Panera Bread — Restaurant in Virginia

I'm a big fan of Panera Bread. The food is good, the wi-fi is free, the ingredients are fresh enough, the bread is tasty, and the prices are reasonable. I like this store, but it is not as good as the other ones I've been to.

I agree with the other reviews on this page. The employees are ALWAYS in training, there are new faces every week (I am a regular). Management has been working on increasing the speed of their workers, but there remain three main problems:

1. As I said, there are always new employees being trained. This causes mistakes in the placed orders and a slow process at the cash register.

2. More senior employees are ripping rewards off customers. Unless you very specifically state you want your order placed on your rewards card, the cashiers will swipe their own cards on the order. This way they rack up TONS of points and can eat free all they want. Sometimes they pretend to enter my phone number, but I see them swipe their card as I step away. Shady at best.

3. They can be stingy on the ingredients/bread. If you order a sandwich, it is often light on ingredients and the baguette can be quite small. This is relative to other stores I've been to (I've been to Panera stores across the U.S.).

I think management needs to work on recruiting longer-term employees. If they do this, they can spend less time on new-worker training, and more time supervising. They should also keep in mind that when I get an extra ounce off that baguette, I notice, and will increase my business by at least 20%.

Great business idea and good place to grab lunch. This location has some struggles, but with only a couple minor changes in their management strategy, this bakery could go from "Good" to "Excellent".

P.S. They offer catering, but it can be pricey for...

Not a nice place to go anymore. This was our last visit. It’s as if we were visiting a once-elegant train station but now is run-down and in disrepair.

The baked goods are few and taste stale. We tried the cinnamon rolls...all frosting and syrupy inside and deflated (yes, they were flat). The spring-themed ‘tulip’ cookie we ordered was hard and plain.

2 cinnamon rolls, a cookie, and 2 small coffees: $14.50. That seems like a lot for not very good snacks.

The staff seems always to be overwhelmed because—like other quick-order eateries these days—they haven’t figured out how to balance the online/app orders with the customers in front of them (who has the priority?). We waited for fifteen minutes for our simple order but were the only ones physically in line. Definitely short of staff if their online orders are causing a breakdown in counter and sales processes.

The sitting area is now bare-floor and warehousey since many chairs and tables have been removed altogether to “social distance.” Even in the name of public health this practice has the effect of turning a charming eatery into a soulless cheap-hotel lobby of a place.

The coffee was hot and fine.

You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the restrooms. At this one: urine all over floor of the men’s room accompanied by a good-sized hole in the wall. The sinks in both rooms seem like they hadn’t been wiped in a while. It was a gas-station bathroom experience, not at all what you’d expect at a Panera.

Panera used to be one of the places we went because it was predictably decent. Not anymore. It’s been rough for everyone this past year, but, judging by the great leadership and processes we still see at other restaurants, this Panera can’t blame its poor execution and drab presentation on...

Today Dec 23rd I went into Panera to use my sip membership. I realized that the Pepsi syrup was out so I asked a young Indian lady (not trying to bring up her race just using description for complaint purposes) if they could replace the Pepsi. The young girl looked at me dead in my face rolled her eyes and asked her male coworker "we're out of Pepsi syrup right?" The man told her and me "yes we're out" and apologized to me. So I decided to get something else and realized there was no large tops so I go back to the girl and ask her for a large lid. Once again she stares dead in my face no expression rolls her eyes and get the lid for me. I became fed up and asked her "why every time I ask you a question you roll your eyes" she responded "what?". I decided to drop the issue knowing that atleast she's aware. A random Karen decided to attempt to apologize for me and call me rude without knowing the context of my question causing a scene to occur. I told Karen to not apologize on my behalf and she was still talking. I walked out the establishment telling her to "mind her business and shut up". I frequent this Panera due to be living in the complex on site and never had a problem till today. It's crazy that an employee can give me unprovoked attitude and I can't ask why in a non rude way but it's okay for a white woman to involve herself in the situation and make me look like the bad guy as an African American woman. This place will never receive my...