Panera Bread — Restaurant in Plant City

UPDATE: Out of desperation, I went to Panera to get dinner tonight, after days of hurricane cleanup. I just wanted a Caesar salad - not a hard ask. No. They forgot to include my husband’s sandwich and my “Caesar” was nearly all iceberg lettuce. I went to check their website, and EVERY SALAD is now “romaine and lettuce blend.” In other words, Romaine got too expensive, so you are using the cheapest lettuce you can find. Bad move, corporate. I’m permanently gone as a customer.

Original review: I have given up complaining at this location because the change never seems to happen. For months, I have pointed out problems with their flavored teas. Several of them are incredibly weak, barely tinted water. I realize the machines are supposed to brew it for them precisely, but obviously the MACHINES ARE BROKEN! If staff was trained to recognize what the product should look like, they could avoid serving an inferior product. Today was the worst. Not only was my favorite tea made wrong again, my clam chowder was brown. Brown. Like someone forgot to add the cream. Seriously, learn your dang product! I will be making the drive to the Lakeland store...

The food is great and rarely an issue at this location. My issues have stemmed from unfriendly staff and cleanliness. I brought my daughter here for a nice birthday lunch. Our cashier wouldn’t make eye contact and kept looking away like she was so bored while we ordered. We then received my daughters Mac n cheese and the bowl and tray was dirty. There was what I can only think was soup residue left on her bowl and tray. I brought it to the crew working on the line, the guy just looked at me like I had three heads and didn’t say a word. His (maybe supervisor) coworker said “just remake it”. We stood there and waited. When he was finished remaking it, he very harshly slammed the Mac and cheese back in the dirty tray, without saying a word. The other guy said he was sorry about that. We took our food and went to find a table. They were all dirty. There was so many staff working but no one cleaning tables... in the middle of a pandemic. It was a disappointing...

My family has loved Panera in Plant city since it opened and we've eaten there at least 2-5 times a week. I went in about a month ago to find out you took the Big kids Grill cheese ( something I've ordered for my son for years ) off the menu and the only way to order it was by "building it" . I still ordered it and my grill cheese sandwich was over $10 ! . I expressed my dissatisfaction to female manager and she confirmed what girl at register told me and looked right at me and said " WELL DO WANT IT !"... There were people behind me on line and she put me on the spot and like an Idiot I said "yes". Well... Panera was a big part of my family's diet and myself or my family has never gone back nor will I ever give another dime to the company. Raising the price to over $10 on a grill cheese sandwich + being rude=lost...