Panera Bread

We love Panera and eat there often.
Great food at a great price. This one is the only one we have been to that brings the food to your table. Would recommend it to anyone. this store does lack parking for the popularity,

I stopped at panera bread to get a loaf of bread. They did not have any bread. I guess I have to go to elseware.

I personally love Panera Bread in Traverse City.. From what I heard the grand opening was phenomenal, they made over $300,000 in the first 3 weeks being open. That's a historical record set for all Panera Bread grand openings, and after a month there business is still strong... That's incredible.. For how much work is being dished out to the new employees they do an amazing job!

I'm writing a review on here because my receipt did not give me the usual option of a survey.



It was my first time at the TC Panera Bread, and unfortunately it was not a good experience. Prior to moving to TC, I was a trainer at a Panera Bread and was part of their grand opening, so I understand working out all the kinks in your first few months, but so much stuff went wrong that I felt like I had so say something.



After being called up by the cashier, Hannah, she was not at all friendly. She didn't confirm our sides, read back our order, or ask about Panera Rewards (all of these things pop up on her screen- so she clearly just decided to skip over this part). Upon receiving our food, my Mediterranean Veggie (which I had asked for with no tomato/cucumber add pepperonchini) had tomato and only 1 small pepperonchini and one sliver of onion. This meant my veggie sandwich had hummus, a little feta, a little peppedew pepper, one onion, and one pepper. It was a sad sight for a sandwich. I caught the girl who brought us our food to ask for pepperonchini, but didn't notice until after she left the single onion on my sandwich so I went up myself to ask for a side. I asked a manager, and he quickly asked the people on the line, however he had to ask them again a few minutes later because no one had got me any. When I got back to the table, the had brought me my drink (an iced chai) except it was a hot chai latte. I went back up and asked a manager who was walking by for an iced chai and she took the hot chai (usually we offered for the customer to keep it since we have to throw it out anyways) and she returned with an iced chai 3/4 of the way full (usually when we fixed someone's wrong drink order we would actually upgrade their drink size for the trouble). For $4 and the mess up, this was pretty annoying. When I finally sat down to eat, my husband told me that they had given him a baguette which he insisted was fine and ate anyways (sandwiches are supposed to come with chips) and that they forgot the pickle spear that comes with sandwiches.



I will say that from my experience in helping to open a Panera, I know that it is very busy and rushed so I understand there are mistakes made. However, it seemed to me that everyone was rushing, and therefore there were things missed concerning customer service and accuracy on the cashier's and line's part, and follow up by dining room staff.



On a more positive note, I was impressed that although busy, they kept the line down and food was out quickly. I love Panera, so I'm sure I'll give the TC one a second try... but probably not for a good while after they get all their kinks out. My visit was very disappointing and definitely not worth the $20 we spent this time.