Panera Bread — Restaurant in Town of Niskayuna

A sweet and charming friend of mine recommended we go to this Panera location for our meeting on Saturday. I had no problem with this suggestion for I've enjoyed all the Paneras I've eaten at. That is until now! Neither of the two cashiers were familiar with the menu. And, then they were out of many items. The place was quite busy at 3 pm, and the seating arrangement along the walls is congested. Tables and chairs are too close together, and I had my back to a table with a younger age group. They kept getting up and moving around and constantly pushing chairs back into me. The meal was fairly quick in coming. However, the broccoli cheddar soups were almost cold, though requesting them hot. And, the French Baguttes were like rock , over baked. I recd a salad with my soup, but I didn't order a salad, my order was for a chicken avocado melt. I went up to server_ pick up counter and explained my situation. A young man behind counter asked for my receipt. I explained the cashier told me when I requested it when paying for our meals that it comes with our meals. Thus was a first for me hearing this as a regular Panera Bread customer. So, I went up to the cashier that informed me my receipt would cone with my meal. And, she didn't know how to retrieve it even using my Panera card. She was going to get someone else to help her. Since we were on a time schedule I elected to eat the salad. That's when we both started to eat. And, right away, I noticed my friend eating her soup, and the spoon was dirty. We both them looked at all our utensils. And, I really should have taken a picture of the utensils. I went up to service counter everyone was busy with orders. So, I picked out some utensils and all the knifes and spoons were dirty. I said something to a man who was making sandwiches, and he yelled for someone to come out to see me. A young man, possibly a busboy, looked at the dirty silverware. And, then he said, "sorry about that, looks like the wrong trays were put out here." And, then he just walked away to clean some tables. I went to cashier counter and asked for clean silverware and received plastic ones. This overall experience will not ruin my going to the Paneras that I do, but this one is off my list as well as all the family and friends. If the health dept was open I would have...

I like Panera and the food- been a customer for ever and even though they have disappointed me time and again this past two years I have avoided publicly complaining- but unfortunately nothing seems to work. I have submitted feedback online on their company site, have asked for the manager at multiple occasions and given feedback but unfortunately no major change so I finally decided to leave a review hoping that such public complaints maybe more effective: even after the pandemic I have had items missing from my pickup order- I no longer trust them and double check my bag before leaving the store. About two weeks ago I checked my bag and noticed a whole order missing, went back to the counter and before I even opened my mouth they said it seems your order missed such and such! Another disappointment is how the cost of the food does not seem to change (if not higher) but the amount of food keeps shrinking. Here is the chicken/cheese on my frontega sandwich from tonight-not even half the size of the bread! When I have pointed these out to them at the store, the manager apologizes and offers free food/bakery! One would expect that customer service would actually translate into decongest customers ie: give folks what they order and don’t short change them-...

panera, panera, panera. ive always wanted to enjoy this restaurant but i simply dont think its my fate. right when i finally found a food my picky palate could enjoy, the broccoli cheddar mac and cheese was discontinued not even a full year later. but it wasnt that big of a deal because i had been graced with an even better thing: the buffalo chicken melt. little did i know, when i craved it about a month or two after having it the first time i find out, they discontinued that too! this almost put me over, but i like to give chances sometimes so tonight when i didnt feel quite right and my mom insisted on getting me something from this place, we settled on a turkey sandwich with light mayo. i open the cold sandwich to find mayonnaise spilling out of the sides of the sourdough. really. in what world is that LIGHT mayo? these people seem to lack attention to detail and i, an angry 17 year old girl believe i could do the job better but for some reason nice guys always finish last and i have no chance. so, this is my goodbye, my final hurrah to panera, my sense of closure. i highly do not recommend this place for picky eaters despite how...