Panera Bread — Restaurant in Plainfield

How many things can go wrong in one visit? So far two, and I hope that's it for the day. I walk in, two workers are standing behind two registers smiling and talking to a customer that's standing by the coffees. It was quite nice to see the workers be so friendly, but it was uncomfortable to be ignored because of this. So there I stood, trying to make eye contact with either of them, but they didn't acknowledge me. I then got Literally in front of one of the workers, right behind the register, but he continued the small talk with the costumer. I started to walk away, and go to the bathroom instead, and that's when he finally acknowledged me. Too late I changed my mind about ordering. I eventually order a sandwich and water. Fast forward 30 minutes later, I approached the counter to order a medium coffee. Paid, got the cup, turned around and there's no dispenser for dark roast coffee, so instead I went for the light roast. Sadly, it was cold and tasted disgusting. Disappointed, I go back to the worker and inform her that there's no dark roast and the light roast is cold. Her response, "oh yeah, they're making fresh coffee, they'll bring it." My thought: why the hell didn't you tell me that when I ordered? Bottom line, this Panera is not as costumer friendly as I would expect. Quite disappointed....

Overall my general experience here has been good as I come here regularly. However I left this morning feeling irritated by the young woman working. I was given my cold brew in a small cup rather than the large size that I ordered. When I asked about this mistake she responded that my drink comes in only one size without even checking the ticket to see what I ordered. I order this regularly so was immediately confused and clarified that it comes in 2 sizes. What made her poor response really stand out to me was the fact that the young man next to her was very accommodating as he immediately right after checked the ticket and without hesitation offered to make me a new one. I told him no that it was okay.. of course right after the fact that she had told him first. She then instructed him to just pour my drink into a bigger cup and put extra ice in there to ‘fill it up’. As the young man was grabbing the container of coffee to fill my cup, she impulsively went ahead and put a large scoop of ice into my drink (mind you, he was the one that offered to fix my drink for me, not her). She preceded to look at me almost as if it was her waiting for a reaction. Just a very awkward encounter.. her customer service skill set could...

Update 7/20/23: Their prices are ridiculous. Check out the half a sandwich that I got in the picture for $8.50 plus tax The best thing about Panera bread is their atmosphere. Sitting there with a cold drink and doing your work is probably the best scenario I can think of for any Panera bread.

Their food quality and taste is above average, but the prices have become unreasonable. Case in point: check out the pictures of the soup below this review. French bistro soup and Chicken tikka masala soup. $6.19 and $6.89 respectively (not including tax).

Their coffee is below average and Most of the time it's cold. To be fair, if you tell them, they will brew you a batch, but only After you tell/remind them. That's why I mentioned above sitting there with a cold beverage because those are always available ☺️

The fireplace that's iconic for most if not all Panera locations is wonderful and a nice warm place to sit by in winter. However, it's not always On either.

Service is decent. Used to be better before COVID.

All in all, go there if you want to chill with a friend or focus on some work. If you're looking for a good meal, there are much better options not far from...