Panino's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Rockford Township

I drove 15 minutes away to get Panino’s as a thank you to my daughter’s boyfriend for assembling furniture for me. Panino’s has always been consistently good until tonight. Due to the snow and high winds I did not check my bag. I felt in it and it seemed my order was complete. Upon arriving home and unpacking the order the mostacolli I ordered for my daughter was not there. I checked the receipt and it was there. It was 7:50 so I contacted the store to make sure they would stay open for me as it would most likely be 8:05 by the time I returned. I was told o had to be there by 8:00 otherwise I could pick up the order tomorrow. I explained I needed the item tonight and I would leave immediately and that I found it incredibly insulting to be treated without accommodation for an error on their side, not mine. I asked to speak with a manager. The manager told me, “You shouldn’t have wasted time calling but just hurried back for your order.” I stated that I called to make sure they would be open but that would not be a problem going forward as I would never patronize their business again. Manager’s response, “We can well afford to lose a customer, one won’t hurt us.” I asked for a credit and manager was unable to give it to me tonight, she will call tomorrow. I am extremely disappointed in how this was handled. I know my friends and family will be when they hear about my experience as well. Thankfully Rockford has some outstanding Italian restaurants that o will patronize...

My husband and I went there to eat. We drove an hour and a half to get there because he knows I really like their food. We both got lasagna and he ordered light sauce. When I got the food from the counter they’d put Alfredo sauce on it and when I said he had asked for light sauce she argued with me and would not fix it (they also upcharged us $1.99 for Alfredo sauce). She would not give me her name or get the manager and they were talking bad about us in the back and kept staring at us and giving us dirty looks while we were trying to eat. When my husband was able to get the manager to talk to us the manager said the reason the girl refused to fix it was because I was apparently being rude and she fully supported this girl/supported not fixing it. She also refused to give me any info on higher ups. There are multiple witnesses (and I’m sure if they pulled cameras they’d see) to the fact that I was not being rude to either one of them. When I asked my husband after we left if he thought I was being rude even he said that I wasn’t being rude, but he could tell I was upset because my face got red and I was teary eyed part of the way through this encounter. Normally I give customer service workers grace because I know that mistakes happen, but after my experience here I will...

Update 2024: I know local business is hard. Prices are through the roof, I had an awesome discussion with the two ladies working the other day about the cheese they use. They did not care if you ask for the strips of cheese and they using the pizza cheese is just how they do it now. I’ve been asking for it how I think is good, and have been super happy! Still love them!

I want to like it again so bad. I have been trying to give them a chance every few months for the past two years hoping they would get their acts together. They have let me down in that their bread is not always fresh anymore, they don't use quality sheets of cheese like they used to, and it seems like they've changed their sauce (? I might be crazy in this one). It makes me so sad, I've loved this restaurant for so many years and it's like a part of me is dying with it.

I beg the owners to get it together. I know it seems petty to say cheese makes the difference, but it does! For a $5 sandwich I need to have something that will make me want to spend $10 for lunch. Please get it fixed so I don't finish lunch every time I go here saying this will be...