Nice orderly and clean dining room. Pastries were good - coffee was cold.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Reyna Soto
I had such a great experience at the Arraya Grande Panera Bread, and I especially want to give a big shout-out to Damian for his outstanding customer service.
From the moment I walked in, Damian greeted me warmly and made the whole ordering process easy and enjoyable. I was picking up pastries and bagels for my co-workers and took a little time deciding what I wanted — and he was incredibly patient and helpful. He walked me through the different pastry options, explained the bagel bundles, and showed me everything that was available so I could make the best choice.
When it came time to pack everything up, Damian went above and beyond. He carefully packaged the items, individualized them into boxes, and arranged everything so it looked really nice and professional. You could tell he genuinely cared about making the order perfect.
I also ordered coffee and a sandwich, and the team working that section was just as great — super quick, efficient, and friendly. My order was called out promptly, everything was correct, and I was in and out in no time.
Overall, the entire staff was working smoothly and efficiently, and the experience was excellent from start to finish. But Damian truly stood out — he’s a fantastic employee and a real asset to this store. Thank you to him and the whole team for such a positive visit. I’ll definitely be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kate W.
While I don't normally leave google reviews, I want to warn people that my wife and I got FOOD POISONING from eating at this location. We took a chance when we were passing through the area on a roadtrip and couldn't regret the choice more!! In addition to the food making us physically ill, the overall experience was poor- unclean restrooms, dirty restaurant, long wait times (despite almost no customers), and awful food. AVOID AT ALL COSTS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET SICK!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
shawn stuart
Meh, I personally believe panera bread is just a hospital cafeteria. Others may disagree, its not for everyone. I usually find their portions too small, and priced slightly high for what you get. But, I still give them chances to redeem themselves. Usually with same results.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Melinda Maynard
The restaurant needs remodeling. The booths are all tore up. Bathroom is nasty w trash over flowing. Toilets an stalls are dirty. Otherwise the food is good.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Irie Scoggins
I love the inside of this place so beautiful. And you can see all their freshly-baked bread and pastries And their strawberry basil lemonade is yummy 😋
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cora
Great spot
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elena Miles
Superrrrr slow. Cashier had her AirPods in while working. Management needs to hire more staff, only two people bagging/heating food.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Michael Guynn
Stopped here on a road trip from LA to SF. It's in pretty poor shape, A sign at the entrance greeted us with a list of many essentials that the store was out of. The store itself seemed fairly empty, both of stock and staff.
Now to be clear I don't think these shortcomings are due to the staff, this location just seems to be sort of forgotten, tucked away between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Not a priority destination on the supply chain.
It's not the worst Panera I've been in, but it's not even close to the standard. If you need to stop off for a bite, it'll get the job done but that's about it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
Linda Willett
I and my out of town guest from Texas went to enjoy a nice lunch at Panera's. We walked in and NO ONE was at the counter there but were 2 order machines instead. I on one and my girlfriend on the other trying to order our lunch. It was extremely difficult to operate the machine. It was NOT user friendly. We got so frustrated. We tried to get attention to an employee to assist us and they ignored us. After many tries both trying to get attention with an employee to help us and trying the stupid machine we gave up and walked out and went to In & Out were there are many employees to assist you and are friendly. We will never go to Paneras again!!!!
I have ordered for pick up a few times now. Twice it wasn’t ready and this last time they pushed my time back and the app said my order was ready even though it wasn’t. They also didn’t have all of the things that I ordered. I place my orders online a day or two ahead of time. They have time to get this stuff ready. I sat in the drive through for 15 min waiting, got no apologies or “hey can we throw in an extra…” or thank you for your patience…. Nothing. They just shoved the box through the window and closed it. So rude, no customer service.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
Ashley Burns
We placed a catering order online for 12 people, and the website confirmed a delivery window between 12:30 and 12:45. At 12:50 we contacted the location to check on the order, they had not even looked at it! We were told it could be ready for pickup in 30 minutes. Upon arriving half an hour later, I still had to wait another 30 minutes. The staff seemed unorganized, moved slowly, showed no urgency, and offered no apology—in fact, they came across as borderline rude. I ultimately had to leave without the drinks and requested a refund, which I’m not confident has been processed. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend using this service for catering or larger events. If fulfilling such orders isn't feasible, I strongly suggest removing the catering option from the website. I would also suggest more training on efficiency, customer service, and proper management!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Teresa Marie
Visiting in SLO for a few days and just happened to run into Panera. I am a daily+ customer as I love the Sips. I've been to Panera all over California & Arizona with little differences mostly if the store has been remodeled. This I find to be older in looking around some chairs have covers, booths are extremely dirty, tables were dirty however customers just left. Outside was clean. We had to park in the hotel area which didn't bother me one bit as it's a beautiful day. Not to mention I had great company (Victor). We ordered at the kiosks that blocked registers kinda weird. Then when you should be given the option of a Sips pastry I select yes then it immediately clears the screen and changed it to food menu and 2$ off purchase. The same exact thing happened to my boyfriend. Not happy about that at all. The rewards systems is so inconsistent to begin with but the bait and switch is truly agrivating. Rewards systems needs work. We both opted to place a separate order for a bagel each. I never get mine toasted sometimes they do and it's never a problem to get another. Today however a first happened the girl took the toasted bagel from me and sliced another. Which I appreciated. This may sound strange however it's against the health code and they just usually say keep it. Now I paid for my bagel so I'm not mentioning this because I didn't get to keep it. Only because that has never happened at any Panera before. Just found that to be very odd. All is well. And my star rating reflect today's visit. If I should ever visit again with a different experience I shall edit my review. Coffee was great love the hazelnut.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
tery kay
Horrible tuna sandwich, the dining room is dirty . Half sandwich is 9$ plus . I do not know how this place stays open . Shocking .
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Neil Pulido
I don’t understand the bad reviews . 3rd time I have been here. The people are nice, the food is good and it’s nice inside. I think the bad posts were from people that live to be haters.
Nice orderly and clean dining room. Pastries were good - coffee was cold.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
I had such a great experience at the Arraya Grande Panera Bread, and I especially want to give a big shout-out to Damian for his outstanding customer service.
From the moment I walked in, Damian greeted me warmly and made the whole ordering process easy and enjoyable. I was picking up pastries and bagels for my co-workers and took a little time deciding what I wanted — and he was incredibly patient and helpful. He walked me through the different pastry options, explained the bagel bundles, and showed me everything that was available so I could make the best choice.
When it came time to pack everything up, Damian went above and beyond. He carefully packaged the items, individualized them into boxes, and arranged everything so it looked really nice and professional. You could tell he genuinely cared about making the order perfect.
I also ordered coffee and a sandwich, and the team working that section was just as great — super quick, efficient, and friendly. My order was called out promptly, everything was correct, and I was in and out in no time.
Overall, the entire staff was working smoothly and efficiently, and the experience was excellent from start to finish. But Damian truly stood out — he’s a fantastic employee and a real asset to this store. Thank you to him and the whole team for such a positive visit. I’ll definitely be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
While I don't normally leave google reviews, I want to warn people that my wife and I got FOOD POISONING from eating at this location. We took a chance when we were passing through the area on a roadtrip and couldn't regret the choice more!! In addition to the food making us physically ill, the overall experience was poor- unclean restrooms, dirty restaurant, long wait times (despite almost no customers), and awful food. AVOID AT ALL COSTS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET SICK!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Meh, I personally believe panera bread is just a hospital cafeteria. Others may disagree, its not for everyone. I usually find their portions too small, and priced slightly high for what you get. But, I still give them chances to redeem themselves. Usually with same results.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
The restaurant needs remodeling. The booths are all tore up. Bathroom is nasty w trash over flowing. Toilets an stalls are dirty.
Otherwise the food is good.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
I love the inside of this place so beautiful. And you can see all their freshly-baked bread and pastries
And their strawberry basil lemonade is yummy 😋
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great spot
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Superrrrr slow. Cashier had her AirPods in while working. Management needs to hire more staff, only two people bagging/heating food.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Stopped here on a road trip from LA to SF. It's in pretty poor shape,
A sign at the entrance greeted us with a list of many essentials that the store was out of.
The store itself seemed fairly empty, both of stock and staff.
Now to be clear I don't think these shortcomings are due to the staff, this location just seems to be sort of forgotten, tucked away between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. Not a priority destination on the supply chain.
It's not the worst Panera I've been in, but it's not even close to the standard. If you need to stop off for a bite, it'll get the job done but that's about it.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 3
Service: 2
I and my out of town guest from Texas went to enjoy a nice lunch at Panera's. We walked in and NO ONE was at the counter there but were 2 order machines instead. I on one and my girlfriend on the other trying to order our lunch. It was extremely difficult to operate the machine. It was NOT user friendly. We got so frustrated. We tried to get attention to an employee to assist us and they ignored us. After many tries both trying to get attention with an employee to help us and trying the stupid machine we gave up and walked out and went to In & Out were there are many employees to assist you and are friendly. We will never go to Paneras again!!!!
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
I have ordered for pick up a few times now. Twice it wasn’t ready and this last time they pushed my time back and the app said my order was ready even though it wasn’t. They also didn’t have all of the things that I ordered. I place my orders online a day or two ahead of time. They have time to get this stuff ready. I sat in the drive through for 15 min waiting, got no apologies or “hey can we throw in an extra…” or thank you for your patience…. Nothing. They just shoved the box through the window and closed it. So rude, no customer service.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 2
We placed a catering order online for 12 people, and the website confirmed a delivery window between 12:30 and 12:45. At 12:50 we contacted the location to check on the order, they had not even looked at it! We were told it could be ready for pickup in 30 minutes. Upon arriving half an hour later, I still had to wait another 30 minutes. The staff seemed unorganized, moved slowly, showed no urgency, and offered no apology—in fact, they came across as borderline rude. I ultimately had to leave without the drinks and requested a refund, which I’m not confident has been processed. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend using this service for catering or larger events. If fulfilling such orders isn't feasible, I strongly suggest removing the catering option from the website. I would also suggest more training on efficiency, customer service, and proper management!!!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 1
Visiting in SLO for a few days and just happened to run into Panera. I am a daily+ customer as I love the Sips. I've been to Panera all over California & Arizona with little differences mostly if the store has been remodeled. This I find to be older in looking around some chairs have covers, booths are extremely dirty, tables were dirty however customers just left. Outside was clean. We had to park in the hotel area which didn't bother me one bit as it's a beautiful day. Not to mention I had great company (Victor). We ordered at the kiosks that blocked registers kinda weird. Then when you should be given the option of a Sips pastry I select yes then it immediately clears the screen and changed it to food menu and 2$ off purchase. The same exact thing happened to my boyfriend. Not happy about that at all. The rewards systems is so inconsistent to begin with but the bait and switch is truly agrivating. Rewards systems needs work. We both opted to place a separate order for a bagel each. I never get mine toasted sometimes they do and it's never a problem to get another. Today however a first happened the girl took the toasted bagel from me and sliced another. Which I appreciated. This may sound strange however it's against the health code and they just usually say keep it. Now I paid for my bagel so I'm not mentioning this because I didn't get to keep it. Only because that has never happened at any Panera before. Just found that to be very odd. All is well. And my star rating reflect today's visit. If I should ever visit again with a different experience I shall edit my review. Coffee was great love the hazelnut.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 1
Horrible tuna sandwich, the dining room is dirty . Half sandwich is 9$ plus . I do not know how this place stays open . Shocking .
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
I don’t understand the bad reviews . 3rd time I have been here. The people are nice, the food is good and it’s nice inside. I think the bad posts were from people that live to be haters.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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