Panera Bread — Restaurant in Tulsa

I usually have a great experience with this place, most of the employees have been great and the kitchen service is amazing so this review is in no way a reflection on them or the management for that matter. All issues described in this review are a result of the bad customer service of one employee I dealt with.

She was barely listening to me when I put in my order, I always specifically requested for a certain part of my order to be put on the side. She then proceeded to try to charge me nearly twice as much when in fact I knew from coming here the order was not that much so I asked her why it was so much more today. She kept insisting it was right till I asked her to please go over it with me because I only wanted to double-check. She finally saw the mistake and then fixed it.

I ordered a loaf of bread alongside my meal to take home, and when she came back with it the loaf was entirely messed up and not cut right. It looked like it was just thrown into the bag without a care to make it look presentable to a customer. I would like to note that the manager was quick to fix the mistake and cut a new loaf (which I did not ask for, I would have been fine with them fixing it but the manager wanted to do his best to rectify the situation). I appreciate that even though I feel like if she had put more effort into cutting the loaf better or trying to fix it a whole loaf would not have been wasted.

After leaving I checked the contents of my to-go order, and this is where I knew she was not listening to my order. When I opened my sandwich it was not completed in the way I ordered it. I went back in to ask about it and she got defensive. The kitchen staff was once again amazing and fixed the problem (it was not their fault I found out she was the one who did not put that note for my order).

Overall this one employee made my experience one of the worst I've had here and proceeded to mess up every aspect of my order. I do want to continue coming here but I in no way want to interact with this...

This was THE WORST dining experience that I can remember EVER having! First I made my order at the kiosk like I have done at so many other Paneras, both near by and in other states. I got my cup and "place trakker", made my tea and found a seat (which I had to clean food off of the seat first) then I kept busy checking my email for a few minutes. Others came, sat, and got their food delivered... 'Where's mine?'', I asked the server, as he walked by barely glancing at me. I gathered my things and followed him to the area in the back where the food is served. I, again, asked the server where my food was. He gave me a blank expression. I held up the place trakker so he could see the number and said that everyone else who came after me got their food, so where is mine... Both servers standing there and the lady in the back conversed for a few minutes and then said it didn't go through. But I showed him my trakker was active, and declared that I had been charged. They searched and finally found that it had been packaged u to-go. By now it was All cold, the soup cup was half empty, and one side of the grilled cheese was a heel plus half the cheese was stuck to the box. I complained. The first waiter said he would bring me more soup, but made no explanation about the sandwich... Five minutes later I flagged down the other server, who insisted it was 8oz, as it should be... He even went to the back and brought the props of a pitcher and another cup. While never letting the water settle he announced "8oz!" And poured it into the cup, it filed the cup more than mine. But he took off before I could say anything... Clearly I'm not getting a full meal here. Now, the girl that busses the tables keeps staring at me and walking back and forth next to my table and has bumped it multiple times on the open side (since I started counting it's been 23 times she has, at least, walked by in about 10 minutes- and, no, they are not that busy!). She has this look of "go...

I’m posting 1 star overall in order to hopefully get management’s attention. I would very much like to change this review to 5 stars. Here’s the issue:

This location was recently acquired by Manna Development Group and they are significantly changing the freshness of several food items. Here is my understanding of a few of the no longer fresh items/ingredients: Fresh over easy eggs no longer available on breakfast sandwiches. Only pre-cooked folded scrambles and egg whites. Eggs for soufflés (and likely other items that require eggs) are poured out of a box, rather than fresh cracked. (I ate a soufflé today and it left an odd after taste.) Cilantro is pre-cut/pre-packaged, instead of fresh chopped. Pecan braids come from a box rather than using fresh made dough. Probably others that I’m not aware of.

I’ve come to this location weekly for years. Fresh food at reasonable prices is a large part of why I (and probably many other people) come to Panera. If this location doesn’t start using fresh ingredients again, I will probably switch to a local Panera that is not managed by Manna Development Group, or possibly stop going to Panera altogether. If management would like to talk with me, I’m happy to have a conversation.

Please also know that this 1 star review is by no means a reflection on the staff at this location. I think they do a great job.

(Side note: This location used to have a list of harmful food ingredients along with a promise never to use them. It was posted on the bulletin board near the restrooms. Today, I noticed that this list has been removed, which causes me major concern. Is this Panera location now cutting corners and using cheap and potentially harmful...