expedited shelving for pickups, primarily because by the time you get there, the orders are never ready....

This place is a health inspector’s nightmare.

Went in an hour before close, they had put everything up already and made a cute comment when I walked in, seemingly upset there was another customer for the night.

I get to the counter and try to make an order for a broccoli cheddar bread bowl for my sick mother and that’s when I see that all of the bread bowls were on the floor in a trashbag. Not in a bin. Not in a container. A thin, flimsy trashbag SITTING ON THE FLOOR.

I ask the guy if the bread bowl I order is going to come out of the trashbag and he literally told me “Yeah, but we’ll pull one off the top and it’ll be alright” I told them to have a good night and I walked right out of the door because bacteria FROM THE DIRTY FLOOR don’t differentiate between “top and bottom” of the bag.

Bacteria can permeate every surface, which is why sanitation and proper food storage is so important. That’s how people get food borne illnesses and die.

So I’ll leave you with this, people.

Atleast visit the store in person and go inside so you can tell you’re about to get served potentially dangerous food.

Because I can’t imagine how many people that may have even been immune compromised were served unhygienic food by people that lack the common knowledge or just didn’t care for...