Panera Bread - Catonsville

I received a text saying my order was ready, but they had completely overlooked it. It wasn't until a kind individual inquired about it that I finally got my order, which was 15 minutes after I had received the notification.

The team leader, Aron, was quite rude and unpleasant to customers. I saw a previous customer ask for bagels, and Aron became upset when she requested them toasted. While the rest of the staff was friendly and kind, Aron could benefit from improving his leadership skills, particularly in handling pressure during busy times and learning how to communicate with and treat customers properly.

We ended up leaving the restaurant around 4:58 PM, which felt excessively long for a relatively simple order. If training was the reason for the delays, it would be helpful for the restaurant to inform customers ahead of time so they aren’t caught off guard. To make matters worse, we noticed the manager having to reprimand a new employee, who had just come out from the back area while rubbing his arms—still wearing gloves—and was instructed to remove the gloves and wash his hands. Overall, it was not a pleasant experience.

Food is often not ready at the estimated time. When the system notifies me that my order is ready, it is often still not ready. Food should be already available on the pickup shelf when it is marked as ready. Orders are not always accurate. I understand that people are not perfect, but this happens more often than it should. There is not enough attention to details. Many items regularly go out of stock, such as bagels and certain sandwiches well before closing time. Panera needs to stock up on items that are frequently out of stock. If you don't order by 1 or 2pm, you are usually out of luck and might as well order elsewhere. Prices are not consistent and change throughout the day. When my order is correct, the food is good, but the prices are too high for all of this nonsense. Improvement is needed. Management presence is needed.

The team there is really nice. Especially The person Helping the dashers. KHO something and the manager Ms. Shantel made the wait worth it. Thanks. P.s. I definitely recommend the pumpkin muffin top thing. It's amazing .