Panera Bread

This Panera is so busy and I think it’s due to being across from the Polaris mall they get a lot of business everyday. I’ve had a couple of meetings here with photographers for my wedding to study groups. The dining rooms are a come and go basis so you just sit down once there’s an open table.
Also you hope the person delivering your food after you ordered understands who you are and what you ordered. I’ve probably had to walk up 2 times because they couldn’t find me in the dining room. Basically making sure no one will run into me with a big bowl of soup and salad in my hands.
The service here is okay, could be better for a Panera. Although these days I consider Panera like fast food, you order and go. I never thought a lot of the meals were very healthy due to the dressing in the salads and other added things. I just come here when I’m lazy to cook a lunch and need something fast and on the go.
I guess I’ll just go back to the Panera near my place since it’s less busy and there aren’t people hogging tables for hours.

Every time I come in this place something goes wrong. The people aren’t friendly and the service is subpar at best. I feel like it’s a bunch of teenagers who don’t care about service and only care about gossiping. When I go in, in the mornings I always say good morning. Today the girl just looked at me. So I asked how she was doing and 3 seconds goes by and she says «oh! Fine what do you want» lol!!! What?! And they have the same guy on the sandwich making station everytime I’m in there and he is so freaking slow! I have to go to work buddy!!! Less talking and more making sandwiches please! The one on 23 is even worse. Oh well… Maybe one day they will surprise me with a «good morning». I won’t hold my breath.

This is the worst Panera ever. I love Panera food, but this places takes far too long to make any food. Just drive a little bit out of your way to go to the one in the L.C. They have such a high turn over rate that it feels like nobody gets trained properly and can’t do things correctly.
They do offer outdoor seating and indoor seating. The pagers they have are table locaters so they will bring the food right to your table, even outside.
The food Panera serves in general is amazing and sort of addicting. I’d always suggest Panera, just a different location.

People love this place but I think it’s just ok. Ordered a chicken Caesar salad, didn’t have enough dressing and the croutons were soft and chewy. Will only eat here if I have no other options available.

Came in from polaris and ordered smoothies.
The superfruit smoothie felt kind of grainy but it tasted sweet.
The strawberry smoothie was pretty good and it tasted alot like strawberry yogurt.
It was average tasting for smoothies but overall they were okay. Il be looking at different places for cold drinks though.

I came in there last night and ordered a chipotle chicken paninni. It was very slow there at the time that I walked in. However, they took FOREVER (25 minutes to be exact) just to prepare my one sandwich! All the workers behind the counter were too busy chit chatting and fooling around. With so many workers working there but they couldn’t even make my sandwich in the amount of time that I expected. I should have gone to Subway instead. I will NEVER going back to that Panera Bread anymore! Very poor customer service! :(

This location has the worst service and staff. Waiting for fifteen minutes for a frozen caramel and they still haven’t started making it. Watching Demitri and Aaliyah playing games and fooling around in front of customers and Aaliyah acting frustrated with everything. Very unprofessional staff. Customers in line complaining about edit time. This place is a joke.

I like Panera in general. This location is letting itself slide badly. Staff is pretty awful. Lines are bad because of it. Frequent mistakes made with orders. Furniture is also in need of repair.

Love these items:
Carrot cake
pesto pasta with chicken
Chocolate filled pastry
Green tea
This is my got-​to place when I am looking for predictably good food.

Sucks that this is the only Panera near my job… we are all frequent Panera goers/​orderers. My last visit, howver, left an extremely bad taste in my mouth. I was placing an order for a group and they were out of many of the bagels I had wanted. I had to ASK if they woukd be making more for one of the employees to shout (rudely, might I add) that yes they were but they wouldnt be done for another 15−20mins. Ok, ill wait… I’m not offered any apologies or a drink while I wait… instead, just stared at blankly. I’m wondering why the bagels weren’t thrown in the oven prior to them running out… I’m also wondering why half the staff was playing on their iphones. These arent professional or very customer service oriented practices. Hopefully this business shape s up soon. If you can help it, I strongly suggest visiting a different location.

My last visit was lackluster at best.
It started with me and several others waiting to give our order.
They were very short staffed and right before I turn the cashiers must have decided to take a break because I actually stood in from of the register for about 4 minutes. That’s way too long to wait. (Time goes by slowly when you are waiting at the counter, believe me).
At the very least someone could have said «Be with you soon» or Be with you in a minute“
The food/​drinks were typical nothing special.
They ran out of hot water, but it was replaced very quickly
Pros:
Clean store & bathrooms
Cons:
Short staffed, left us waiting to place my order for a long time.

Panera is my go to place for when I’m not feeling like going to a sit down place or making dinner on my own. It’s cheap, but never cheap tasting and I always feel like I’m eating healthier than if I ran through McDonald’s. Panera is also one of those rare places other than a library I feel like I can sit for hours and read or work and not be in anyone’s way. And… one of my guilty pleasures is eavesdropping and people watching here. Try it. Trust me.

Attended a small meeting here recently. The place was packed for an 11AM crowd. There were five of us, and the majority of our group had special requests (ie salad no onion, sandwich on wheat) –none of which were honored. Not only is this disappointing, but it can also pose an a severe allergy risk.
Overall, everything else about the Panera experience was completely typical.

…one of the less inspiring Panera Bread stores in Columbus. Poor layout, too crowded.

For years the booth seats in this joint have been ripped. Come on. The employees bust it to make people happy. The food is as average as panera is. The owners just need to put some money into the facility.

I went for lunch today. Soup and a bagel for me! They have a new system. You get a beeper type of gaget, and they bring you your food! That was a nice surprise! The food is so good, it was very busy, but I found a table. You really can’t go wrong eating at Panera Bread!

I’ve never experienced a Panera that was horrible. This certain Panera is located in the heart of Polaris (across from the mall) and has a lot of seating. I ate lunch here a few days ago and it was a pleasant experience. Nothing mind-​blowing but nothing to complain about! Plus, I adore any café that serves mac n cheese.

I arrived at peak dinner time and it was surprisingly empty (weather was definitely a factor). I only ordered a beverage but the service was fast and friendly. Would love to see more clean tables, especially when it seemed rather slow. Crumby tables are a turn-​off. Not as bad as sticky tables, but dirty none-​the-​less. Looked like singles night, so if you’re on the prowl, hit up Panera. Who knew?

I typed a lengthy description of our experience here but opted not to post it. I’m no internet meanie and am hoping the atrocious customer service was just an off day.