Panera Bread

This Panera is my favorite location of all the Panera’s in the VA/​DC metro area. For their breakfast, everything is fresh and the quality is excellent. I recently used their Kiosk for a large lunch order and the order was ready in less than 10 minutes despite the lunch rush for a Sunday. The staff is always friendly and accommodating and if you have a concern or a complaint, they always listen to you.

I love this Panera. Food is always good and staff is helpful. I won’t even mention the pastries and other treats. So good! Coffee is excellent and always fresh. I really want to praise their manager, Sarah (sp?) in this review, who personally responded to my feedback on their survey. She wanted to make sure that I was completely satisfied while eating at Panera. Thumbs up on the customer service.

Blah this place sucks at service!!! They wont even inform you if your order is ready! They have a stupid screen where they post were ready or not! Unfortunately for me wasn’t posted! And they expect you to keep your eye to the screen to see if your order is lazy! And people now a days have fast lane and expect you to do what should they been doing.

Never again will I return to this location. It was a huge disappointment because I love Panera Bread, but unfortunately, this one sucks. 8:15 pm I submit an order via cell phone, It was stated that my order would be ready by 8:35pm 8:40 I go to pick up my order, it is not in rapid pickup. I stand at the counter to be asked if I’m picking up drinks, my response «no, I placed an order for rapid pickup» the gentleman was very polite, explains he is finishing up wit the order. At this point I don’t have a problem. A moment later I am told they don’t have any more of the broccoli soup, I ask what else they have… He goes down the list, I make a choice. Another moment later «mam I am sorry but we don’t have either of the two pastries you ordered» at this point I am frustrated, it is late in the evening, I am not feeling well and I’m standing at the counter 5 minutes past the time my food is supposed to be ready and I am now finding out they don’t have neither of the three items I had ordered, a phone call would have been nice, instead they sit there at the counter with my order until I walk in to say something. I request a refund for my two pastries, the manager processes the request, then he offers a chocolate chip cookie… Nice gesture but a chocolate chip cookie? How about a pastry or something similar to my request. Really? I was quite insulted to be offered a cookie, no offense but I am not five years old and a chocolate cookie doesn’t compare to a pecan braid or a pecan roll … At 8:45pm I go back to pick grab my completed order once the refund was processed, the team member was very nice and apologetic. I get home to eat my soup, I find two pieces of hair in it. One long strand and another short. Nice way to end my night. Never again will I return to this location, the experience was horrible. What Panera doesn’t make enough pastries and soup to last the entire day? This falls under management, I’m not sure what the problem is but running out of food is unacceptable. I will satisfy my cravings else where from here on out. I’d rather drive 10 minutes out of the way then to come to this location and leave disappointed.

I love Panera! I am even happier now that they are changing out food items for healthier options. Patty is one of the ladies who helps at the register, and she goes above and beyond! She’s so sweet, and remembers me. The cooks have really disappointed lately though, quality not up to par. I saw one of them mess up, not seeing I ordered three salads with chicken and she grabbed one last min to throw in the bag. I had seen the whole thing, so I asked her, «do these ALL have chicken?» She looked like a deer in headlights and said «yes», I opened up my bag and sure enough, the top salad had no chicken and the salad was mangled with spongy tomato and barely any extra veggies. I went to the manager and told her, so they remade my salad, but not before arguing about the order not being clear. I don’t know how much more clear it should be, 3 Greek salads with chicken and three Mediterranean flat bread. The manager hushed them up by saying, «can we just get this customer her salad please». Patty and the Asian Supervisor up front are such sweeties though, and REALLY care about going the extra mile. The cooks could take some lessons.

Soups, sandwiches and salads oh my! Bagels, pastries, coffee, and more! Panera is the perfect spot for a quick meal. I enjoy many of their soups, but my favorite item is the Thai Chicken Salad. It is perfection every time!
There is a free wi-​fi but only a 30 minute limit during busy lunchtime hours. There is outdoor seating as well for those nice summer days! Also, there is a cozy fireplace to sit next to… but keep in mind that is my spot. ;) They do put a few toys out in a corner, which my kids love. Anytime I mention Panera their first reaction is «the one with the toys?»
Service at this location is great.

What can I say. I love the menu options but it’s a wild card what the quality will be. I typically get the «You Pick 2» option with a Thai Chicken salad, and broccoli cheddar soup. Both are very tasty.
With that being said, it’s typically so busy it’s hard to find a place to park. Today, for instance, I parked at the bank across the street from Panera and walked over. As suspected it was crazy busy. I order online for pick-​up. This is a fantastic option.
As stated before, the food is usually prepared well, but sometimes it leaves more to be desired. Case in point, I ordered the tuna salad sandwich and the tomato soup. The tuna sandwich was all kinds of wrong. First is was in a small clump in the middle of the sandwich bread. Not that I’m picky, but spread it around at least. And secondly, it must have just come out of the fridge or freezer because it was a frozen block of tuna salad… gross…I took the sandwich back and spoke to the manager to get another sandwich. I went beside the counter because I forgot to tell him the order was with no onion on the sandwich. As I did this I caught them laughing and talking about the sandwich. I knew they were talking about it because when I spoke to them, they looked up at me like deer in headlights. They acted like they just got caught saying something they shouldn’t.
Enter at own risk because you may or may not be disappointed.

Saturday morning 11am. Place is a shambles, dirty tables, full trash cans. Breads and pastries up front do NOT look like a bakery, they look like there were arranged and decorated by a 1^st grader. If you are selling the same items as Costco at the Panera price, they HAVE to look better. The carrot cake muffins and cupcakes had topping slopped on and carelessly placed. Rolls and pasties strewn in baskets instead of arranged, crumbs everywhere. The fruit cup which was $ 2.50 had 9 grapes, 4 pieces of melon and 2 pieces of pineapple. My Quinera oatmeal was cold. Coffee was out. What is crazy is the line of people who think its ok to eat at a place like this, and spend the kind of money they charge. Sure the self service at the cashier was fine, but all they do is take an order. Oh, and I had to hunt for forks because you wouldnt want to place them by the napkins OR have the cashier give them to you. Who is running this place? I know its a franchise but the owner better get in there and deal with an inattentive manager. IHOP would have been cheaper and a much better experience. I dont think Panera intends to be in the IHOP league. One would never know that by this place. Another Ashburn business which thinks it can skate by on the highest per capita income in the US.

The last few times I’ve been here, I’ve been disappointed. The creamer was empty, my flatbread was overcooked, and I had to wait for a cashier to place my order. Panera is way too expensive to justify this type of experience. I will go across the street to Chipotle next time.

Good place. On par with the chain. Friendly staff. Fire place is nice now that its cold.

I have never been to Panera before, but I used to always hear my college friends rave about it. I finally had the opportunity to go today when my coworkers suggested it for lunch, and it was just okay. It’s not somewhere I think that I would go out of my way to eat at, but not somewhere that I’d avoid either.
I got the «You Pick 2» deal, with half a Smokehouse Turkey Panini and a Clam Chowder soup, plus a baguette. It was pretty cheap for a decently sized meal. I paid a little under $ 9. However, I asked for no bacon on my sandwich and I still go bacon. I don’t eat red meat, and the pungent flavor of bacon could definitely be tasted in my sandwich even though I picked it out. I didn’t bother asking for another one because they were getting pretty backed up.
They also (slightly) messed up the orders of two other coworkers I was with. For one, they gave her a bag of chips instead of a baguette, and they exchanged it no problem. For the other, they forgot to put his baguette on his plate with his meal, and he only noticed that when he sat down. When he went up to try and get his bread, they gave him a very hard time about it, with the woman at the counter saying that she «distinctly remembered putting bread on his plate.» Obviously not.
Overall, though, the food was good. My sandwich was a little dry, but the sundried tomatoes made up for that, and provided a good amount of flavor. It wasn’t piping hot when it came out – it was room temperature – but it was still enjoyable. My soup was surprisingly good. It wasn’t as watery as a lot of other fast food type places’ chowders are. It’s not super thick and hearty, but it doesn’t have a broth-​consistency either. There were also big chunks of clam in it! That’s so rare these days, I feel.
The restaurant was a bit crowded, but there was ample seating. We easily found a spot for seven people. The tables and chairs are kind of crammed together, making it a bit difficult to navigate, but that’s the price you have to pay to get a place to sit. There was minimal wait time with the orders. I think we had just missed the ordering rush, and most people had already gotten their food and were sitting by the time we got there. The woman taking my order (Elizabeth) was super friendly and really nice. The other cashiers seemed the same way, which is really nice.

This location is always complete chaos! Cashiers do not know the menu. I asked about this «hidden» menu item and the guy told me «I don’t really know what it is but it doesn’t sound good» and that was that.
The pagers never work and I saw for over 15 minutes waiting for my food. I finally went to the counter and it was just sitting there. The soup had a thick crisp over it from sitting for so long and was barely warm. I asked them to feel the temp and the girl laughed and said it was cold but that should would replace it.
Food is not up to Panera quality at this location, ever. Will not be back which is unfortunate because it is very close to my work.

Autumn Squash Soup is back!!! It is so incredibly delicious I can not stop eating it. The new rapid order system is awesome cause I don’t have to wait in the long line they always have. The food is always perfect and I have only had this forget to give me half my order once but they gave me it when I went back so it was fine. Parking is always hard but it’s worth it if you don’t have to wait in line.

I love Panera in general but this location seems to always be out of bagels in the morning. I can’t remember how many times I’ve come in and the Everything Bagels were not in stock. This causes problems when ordering the Rapid Pickup option because they don’t notify you in advance that there is no stock. The food is good here but Management needs to keep up with morning demand better.

They get my orders done quicker than anyone, but I hate the way the menu is set up. It would be nice if the pastries and sweets were in smaller portions. They huge AND they aren’t cheap.
But I love the soups and most of their breads.

I’m a fan of Panera. Not THIS Panera.
The bagels are so inconsistent, frequently out of popular flavors, and the lines move unbelievably slow. I’ve been in been before work at 8am and they’ve been out of Everything bagels, and then I took the very last 2 sesame and asiago bagels.
One of the joy’s of Panera bagels is that they are big and soft. Not these. They are smaller than the others and don’t seem as soft as other locations (I usually get mine at the South Riding store).
Luckily, I hardly ever visit this Panera, and I try not to.

I come here every once in awhile since this shopping center does not have many restaurants to choose from. Nothing really outstanding from other and service is okay too, again nothing outstanding. You hardly have to wait although the restaurant seems to be busy every time i visit. You will def notice a lot of people are meeting there for business meetings.

The actual rating is more like a 2.5 star rating.
Honestly I am not a huge fan of the Panera Bread chains. The reason being that Panera Bread is known for their sandwiches but for the life of me I can’t understand why when I purchase their different kinds of sandwiches why the bread on the sandwich is as hard as a rock. When I bite into the sandwich feels as if I’m biting a brick.
However on this particular day my wife and I made a last minute decision to come here instead of Tropical Smoothie which is right next door.
When we entered we both told each other that we weren’t extremely hungry and didn’t want anything heavy, so we both ended up ordering two Grilled Chicken Cesar Salads with two mango smoothies.
The smoothies weren’t bad but seemed a little watered down. Then again it could have been the way the guy made them. However I can say that they have absolutely nothing on Tropical Smoothie.
Now as for the Grilled Chicken Cesar Salad it wasn’t bad but there were a few problems in regards to the salad that I had, one being that the croutons were hard which I’m not a fan of so if I ever go back again for a salad I’m going to tell them to hold the croutons. The other problem was that I thought they were a tad bit stingy with the Cesar dressing. I mean I don’t want my salad over saturated with it but I don’t want to eat dry salad either. The final problem I had was the bread that they served with the salad, once again this thing was hard like a brick I had to just eat the inside of it otherwise it would have probably chipped my tooth.
The reason I did give this place an overall rating of 3 stars is because the atmosphere is very peaceful. I mean if you wanted to come in and read a book or do some work then this Panera might be right up your alley.
Now if you ask me do I see myself coming back again the answer is yes however only if I’m with someone or a group that absolutely wants to go. However coming back by myself is probably not likely.

It’s Panera. My family and I love Panera and we go there all the time. My kids beg of it and would eat there every meal of the day if we would let them. This Panera is just like the others — A-​OK. No complaints. Guarantee we’ll be back.

The funny thing about Saturday, is that it comes around every week. It’s even considerate enough to consistently come after Friday. And with Saturdays, come Saturday mornings. With Saturday mornings, here in the ‘burbs, come a family-​sized desire for bagels, bread, cinnamon rolls, strudel and their ilk.
So how has Panera prepared?
This is awkward. Because, you see, they have not.
I stopped in here at 10:00 on a Saturday morning for two bagels and no coffee. (Sweet Jesus, their coffee is the worst.) There was a respectable line, but I wasn’t bothered by that. I joined the tail end of it. Things moved along slowly while Briar Woods and Broad Run HS students threw bagels into the industrial slicer with terrifying élan. With two people ahead of me, it jammed. So they stuck some sort of metal rod down it. That went well. Then they burned some bagels. And ran out of some other bagels. And the guy in front of me in line was paralyzed by the lack of plain bagels.
Don’t get me wrong: I truly believe these kids were doing their best, and that their best didn’t suck. But they had no management support and were understaffed. After serving the guy in front of me, the people manning the register disappeared on the hunt for… who knows what… and no one took another order for a solid three to five minutes. I ordered a toasted bagel and a bagel sandwich.
This entire trip took more than 25 minutes. For two bagels. I was particularly annoyed when my buzzer went off before my bagel sandwich was actually ready. I was also peeved that ‘toasting’ a bagel hardly warmed it and cream cheese application on a to-​go order was a DIY activity.
The bagels tasted pretty terrible, gummy and gross. I’m also unsure why the chive cream cheese had such strong notes of soy sauce. The food is pretty uniformly disappointing and service is just… overwhelmed. Their habit of limiting wifi between 11:00 and 1:00 isn’t really appreciated either. I second comments regarding its speed.
Back to the Ashburn Bagel Shop. They may charge twice as much, but it’s slightly less of a cluster-​you-​know-​what on weekend mornings.