Panera Bread — Restaurant in Watauga

On Thursday, January 9, 2024, at 12:18 PM, I arrived at this location to pick up my online order, which consisted of one Autumn Squash Soup and one Mediterranean Greens with Grains Salad, without feta. After arriving, I received a notification at 12:19 PM confirming that my order was ready for pickup. I was pleasantly surprised, as the original notification had stated that my order would be ready at 12:22 PM. Excitedly, I rushed to the pickup shelf to receive it. However, I became disappointed to see that my order was nowhere to be found. I then noticed the open kitchen and the workers laughing and having a good time.

As I waited, a line formed behind me, with other patrons arriving to find that their orders were not available for pickup at the given time. I immediately spoke with the manager on duty at the expedite counter about the whereabouts of my order. When she asked the kitchen about it, they informed her that they had never received the order. After about five minutes of trying to figure out what happened to it, she went to the office to print my order and had the kitchen prepare it.

This is where things started to become odd. It was now 12:35 PM, and it took the kitchen about 10 minutes to prepare the food while I waited. However, the kitchen now claimed to have made my original order, but someone must have taken it. When I received my order, I checked the salad and found that it had feta. I informed the manager that my order specifically requested no feta. I had heard her tell the kitchen to exclude feta twice before the order was prepared. They remade the salad, and I proceeded to walk out.

It was 12:50 PM at this point. As I was walking out, I decided to check the salad again. This time, it had chicken and feta. I was stunned, as the salad I ordered did not consist of chicken, and I had specifically requested no feta due to being vegan. I went back in to let the manager know. She suggested that I keep the chicken salad and she would remake my salad for the fourth time. Needless to say, my order was finally made correctly, and I was finally leaving this location around 1:00 PM.

I will never return to this location again. As a combat veteran, I'm disappointed to know that I fought for the freedoms of this country to come home and receive this type of customer service. The manager on duty did nothing to try to soften the blow of this insufficient service and the way I was being treated. She mostly stood there with a confused look on her face. I can only imagine that the people who were waiting in line for pickup behind me went through the...

I was originally going to write a not great review, but the Manager on Duty, Kennedy changed that for me. I walked in and ordered on the tablet, a cinnamon crunch bagel with cream cheese, a chocolate chip muffie, a yogurt parfait and a caramel latte to go.

After waiting a reasonable amount of time, my order was ready, however the associate informed me that my muffie was out of stock for the day and offered a replacement. I originally said no, but then switched it to a chocolate chip croissant.

As I got to my car, I checked my bag and noticed my parfait was missing. This was very frustrating as now half my order was out of stock (there were some items marked as OOS when ordering, but not these) but I was offered a refund for those items.

The associate had the manager handle the refund and all she asked for was the name on my order. After about 2-3 minutes she handed me my receipt and informed me she had refunded my entire order for all of the trouble. I did not ask for that, but I was admittedly likely upset looking, however I so appreciated the extra customer service steps that she took as a way to make up for the inconvenience. Thanks Kennedy and staff for the ultimately...

MAY 31st, 2025 (Saturday)

Extremely Disappointed – Poor Service Experience

I was completely let down by this visit, especially considering Panera’s stated commitment to “providing high-quality, delicious food while also fostering a warm and welcoming environment for customers and employees.” Unfortunately, this location failed on both fronts.

When I walked in through the lobby, not a single employee acknowledged me, not even a simple greeting or hello. I had placed an online order and approached the cashier (whose name I believe was “Aiyden” apologies if misspelled) for assistance. Instead of being helpful, he was dismissive and rude, acting as if I was inconveniencing him by asking for help.

I wasn’t the only one having a bad experience. Several other customers seemed just as frustrated, struggling to get basic information about their orders. The whole process was disorganized and chaotic, with no clear direction or customer support.

I left feeling disrespected and disappointed. I regret not checking reviews beforehand. Save yourself the trouble and consider dining elsewhere because no customer should be made to feel like a burden for simply...