Panera Bread — Restaurant in Woodlawn

UPDATED!!

I haven’t seen any of the rude people at this Panera Bread location. The manager is the same and the service is wonderful! I do love this place! I got a coffee and sandwich this morning, delicious! I’m bringing my 2 stars up to 5 stars because my experiences with this location (since the original review) is great!

Original review

I love this Panera bread, I really do. I’ve been going here for years! The manager is wonderful and the one guy (can’t recall his name but he has a stutter) who’s been working there forever is super sweet and kind. They rarely mess up an order. However, they must’ve hired new people because the woman at the cashier, Imani with the purple braids, was very rude. I had to repeat my order more than three times for her to get it. She wasn’t paying attention and flat out ignored my grandmother and I. Thankfully the guy that I mentioned before was paying attention and got the cookie we asked for. The girls in the back making the sandwiches messed up one of our sandwiches. It was supposed to be sausage not bacon but the girls must not have been reading the receipt thing. They were goofing off and joking around and making remarks about the customers orders and about people they see on a daily basis. I did not like Imani’s “huh” “what” “you ready or not?!” attitude she gave us. We were loud, clear, and respectful none the less. We will be coming again because the manager is kind and I love seeing both the manager and the other guy (again I mentioned him earlier). I will refuse to be “helped” or seen by her again and will insist on having the guy...

Update 2024: I stopped going here in 2023. Something happened at the end of the pandemic, and there were multiple problems with the place. The thing that was the most annoying is that although they have a great app where you can order from your table, they mark your order as complete well before it's ready to be picked up. It could be in the middle of being made, and when you check with someone they have to ask multiple people where it is, or in the "quality assurance" area behind the cash register, and you still have to go to the register or ask for it from a random person behind the counter. They also decided at the corporate level not to put out a drink cup when you order a meal to eat in the store! When you pick up your plate at the counter, you're told to go to the cash register and ask for a cup. This defeats the whole point of ordering through the app and skipping the line--either you're a jerk for cutting in front and saying "excuse me; can I get the cup for my order?" or you wait in line for the cup so you can get your drink. I totally don't understand why they would do those things. It got to be too annoying.

Previous review from 2021: This is my favorite place to hang out, socialize with the regulars, work on my computer, and eat delicious, freshly-made food. The chicken noodle soup is light and wholesome. I usually wreck the wholesomeness by eating it with baguette with a ton of butter. The staff at this place are the nicest in any restaurant I've ever been to. The location is perfect- a mile off the beltway and very close to a...

My wife and I went for a late breakfast/early lunch. Neither of us have been there in a while. I ordered an old regular order, "Asiago Bagel with Veggie Cream Cheese and Bacon" and threw in some Broccoli Cheddar Mac & Cheese. For starters, they didn't have Veggie and I had to get Chive and Onion. She ordered some kind salad and a Broccoli & Cheddar soup. When we got our food, much to my surprise, my sandwich came in pieces and I literally had to make my own freakin sandwich!!!!! I had a toasted bagel, a to-go container of cream cheese, and bacon on a little cup. They didn't even give me a plate or tray to do it on. WHAT THE ACTUAL ... ??? I had to sit there and put together my own sandwich!?!? If I ordered a ham and cheese on wheat toast, would they give me two slices of toast, a little thing of ham, a couple slices of cheese, and some packets of mustard and mayonnaise?? All separated so that I have to sit down and put it all together myself???? WHAT THE ACTUAL ... ??? My wifes salad was small and unfilling. The soup was good. The mac and cheese seemed like they just mixed some soup and Mac and cheese together, so it was really "soupy." With two drinks, this whole miserable meal, with a sandwich that I had to put together myself, was just over $25!!!! We both agreed, wholeheartedly, that we would NEVER go to a Panera again and stick to locally owned bagel shops where I know that when I order a sandwich, they'll actually give me a fully constructed, cut in half, wrapped in deli...