Panera Bread

4855 Kingston Pike, Knoxville - 37919
164 reviews
Salad Soup
(865) 450-1002

I only ever get bagels from Panera, I’ve only ordered food here twice. I got soup and the green goddess salad for lunch today because it’s close to my work and I got a gift card for birthday, the soup was OKAY the salad however was hands down the most disgusting salad I’ve ever eaten, and I am not picky in the least bit. There was so much of the pickled onions there was a puddle of the juice in the bottom, it overpowered the whole salad. And it was so pitifully thrown together, the presentation was terrible. I’ll just stick the bagels from now on, if I even go back.

This was the worst experience I have ever had at Panera Bread, and it will be the last time I ever buy anything from this location. I got the Toasted Steak and White Cheddar Sandwich, Mexican Corn Chowder, and a Strawberry Banana Smoothie. My steak sandwich was supposed to have cheese and onions, which was listed in the description. When I received it, it had 2 small pieces of onion, no cheese, and was drowning in horseradish.The corn chowder tasted very watered down compared to the regular corn chowder I have had in the past. The smoothie was in a 16oz cup, which wasn’t filled to the top. Also, I had free chips with my order, but they were not the Panera brand, baked chips. The chips were very oily. I paid over $20 for this meal, when it wasn’t worth $5. I highly recommend going somewhere else to eat.

Not as good as most Panera Breads locations. This is my second attempt for this location and for the second time I’m disappointed. My avocado was just one big chunk so when I took my first bite of the first half it shot out of the sandwich onto the ground. I checked the second half and it was the same so I cut it up and spread it out.This visit they were out of all the spreads/sauces but didn’t tell me until I went up to ask for my missing signature sauce. I couldn’t get anyone in the food prep areas attention to ask so I had to return to the register. The ladies at the front were at least friendly.One of the guys cleaning and stocking also hovered over me while I used the microwave for 30 seconds and finally said “I need to get in there” pointing at a cupboard, but no excuse me or pardon me. Just seemed rude.

Panera is known for their delicious baked goods and it's so hard to choose which pastry to get. There are several cold teas I like.My preference is hot tea. Unfortunately, Panera carries five different blends of black tea and only one herbal tea. I would love to join their unlimited hot coffee and hot tea club if Panera had a larger selection of Herbal hot teas.

I’m a regular customer at this Panera Bread location and this is where I have my morning coffee. The employees (including management) really do a great job running this place. They’re pretty much always short staffed (through no fault of their own) but they work real hard and have a great spirit. I’ve gotten to know a number of these awesome people including Patty, Lina, Jennifer and Sabrina who always make my days a whole lot better. If upper management is listening, please know that’s it’s because of these people that you have me as a repeat customer and raving reviewer for you.

The staff at this Panera are unfriendly and unhelpful. I waited at the counter for 5 minutes, with no other guests around, and was ignored by multiple staff members before I was able to order my cup of coffee. We are also noticing a similar trend at other Panera's.

I got the grilled cheese and tomato soup combo. Grilled cheese wasn’t grilled at all. It was microwaved bread with velveeta. Absolutely horrible. The tomato soup was good. Wish I could post a picture of the grilled cheese and compare it to the picture on the door when I walked in. The picture on the door is what led me to order the combo. Beware of their false advertising.

Unfortunately, this is the absolute worst experience I have ever had at a Panera. We arrived at 7:30 (we were aware they closed at 8, but figured we could grab a quick bite to eat) and immediately ordered as there was no line. The cashier asked us if we would be dining in or taking out (which would give you the impression dining in was an option). We let her know we would be dining in, and she very rudely let us know they close in 30 minutes. We let her know we were aware and would be eating quickly. They were out of several items, which we understood as it was the end of the day. However, you ARE STILL OPEN. We ordered our food and waited about 15 minutes. Upon getting our food, nothing in our order was complete or correct. I ordered a turkey sandwich with everything on it and it came with just turkey and cheese and, oddly, lots of BBQ sauce. My friend ordered the steak and cheese sandwich and they left off the sauce and onions. My other friend ordered soup and salad and there were no croutons. At this point, another employee came by our table to let us know they close at 9. Again, we are aware. But none of our food is correct. We only ask for the steak sandwich to be remade because quite frankly, everyone was so rude we were afraid of what they would do to our food. The manager at this point told us to take our time. That's when we heard the cashier ask the manager if she should ask us to leave. The employees at this location are lazy and do not care about the customer. After spending nearly $50 between 3 of us, the manager informed us he could not issue a refund because they had already closed the registers (this was 5 minutes before their actual closing time). The three of us have worked and/or currently work in the food service industry, and we cannot fathom treating customers this way. We realize it can be frustrating when a customer comes in at the end of the night, but you are STILL OPEN. And when you are OPEN, you are still serving customers. I will absolutely never visit this location again.

The physical restaurant itself is worn out! And has been for some time. Should have been updated a decade ago! Seats are threadbare, soda machine is rusty (not a metaphor), and the additional dining room is literally just a room with a dozen tables in it. Food was typical of Panera, staff was friendly.

This was literally the worst Panera experience I have ever had. Not only did the cashier warn us they were closing in 30 minutes, but the other employee mopping asked her manager “should I ask them to leave?”. Our orders were all incorrect and clearly a result of lazy employees and closing too early. I understand being short supplied and short staffed but that constitutes closing early, unlike this establishment. Our orders were not only incorrect but incomplete. When addressing this issue, the manager handled this complaint, but was unable to refund our order due to counting down the register 10 minutes before closing.