Panera Bread — Restaurant in River Forest

This particular Panera is always a disheveled mess every time I've had to come here. My order has been wrong multiple times in the past, staff is often unfriendly and also just seems to have no idea what is going on. But today in particular was the worst ever. Disclaimer: it's a Saturday at lunch time. Obviously it's going to be busy. I expected a wait. The place was completely packed, no open tables, food and trash everywhere. Staff running around frantically. I waited in line for about 15 minutes and when I got up there, the cashier informed me it would be about a 20-25 minute wait. Not ideal but I told her that was fine and agreed to wait. While I waited, I could hear the guests around me all completely frustrated. Most of them were NOT informed of the extra long wait as I was. Every single customer around waited over 30 minutes for their food. Mine ended up taking almost 40, and it was also wrong (I didn't have time to wait for them to remake it so I just ate it anyway). Not only are the expectations not being set effectively, but this is a chain known for quick service. No matter how busy you are or understaffed, there is no excuse for this level of service. I feel bad for the poor manager. He was the only person bringing food to guests, and also seemed to be the only pleasant and competent employee. This place needs a complete staffing overhaul. This was a nightmare for everyone involved,...

Horrible experience. I was the first person in line and asked the hostess if there were any gluten free options. She said that if they did, they would be labeled on the menu, which they were not. I asked what ingredients were in the Baja Warm Bowl and she said they can’t tell me the ingredients and they can’t necessarily know if it’s gluten free because they get the ingredients from the Panera company. I asked to speak with the manager. She came back and said the manager is very busy but I could wait to speak to him over on the side. When I spoke with him, I asked what might be gluten free on the menu or if there could be small alterations to my meal, for example, grilled chicken instead of breaded. He said the Baja Bowl had grilled chicken and then told me the ingredients which all were gluten free. When I went back to the line, there were 6 people in front of me.When I got back to order, the hostess asked “Do you want me to read you the ingredients?” Even if there are no gluten free options labeled on the menu, restaurants should still understand that anything should be available for alterations for allergies. The restaurant should know that Gluten-free...

I wish I could give them more stars, since they are so close to me, but I can't. I've been here about 4 times since I moved to this neighborhood, and although I love the fact that they have a fireplace (a working one!) they are quite haphazard about the orders. Examples? I ordered a flatbread sandwich which I was hoping would come toasted, but got a wheat bread sandwich (with the correct ingredients). It would've been nice if they told me they are out of flat bread! I ordered an ice latte one afternoon, but got a hot drink instead. they were nice enough to offer me a cup of ice for a make your own, but i couldn't have the dairy version they brought me, i had ordered an almond iced latte. i did get one you pick two meal where they warned me they are out of ingredients and also when it was just after 10 and no breakfast items. So, in other words, order with caution, but otherwise a very pleasant location to get some quality work done....