Einstein Bros. Bagels — Restaurant in Palatine Township

DO NOT TIP THE EMPLOYEES OF THIS LOCATION - EVER.

There's a reason these people get paid $15 an hour... if making bagels and providing customer service is too difficult, of course they won't be able to get jobs anywhere else doing anything worthwhile, ever.

This location has 1 little bagel toaster that creates extremely long lines and usually the wait times are anywhere between 10 and 18 minutes. I have photos to prove this if needed from multiple visits to this location.

My issue today is that I got there at 8:23. I ordered an "All Nighter" bagel. I got a sandwich at 8:33 and the employee shoved a grease soaked paper bag (on the outside) to me. You can confirm all of this on your security footage. I then asked her to please give me napkins and please change out the bag. I couldn't put that down on my car seats, it was really oily.

When the girl (black girl with glasses) handed me the new bag I said "You guys should focus on better presentation and customer service next time" as she slammed the little window in my face.

Fair enough. I got home only to find I had the wrong bagel, one with sausage in it.

When I went back to the store to speak with the manager, a rotund Indian or Latino lady, couldn't tell. She didn't professionally skirt me off to the side to inquire about my issue. Nope, with a restaurant FULL of customers (again, check your cameras) she went about making more bagels and said "I can give you a refund or a replacement sandwich".

Here's my issue: I drove there, waited, drove home, sat at my breakfast table to enjoy my bagel, saw the wrong sandwich, drove back to your location and didn't even get an apology for the garbage attitude or mistake? Come on guys. This chain used to be so professional. You're not White Castle or Taco Bell. You're a step above right?

When I told her the employee had been rude to me as she was processing the refund she shrugged, no acknowledgement.

My first concern as resident of this community is, do you guys need me to purchase / donate another toaster oven for this location? Making 2 bagels at a time when you have a line of 10 cars and people in your store is probably not the brightest idea. Please reach out to the owner. I have money and can help him or her out if they are struggling financially. I truly mean that, I can afford it.

Secondly, when you hire "managers", train them in professionalism and how to deal with customer inquiries. Their job is not to add gasoline to a fire, but rather to defuse the situation. I had already wasted an hour of my morning by the time I got BACK to the location and this Danny DeVito wannabee manager couldn't cope.

Look, this is not the first issue with this location, but I guarantee it is the last time I interact with these high-school dropouts.

Now, time to go look for...

On (4/15/23) I ordered (x2) Bacon-Avocado Tomato Sandwiches with (x2) eggs each and extra bacon for (x1) of them. One sandwich was ordered on the Spinach Florentine Bagel and the other on a Green Chile Bagel. The cashier re-confirmed the order details correctly. It took a while to receive the order. Once received, neither had extra eggs or extra bacon, and both were on plain bagels.

I informed the team of the issue and asked for a price deduction to reflect what I received. The line cook responded aggressively and aggravatedly, saying that he was not given the correct order details, hence why he got it wrong. This is false, we saw him making the food while I gave the actual order. He made the initial order by memory without paying attention to the extra items I wanted. I believe he was simply trying to make the food quickly. Not sure why as the store was fairly empty, not a lot of customers.

Also, instead of giving me some of my money back (to reflect what I actually received) or a refund, he instead denied my request and made (x2) extra sandwiches in an attempt to correct my initial order.

I did not want extra sandwiches, just a correction to what I paid or my money back. On top of that, the extra sandwiches were completely wrong as well. The only thing they got right with the extra sandwiches was the bagels this time around. They were not what I initially ordered & they didn't even use the chipotle sauce that comes default with the Bacon-Avocado Tomato Sandwiches. Overall terrible experience, with an unnecessary aggressive response from the line cook, and I will NEVER go to that...

I love this location for many reasons apart from the high-quality of the food. The manager Pretti is an outstanding ambassador of customer service for Einstein bagels. She and her crew consistently greet each customer, whether it’s a group order or an individual purchase, with the same warm, friendly manner, guiding people toward various items of interest , making suggestions and answering questions. The food is excellent and prepared timely always but what’s most outstanding is the people. and every person that I’ve encountered there under Pretti’s leadership recognize the customer as the most valuable asset to Einstein bagels. In a world where there’s so much competition in fast food and particularly in the breakfast and lunch market; Einstein bagels stands heads and shoulders above its competitors. The quality of the product is consistently great, but it is people like Pretti and the people who work at the Dundee location, that really make it our first choice. Such excellence is rare . Pretti and her team deserve to be acknowledged and rewarded. If you’re looking for great food Einstein bagels is a place to go -if you’re looking for great food combined with a wonderful,clean environment and great service. Stop in at this location in Palatine on Dundee...