Panera Bread — Restaurant in Seabrook

I have been coming to this location for the last year and a half or so because it's convenient to my commute from North Andover, MA to Portsmouth, NH. I have also frequented the North Andover and Portsmouth locations during this same time period as well as a selection of other locations for one off visits.

By and large this location has the worst track record of running out of menu items of any location I've frequented. Exacerbating this situation is the fact that the front of house and kitchen seem to have little or no communication between them with regards to items being sold out leaving to numerous call-ups to the window to alter orders, some of which would affect the cost of a dish had this information been conveyed from the start.

In general, the staff (at least the older members (age not necessarily seniority)) have been very friendly and apologetic for the situation and make an effort to offer complimentary items to somewhat make up for the situation. Underlying all of this is a clear impression that this is a normal status quo (backed up by my own experiences), especially from the younger staff members whose exasperation with the situation sometimes shows through.

Based on what I've seen I have to think that this is a management and training issue. Management is not allotting for appropriate quantities of certain things when ordering or deciding on a production schedule. When you have a side that is served by default with half of your menu items you should not be running out well before closing. Further, employees are not being properly trained to convey these sell outs to their co-workers resulting in chaos for the customer. I have also seen any number of times multiple employees working together at one register to take a single order, many times faces I have seen before and therefore don't qualify for the excuse of a new employee under training. I cannot help but feel like the training overall at this location is lacking which once again rests at the feet of management.

This is one of my favorite locations in terms of store design and ambiance, but the eating experience is proving to be sorely lacking and causes me to think twice before stopping on...

Good service and food. Clean restaurant. I tried the Tuscan chicken sandwich and it was good. Bag of kettle cooked potato chips included. Food is pricey. Outdoor seating and online ordering available. Update: I had the Chipotle chicken avacado melt on tomato basil bread and it was good. Update: February, 2020; I had the Chipotle chicken avocado breakfast wrap and it was good. The medium roast coffee I liked. Update: March, 2020: Roast beef, egg and cheese bagel sandwich was good. Update; May, 2020; I used the drive thru since their remodeling. The staff was friendly and they wore masks. The bagel I ordered was not sliced straight and was burnt but, edible. The rest of my order was good, egg and cheese on a brioche roll and a chocolate croissant with coffee. I tried to order online but I couldn't enter my gift card because it was from a different company. They also said they had no croissants but they actually did. Update: Wednesday evening 🌆, April 2021; I ordered a margarita flatbread and brownie for dessert online. Both were good! It was ready at the requested time and pickup was easy. Update: Wednesday evening 🌆, May 2021; had a free delivery 🚚 offer. My order arrived on time through Door Dash. Sandwich 🥪 was a little beaten up but tasted okay. Update: July 2024; Toasted Garden Caprese sandwich 🥪 and Mac and Cheese were good 👍. Update: September 2025; Half Italian Steak 🥩 and Mozzarella with Bistro French Onion 🧅 Soup 🍲 was good. They threw in a bag of chips as well! I recommend this...

I love Panera but I don't think I will go to this location ever again.... I live in newburyport and I have gone to this location when I visit Walmart.

My first problem was when I went there to on a Sunday afternoon, I didn't mind the wait because it was busy and I was eating in, but when I ordered a chipotle chicken sandwich, had changed the cheese and added onions. Well the first sandwich I got had everything but no chicken -_- i go up and i tell the lady behind the counter and she says she'll make me another one, and I tell her I got a different cheese, and added pickled onions. Well thankfully I kept the first sandwich because the 2nd sandwich only had chicken, cheese and onions, so I missed the two and threw out the extra bread. (I did not get offered a cookie)

Now they were busy so I didn't bother really complaining or writing a review, plus other people were coming up with similar complaints and having worked in food service I know how it is.

However that coupled with the following times getting take out and the soup container being barely 2/3rds full, and a slightly over toasted bagel, I had to add my bad experiences to the list of bad reviews.

For now on I'll just go to the one in Newburyport, but I have some complaints about them too, they are...