I was traveling through Gastonia and I stopped here for coffee. A woman by the name of Donna was working the cash register and I was very impressed with her exceptional level of customer service. On top of that, the restaurant looked like it could have passed a Marine inspection for cleanliness. All in all, a perfect place to start the day.
Seeing I had to wait 15-20 minutes for three simple items and the line just getting longer and longer with five people working in the back, they spent most of their time gazing up at the order screen and arguing over what was included with what order.
Get the Panera+ membership - it's worth the money. This location has friendly staff that sounds cheery over the speaker and makes eye contact and smiles when face to face. One time, a robot tried to take my order in the drive-thru; I cackled with laughter and the human staff took over and took my order ? No, Panera, I will not let an AI take my order - I want human contact.
I used to love Panera in Gastonia, but what has happened to this location lately? New management? My family and I went tonight. Lack luster staff, dirty dining room (tables, trash all over the floor), nasty windows throughout, dirty bathrooms with no soap, trash overflowing. Wow, we will skip this next time!
Why let me order curbside if you're not going to bring it out ?? I waited 10 minutes with my hazard lights on...shouldn't have tipped either ended up having to go to drive through to get my food since I wasn't prepared to walk inside. They could have brought my food out because it had been ready it was cold by the time I went to the drive-throughto get it myself. I understand why people don't tip now this location is lacking by far ! Smh
Elit was very helpful! My company was hosting a large meeting at a local hotel that did not provide catering, and we needed coffee and breakfast delivered. Also a few hours later, we needed more coffee delivered. We couldn't spare anyone to leave the hotel to pick up breakfast, or to pick up such a large amount of coffee alone. Elit came on time with everything we needed, she sure made our morning go much more smoothly!
Ordered a whole size chicken Caesar salad. I asked one of the workers if it was indeed a whole size because that’s small for 11 dollars (see pic). She insisted it was, and I’m not one to argue. Noticed afterwards that they did not include the croutons and grated cheese I paid for. Honestly should have gone to Golden Corral for my salad. At least I would have got a decent portion for the same price.
Overpriced and terrible service. Door dashed. Spent $45 ($9tip rest was good) so about $35 for a half sandwich and soup and a whole sandwich and soup. The employees forgot all three sides of bread, no spoons or straw for drink and the French onion missing the croutons and cheese. This is ridiculous. So much money for a tiny lunch. Not the first time this has happened either which is why the review. Im probably officially done with Panera it’s always been expensive and getting worse for what you get. But the constant screw ups wether drive thru or delivery is out of hand. I’m out.
Not very bright. I found $415 and offered to give $400 of it to the manager with the stipulation that I get to keep the $15. Apparently she didn't want to make 400 extra dollars for her owner because she refused the deal. So, I brought all of that money somewhere else and found someone willing to let me keep 15 so they could make $400. The power of the charter bus driver.Wake Up, Restaurant management. If you let the bus driver eat for free, he will give you an entire busload of people's business.
Panera food is generally great so don't let this deter you if you're concerned about quality. The lack of stars for this location is specific to the wait til. Drive thru, order ahead, doesn't really seem to matter - It always takes a little bit of extra time past what is expected. Understandably this could be just a time of day issue, or their understaffed due to the pandemic, but at that point I would think maybe you turn off order ahead for that location? Other companies use this model and it does work.