Panera Bread — Restaurant in Virginia

Service was thin

Cleanliness was even thinner.

When we go to PanBread we usually don't dine in because the atmosphere is chaotic & environmental sounds are NOISE.

There's no flow to any of the Panera facilities therefore making the foot traffic chaotic. From the moment you step in, you're greeted by computers (instead of humans) & very nearly getting trampled on by other guests. Even when you're in line at the register, there's nothing that defines where 1 person that stands in line should stand & where another Stands to get a cup or ask a question or wait for their ToGo bags.

I'm not saying people can't define where the line is but how can anybody tell who needs help & who's just waiting for their take-out? AND the facilities are usually EXTREMELY narrow so it makes it even harder to maneuver without being trampled on. People need personal space & feel freedom to move & breathe - not be suffocated. Design flaws mean expansions. Since they keep raising their prices on products to be able to afford to pay employees, I don't see an expansion in the future but a congested restaurant is just like a congested highway: dangerous, discomforting & panic-inducing (which increases the peril).

There's no sound abatement or any walls to displace the sounds so you hear everything everybody else is saying without trying to overhear anything.

The janitor boy at 8pm May 9, 2024 who does the trash cans & cleaning tables does not know why the cleaning must be done (& therefore should care that it has to be done right) or he hates his job. He wiped down the small booth table next to where we sat @ large table #30 just with a couple swipes w the dry cloth AND he didn't even wipe it down so the swipes were overlapping. He basically made a swiping motion in the shape of a "3" & called it clean.

The food was good (otherwise they'd be resting on 1star) but the entire experience was unpleasant - even for it not even being that busy for nearing 9pm at night. Meaning: it should've been an excellent experience for not being that busy near closing time on a...

Problems: Ordered through PANERA App. For Delivery - SR uses DoorDash. Order did not arrive so we called Panera South Riding. Panera manager said not our problem, call DoorDash. Called DoorDash - they stated that our order WAS DELIVERED and they had picture proof. Repeated this several times even when we repeatedly said we were regular costumers and that the order was not on our porch. Then we checked our camera footage. Our order was delivered. Driver set our bag on our porch as we directed. Then he took a picture. Then he went to his car and sat in his car outside our house for 2 minutes. Then he got out of his car and grabbed the bag and took it to his car - and left with it! Once we told DoorDash this information they immediately backed away from their story, and reimbursed us because they had no choice. If we did not have a camera we would have been out of +$80. Last pickup order I ordered at 9am for a 10:50 am pickup. Got there at 10:50, app said order hadn't even gone to Prep yet. Walked into cafe and electronic message board had me listed as 15th in line - not in prep. I went to the cashier area and was ignored by all staff until I requested to speak to the manager. Asked the manager to cancel my order - she checked to confirm the order and agreed it wasn't even in the immediate line for prep. And cancelled after confirmation because she couldn't give me any time frame of when it would be ready! I get busy - but the right thing would have been to simply get a message for the APP that says - sorry, order will not be ready any time soon so I could cancel and NOT...

The food was good. I ordered soup and a salad. They have changed their business model since I was last there. Instead of the customer responding to a beep on a notification device and the collecting their food at the food service counter, the staff brings your food to your table. A good idea, but I still had to track down a staff person to get the little chunk of bagette that was supposed to come with my soup & salad. It was 2030hrs when we arrived and Panera closes at 2100hrs. There were a few customers at tables but we were the only new customers. The staff was evidently already in shutdown mode. My soup/salad was delivered to the table within ten minutes of ordering it, but my dinner companion waited another five minutes and I had to track down the cashier for the small chunk of bread. We thus had about 10 minutes left to eat our food. Our dining experience was enhanced by an employee who was bussing tables in the section where we were finishing our food removing the dishes from our table at 2103hrs and advising us that Panera closes at 2100hrs. Need I say more? Tasty food but Panera evidently expects the customer to exit promptly @2100hrs whether or not you have had a reasonable chance to consume the food you ordered. They should stop taking food...