Panera Bread — Restaurant in Wheeling Township

I'm not one to leave reviews. I myself have worked in the food/restaurant industry for quite sometime so I am aware of how stressful it can be. However if you can AVOID going to this specific location please do AT ALL COSTS. Let me tell you why, this specific panera is so bad my friends and I literally have inside jokes about it, because every time you go there, your order will be messed up. For example, I've had so many times where my order has been wrong, but today was by far the worst experience. For starters, I was in the drive through for 20 min, at first I brushed this off because I thought, they're probably just busy, however once I got to the window I noticed the parking lot was almost empty meaning there wasn't many people inside ordering, the workers were just being slow. Once at the window the girl repeated my order, I told her it was wrong, she nodded, repeated the correct order to me and left. Once I got my bag of food I double checked to see if I was given the correct order, and of course, I was not. At this point I had waited for 25+ minutes in a drive through for a simple you pick two meal, so I left with the wrong order, because I'm not trying to spend 45+ min in a drive through. Seriously, I'm not a "Karen", and I don't blame the young girl who messed up my order today, I blame the management. I honestly am concerned for the workers at this location, especially the younger ones. I don't believe they are being trained properly or looked out for, and honestly I'm baffled at how many times an establishment can mess up something so simple. Feel free to make inside jokes with your friends about this place their reputation of failing their customers never fails...

I don't usually write negative reviews unless the service/experience is especially bad. And my recent order was unforgettably bad, the number of things that were wrong with my order is very unusual.

I ordered online You Pick 2 (salad and French bistro soup) and iced coffee with Madagascar vanilla syrup, 1 shot of espresso and milk. When I arrived to pick up my order, I immediately noticed that my coffee was all black (no milk) so I mentioned it to the drive thru attendant. She quickly replied that I didn't include it, so I took her word and drove away.

When I arrived home, I checked the receipt and there it is, clearly states that coffee includes: milk, espresso shot, and pump of vanilla syrup. I thought ok, they forgot the milk. But when I sipped the coffee there was no vanilla syrup or the espresso shot either. On top of that, I was given 2 spoons, no fork for the salad. My bread didn't include butter (it always does). And my French onion bistro had no cheese...

Absolutely by far the worst order experience I've ever had at Panera, or any other similar online pickup place. And the fact when I asked about the milk, and was quickly dismissed without the attendant ever checking the receipt, clearly shows how poor the service is at this restaurant. I won't be coming back.

P.S. the restaurant was relatively not busy. There were no cars ahead or behind me in the pick up lane. And the parking lot was empty, which means there likely weren't that many people inside the restaurant. Which makes their poor and rushed service even...

STILL SLOW EVEN FOR PICKUP. 15 MINUTES AFTER PROMISE TIME AND STILL SITTING HERE. NOT THE ONLY ONE. BEEN 50 MINUTES SINCE ORDER IN.

That's two years of bad reviews.

DO NOT GO THROUGH THE DRIVE THROUGH. WAIT IS UNACCEPTABLE AND YOU WILL NOT BE HAPPY WITH THE FOOD - COLD/MELTED OR MESSED UP.

Sat in the drive through for 30 minutes with 5 cars still in front of us. Went to Naf Naf and got our food in 2 minutes. If you're having problems, close the restaurant, or at least close the drive through. First time trying drive through, because the in store service is always so slow. Should have known better. Boo.

One year later and they are STILL SLOW. You think after all the restaurants have closed and we're getting used to drive through dining they would have worked this out. FIFTEEN MINUTES in line (of about six cars by the way) JUST TO GET AN ORDER IN. Ridiculous. Then they hand us the smoothie, which is MELTED. 25 minutes in a drive through that's 8 cars long is...