Panera Bread — Restaurant in Prattville

If you're looking for a quick, convenient meal served with a side of surliness and glacial pace, then anywhere but here is your new favorite spot. I strongly advise you to save your money, your time, and your sanity by going literally anywhere else.

My recent visit was, without exaggeration, one of the most frustrating fast-food experiences I've ever endured. I arrived at what wasn't even peak lunch hour, and the line was barely moving. It took a full 35 minutes just to reach the counter, despite there being only three people ahead of me. The staff seemed to be operating in slow motion, shuffling aimlessly, and more interested in conversing amongst themselves than actually serving customers. The person at the register looked like they'd rather be anywhere else – a sentiment I quickly shared.

When it was finally my turn, I was met with a blank stare and a grunt instead of a greeting. No eye contact, no "can I help you?" – just an exasperated sigh when I started to place my order. I tried to be polite, asking for a simple combo meal, but my questions about drink options were met with monosyllabic answers and a dismissive wave towards the soda machine. When I politely inquired about the wait time for my food (after seeing several orders sit under the heat lamp for ages), I received an eye-roll that could have won an Olympic medal.

The rudeness wasn't limited to my interaction. I overheard a staff member snap at a child who innocently asked for ketchup, and another employee practically threw a bag of food at a customer who had been waiting even longer than I had. There was a palpable atmosphere of apathy and resentment emanating from behind the counter.

Unsurprisingly, when my order finally arrived (another 10 minutes after paying, bringing my total wait to 45 minutes.

This isn't just a "bad day" for the staff; it feels like a systemic issue. The service is beyond slow, and the attitude of the employees makes you feel like you're an inconvenience for daring to want food from their establishment.

Save your time, your money, and...

Visited this location or ordered from a few times a year before we just moved. They never disappoint. Ordered delivery through their direct service (otherwise you won't have full menu options if you use third party app like doordash, etc) to provide us a healthy meal as we finished last of packing on night before move. Everything was good quality and service was faster than estimated. Only downfall was small items were missing like salad dressing for one salad and the egg on another and one 86 item was put in salad. Nothing we couldn't easily word around. But usually their attention to detail is spot on so it was a bit of a let down there plus you kinda pay for higher cost salad when you get ones with egg. I do highly recommend this location though as this has not been my usual experience and my experience with them is usually above and beyond. In past I've even gone through drive through for just drinks and dog is with me and they don't do pup cups but my dog thinks all drive thru=pup cup so they have even went above and beyond to make my sad pup happy with a smidgen of whipped cream. Something small to make him feel special still. Not many ...

I submitted an online order last night for 2 dozen bagels to be ready at 7:10am. I walked in at 7:15 to find only 2 workers and a massive line of people waiting. My order on the screen said it was ready but it actually had not even been started yet, then my order disappeared as if it had been fulfilled (you can imagine how much confusion this caused with later orders after mine). At 7:20 I asked when it might be ready and they said they didnt want to give me false hope and that they had not started it yet. Then they said "alright, I'll put everything else on hold for your order" in a sarcastic manner....well yes, I would expect that my previous nights order would be started first. I told them they didnt need to toast the bagels and then it was ready in about 5min. I am annoyed that I was meant to feel bad and such a large burden to ask for basic customer service. This is not the first time I've waited very long at this panera. I do not...