Panera Bread — Restaurant in Royal Oak

Addendum: this review is for the original location at Old Woodward and Maple Road in Birmingham dated from April 2017 and does not reflect on the new location at 13 Mile and Woodward in Royal Oak. I cannot comment on this location as I have not visited this new location.(March 13, 2020) I manage a conversation group that meets here every two weeks on Monday evenings. There are two managers who are very accommodating, so they deserve credit. However, there is one manager, M., who is really not suited to providing good customer service. At one point, in October 2016, she actually seemed to be bragging when she claimed that 'there were some kids in here who were not buying anything and were making noise, so I threw them out' (I am paraphrasing). This is the same person who later claimed that there was an agreement between Panera and our group and that we were to spend more because 'your group is not spending enough'. This is actually false and against company policy. Panera does not have a 'minimum spend policy' nor does it sign agreements with groups or individuals who meet there. Aside from some later 'altercations' about moving tables and chairs into the back meeting room, the issues seem to be resolved. However, now there is a young woman there who seems to be a protege of M. She spouts the same mantra of 'you are not allowed to move tables and chairs from the main restaurant into the meeting room'. Yesterday, four chairs were moved - and not by me. Later, one of the cashiers said something to me about 'we would prefer that you not congregate at the front area near the cashier'. So, I am confused..are other people or groups allowed to do so, but not our group? What prompted this new rule? Is this a noise issue? If it were, that would a complete fabrication that we are noisy. This location since October 2016 has had an overall bad reputation for customer service with our group. At one point, several people were honestly offended by M.'s attitude at closing time after a meeting in April 2017. This latest incident is cause for reassessment as to whether Panera as a whole even cares about...

I got take out on Friday morning 10/6/23. I ordered the pepperoni with cheese and chicken baguette. I knew I wouldnt be able to eat it until Sunday for my lunch. I ordered a bagel and cream cheese. I ordered a large coffee with vanilla and an espresso shot. I also ordered a second baguette for my husband. When my name was called, I went to the coy yet and looked inside the bag, dug around, and no cream cheese. Oh I packed the order myself, I must have not seen it. My iced coffee was warm and had no ice. I discovered as I was miles away that there was no vanilla in it either. Today, I finally open my sandwich, and there is no chicken on it. None. There are a few pieces of pepperoni and cheese and what apprears to be some thin tomato sauce, but no chicken at all. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. I am actually pretty angry. The one young woman who was about 5 foot 3 with the monster fake lashes was the one who said she packed the order herself. She was condescending when she said that. And then to get nothing even close to what I paid for for my sandwich or my coffee and to find out much later (yes that's my fault with the sandwich and the coffee, I should have tried the coffee at least, but after waiting for 20 minutes for my order, I was later than I had planned to be), makes me angry. My order came to close to $40 for all of it. I paid extra for items I never got and gave them a decent tip to boot. These workers were loud and rude when asking about the cream cheese or anything else. This is the WORST panera I have...

I came in with my son and ordered a breakfast sandwich, smoothie and a latté. Waited 20 minutes to receive our order, only to find the sandwich was made wrong. The lady was incredibly rude and dismissive about it, never offering an apology. We waited another 10 minutes for it to be remade correctly. Upon receiving the sandwich again, I politely asked for it to be packed in a to-go bag (since we were now late from the inconvenience). She immediately snapped at me harshly in front of my son and the many customers standing around. She reprimanding me for requesting it after the fact, and that I should have told her earlier. It was a humiliating and awful experience to say the least. Not only was there no free bakery item added for messing up our order, nor an apology, but I was yelled at and humiliated in front of everyone. I walked away in utter disgust with our plate and no to-go bag. Is it that difficult to hand me a to-go bag if it's too much of an inconvenience to pack it for us? The worst show of unprofessionalism I've ever experienced anywhere.

I emailed the manager about this terrible experience. He replied promptly and was very kind and apologetic. He offered to mail me some meal vouchers as a compensation. I appreciated his apologies and I accepted his offer but then never heard back from him, even after a few attempts to follow up. I never did receive any vouchers in the mail.

Definitely won't be returning to this location. The service is the worst of any Panera Bread location...