Panera Bread — Restaurant in Siesta Key

I don’t do bad reviews. I know in this economy and job situation that times are tough. I have been going to this Panera Bread for over 10 years whenever we are in Siesta Key and always have had great service, food, etc. This review is not meant to criticize, but help…help the management there and employees to do a better job. We walked in and ordered a personal pizza, a pick 2 (chicken salad sandwich and a Fuji Chicken/Apple salad, two bottled waters and 2 pecan braids. We were given an order number and a flasher for when it was ready. We went to our table. All the tables were dirty and so we wiped our down before we sat down. We had our waters with us and just sat and talked. After 30 minutes we still did not have our order. I went to the counter where the poor kid that waited on us seem a bit frazzled. I let him know that we had not received our order yet and he went and spoke to someone who said that someone must have taken our order. There were only about 5 patrons in the restaurant. Our flasher never went off and I had kept looking up at the counter to see if anything had come up. I told him that nobody picked it up, that it hadn’t been made. He spoke to a woman and he gave us the pecan braids and we sat down…without another flasher. After about 10 more minutes, a PATRON asked me if I had ordered a pizza, etc and I said yes. She said it was sitting now on the counter. I went and picked up the order…missing the chips which they then gave me. After I ate my sandwich, I began eating my salad. The salad was missing the apples and cranberries and had the wrong dressing on it. I have eaten dozens of these salads over the years…they are my favorite. My wish is not to bad mouth Panera, but to alert the management that they need to step up their game on training their staff. It is a great restaurant and the people working there are always pleasant, but nobody knew what they were doing. I will return, but I hope that things are better the next...

This is a big warning to anyone going to store 3880 that is located in Gulf Gate in Sarasota FL. Today was my final trip to Panera after eating there two to three times a week for three years. Five out of my last six visits have ended in me standing at the delivery area watching everyone who came in after me getting their food while I have to finally hunt down an employee and ask for my bagel. On this past Saturday this happened again so I spoke with the manager who was very apologetic and quickly got my food and comped my meal. Today, Tuesday, I again was skipped for 10 minutes. So I spoke with Larry who states he is the GM. This is someone who should not be in any type of management position. I explained the issues I have had and his response was "Sorry, so what do you want me to do?" in a very dismissive tone. I told him they might need to work on their training or I have obviously pissed someone off to be ignored this many times. He then told me the problem was that I was not standing in the right spot to get my food. I was standing where the people who got their food were standing so I am not sure where the exact spot is you have to stand to get your food. I am 6'2" I did not think I was that hard to see. So be warned that if you go to this store if you don't stand in the exact right spot not only will you not get your food but they will not even bother to make it. Then he accused me of verbally beating him up. I did not yell, I did not raise my voice and I did not use inappropriate language. I was, and am, justifiably upset. At no point did he offer to comp the meal or anything else. If he is the leader and people learn by example I in no way hold the staff responsible for these issues as this is the behavior they are taught by this individual. I will not ever return to this or any Panera again and I will warn as many others as possible to avoid this poor service. There are lots of places out there who work hard to do it right no need to go to one...

Panera is my daughter's favorite restaurant, but I won't be returning to this location. To start with when we walked in we noticed that the A/C was not working and the front door was propped open. 3 employees were standing around the register area and not one of them said hello, apologized for the air, asked to take our order... nothing. I noticed a tablet attached to the counter and assumed we were supposed to use automation, even though there were paid employees standing there. After placing the order, one of the employees advised me that they were out of several of the cookies I had in my order (something that could have been addressed if they took my order live), then they neglected to give us the cups for the drinks we paid for. Then while waiting for our food, we witnessed one of the kitchen employees using foul language and giving a co-worker the middle finger. It cost over $50 for dinner for 4 of us, and that is the service we received. We sat outside where it was cooler than inside. I used it as a training lesson for my children explaining to them that if they want to keep their jobs, they need to provide customer service, thank customers for shopping there. I made the suggestion that perhaps the manager could provide free fountain drinks and apologize for the a/c being broken, but overall, it was a very disappointing experience. I was planning on writing to corporate, but I've been busy, and this will probably make more...