Yesterday, Thur., April 11, 2024, at about 6:30 p.m., I was at Panera with my sister eating when the fire alarms went off. It was a false alarm. The alarm sound was ear-piercing, the decibel level so high that it caused ear damage to everyone whether they know it or not. My sister walks with a crutch. We are seniors. The sound was so loud and piercing we had to leave our food and books on the table, my sister hobbling out under duress. For well over an hour the alarm stayed on with the piercing, ear damaging alarm sound on even after the fire department came. I observed young employees being traumatized by the sound but they had to stay. The manager seemed utterly clueless and seemed to be running around in circles and never took control of the situation, never communicated, never did anything at all. Never did I see or smell smoke. It was mind boggling that the alarm was not cut off early on when it showed itself to be a false alarm. This was very disruptive and injurious to customers and employees. It wrecked havoc on my sister and I's nervous systems as we waited outside for the alarm to be turned off so that we could go back in and get our food and books. But the alarm kept its piercing, injurious sound non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. Finally, we couldn't keep waiting any more and had to go back in and further injure our ears and get our food and books, my sister hobbling on her crutch. Customers came and then fled. The incident was handled so badly. Even the firemen were running around but couldn't turn off the alarm. Finally they did but it took an unacceptable amount of time - well over an hour. It was a display of inefficiency to an astounding degree by all and Panera should be held responsible for the decimal damage they caused and the stress and disrespect to both customer and employees. Panera management kept many employees inside when clearly it was doing severe decibel damage to their ears. It was Panera management abuse of employees through total disregard for their well-being. It was very, very stressful. I won't be going back. But more needs to happen to hold them accountable.
Atmosphere: 1
Elliott B.
What happened to Panera? Not just this one but all of them. Service staff at Midcity location were friendly and welcoming and did everything right. No problems there. The atmosphere is fine. Needs a good vacuuming but that would have to be every hour with everyone eating food that makes crumbs. Again, not that big a deal. It's the food. It tastes different than it used to. Bagels not as good, bread not as good - everything tastes more processed than it used to. Same at a couple FL locations I've been to recently. Haven't been to Panera since before COVID then to a few of them over the last year. I figured it was a FL issue but it's the same here in LA. No one expects a NY bagel here but they used to be pretty good and I couldn't finish this one. And it's not a long-term COVID smell and taste issue. My nose and taste buds work just fine. I'll finish positive and say the staff was great and the coffee was good too.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
D.D.W. Hudson
Black lady in red shirt with low hair cut is snappy, rude and aggressive. Customer service is very poor. Place has odor and very unclean.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Silas Williams
Some of the people will see u waiting but render any service until u ask my I order this is mostly with the male cashiesParking: Parkings ok
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Abby Brown
ordered Uber eats from here, food came all smashed up and yogurt looked like water. waste of money.
Food: 1
Brennan Howard
Only commenting bc of my man Bobby working the front counter! He was awesome, give him all the raises. Food was good but avocado was radioactivity green and it smelt like farts ?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
The Chandlers
The guy at the counter was very funny and fast.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ann King
❤️ the decor. It's so relaxing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Panera Caesar Salad, Roasted Turkey Apple & Cheddar Sandwich
James Higginbotham
Why would you sell pizza(3 kinds) and not allow you to add pepperoni to a pizza. I was told no and they lost a sale and customer over pepperoni. Times are tough and your business isn’t good. SHAME SHAME SHAMEPS…clean your bathroom, smells like URINE and your carpets are filthy. This place is often DIRTY and I’m writing this review Dec 12 2023 at 12:00. Will not be back. Manager today was not effective and knows nothing about customer satisfaction and retention.
The tables are often dirty, clearly not wiped down on any regular basis. The WiFi here always sucks. If you can connect, it's not really worth the effort because it's so slow. You're better off connecting to the WiFi from Office Depot next door. I was there for an hour and the crew making food were yelling at each other constantly.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 2
Ro Gamer
Be aware that this place is so dirty I wouldn’t eat anything from here there’s flies all over the food I’ve seen dead little roaches ! The bathrooms are disgusting unsanitary there’s need to be code enforcement to shut this place down asap !
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Nina Lissette
I will be reporting this place to department of health for the cleanliness of this restaurant is disgusting I will never eat from this place again I’ve seen a woman touch food preparing for a customer with acrylic nails and not with clothes ! Disgusting ?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Brittany S.
Panera is often considered glorified hospital food. I personally love it. Every location always feels comfortable to me. Nothing like hot soup and a sandwich on a chilly day. However this location needs a little adjustments IMO. I was one of 4 people in the whole place. The workers were making a few bagged orders so I'm assuming they do a lot of delivery service but the 2 other people who came in at the same time as me waited just as long (approx 13 min). I didn't order anything crazy. Just a half a sandwich & pre made soup lol. Food was hot and tasty but I was not impressed that 3 out of 4 in person guests were waiting about 15 min for food. Each table had to be wiped down and there were many employees standing around when many things needed attending.
Beach Bum
Food was excellent fresh and ? hot. Will return again
Yesterday, Thur., April 11, 2024, at about 6:30 p.m., I was at Panera with my sister eating when the fire alarms went off. It was a false alarm. The alarm sound was ear-piercing, the decibel level so high that it caused ear damage to everyone whether they know it or not. My sister walks with a crutch. We are seniors. The sound was so loud and piercing we had to leave our food and books on the table, my sister hobbling out under duress. For well over an hour the alarm stayed on with the piercing, ear damaging alarm sound on even after the fire department came. I observed young employees being traumatized by the sound but they had to stay. The manager seemed utterly clueless and seemed to be running around in circles and never took control of the situation, never communicated, never did anything at all. Never did I see or smell smoke. It was mind boggling that the alarm was not cut off early on when it showed itself to be a false alarm. This was very disruptive and injurious to customers and employees. It wrecked havoc on my sister and I's nervous systems as we waited outside for the alarm to be turned off so that we could go back in and get our food and books. But the alarm kept its piercing, injurious sound non-stop, non-stop, non-stop. Finally, we couldn't keep waiting any more and had to go back in and further injure our ears and get our food and books, my sister hobbling on her crutch. Customers came and then fled. The incident was handled so badly. Even the firemen were running around but couldn't turn off the alarm. Finally they did but it took an unacceptable amount of time - well over an hour. It was a display of inefficiency to an astounding degree by all and Panera should be held responsible for the decimal damage they caused and the stress and disrespect to both customer and employees. Panera management kept many employees inside when clearly it was doing severe decibel damage to their ears. It was Panera management abuse of employees through total disregard for their well-being. It was very, very stressful. I won't be going back. But more needs to happen to hold them accountable.
Atmosphere: 1
What happened to Panera? Not just this one but all of them. Service staff at Midcity location were friendly and welcoming and did everything right. No problems there. The atmosphere is fine. Needs a good vacuuming but that would have to be every hour with everyone eating food that makes crumbs. Again, not that big a deal. It's the food. It tastes different than it used to. Bagels not as good, bread not as good - everything tastes more processed than it used to. Same at a couple FL locations I've been to recently. Haven't been to Panera since before COVID then to a few of them over the last year. I figured it was a FL issue but it's the same here in LA. No one expects a NY bagel here but they used to be pretty good and I couldn't finish this one. And it's not a long-term COVID smell and taste issue. My nose and taste buds work just fine. I'll finish positive and say the staff was great and the coffee was good too.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
Black lady in red shirt with low hair cut is snappy, rude and aggressive. Customer service is very poor. Place has odor and very unclean.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Some of the people will see u waiting but render any service until u ask my I order this is mostly with the male cashiesParking: Parkings ok
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
ordered Uber eats from here, food came all smashed up and yogurt looked like water. waste of money.
Food: 1
Only commenting bc of my man Bobby working the front counter! He was awesome, give him all the raises. Food was good but avocado was radioactivity green and it smelt like farts ?
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 5
The guy at the counter was very funny and fast.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
❤️ the decor. It's so relaxing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Panera Caesar Salad, Roasted Turkey Apple & Cheddar Sandwich
Why would you sell pizza(3 kinds) and not allow you to add pepperoni to a pizza. I was told no and they lost a sale and customer over pepperoni. Times are tough and your business isn’t good. SHAME SHAME SHAMEPS…clean your bathroom, smells like URINE and your carpets are filthy. This place is often DIRTY and I’m writing this review Dec 12 2023 at 12:00. Will not be back. Manager today was not effective and knows nothing about customer satisfaction and retention.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
There was flies all the bread and baked goods.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
The tables are often dirty, clearly not wiped down on any regular basis. The WiFi here always sucks. If you can connect, it's not really worth the effort because it's so slow. You're better off connecting to the WiFi from Office Depot next door. I was there for an hour and the crew making food were yelling at each other constantly.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 3
Service: 2
Be aware that this place is so dirty I wouldn’t eat anything from here there’s flies all over the food I’ve seen dead little roaches ! The bathrooms are disgusting unsanitary there’s need to be code enforcement to shut this place down asap !
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
I will be reporting this place to department of health for the cleanliness of this restaurant is disgusting I will never eat from this place again I’ve seen a woman touch food preparing for a customer with acrylic nails and not with clothes ! Disgusting ?
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Panera is often considered glorified hospital food. I personally love it. Every location always feels comfortable to me. Nothing like hot soup and a sandwich on a chilly day. However this location needs a little adjustments IMO. I was one of 4 people in the whole place. The workers were making a few bagged orders so I'm assuming they do a lot of delivery service but the 2 other people who came in at the same time as me waited just as long (approx 13 min). I didn't order anything crazy. Just a half a sandwich & pre made soup lol. Food was hot and tasty but I was not impressed that 3 out of 4 in person guests were waiting about 15 min for food. Each table had to be wiped down and there were many employees standing around when many things needed attending.
Food was excellent fresh and ? hot. Will return again
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Broccoli Cheddar Soup