This location gets busy at lunch...so beware! But food is always prepared well and the service is pretty fast! I usually go a few times a month for lunch and the food has been great for me each time. I've tasted their sandwiches and many of the soups-all great! A little pricy but worth the quality of food you get. read more

We got takeout here. I got the Thai Garden Chicken Wonton broth bowl. The bowl, which cost over 8 dollars, was half full. It was a pitiful tiny portion and insanely salty! My wife's bowl of french onion soup was more like a small cup of soup. Poor management and tiny portions. I don't plan to go back. read more

Very good and clean. They just remodeled the whole place so it's very nice inside and out. The food is good. It's prepared like every other chain. Little pricey but worth it. They also have great bagels read more

I've been to this particular Panera numerous times and I must say it's the second slowest Panera I've ever been to. Not only do they take forever for your order but if it's a to go order, good luck finding out when your order is ready. In the past I've had to go to the counter and ask for my food for them to hand it to me. They have never called my name for to go orders. Ever. I'm writing this after the 3rd time I've had to go ask for my to go order. read more

pro: they just renovated, looks real nice! con: they were out of avocado, but still charged me for it pro: ordering our food went swimmingly because of the new machines they installed con: back to the avocado incident... not only were they out, but they were rude when they told me they were out pro: gotta end on a pro, the mac and cheese read more

Dropped by late in the afternoon. The pastry was stale. The coffee selection did not include dark roast. The tea selection was very limited. The place had few patrons but the service was mediocre. read more

Worst Panera experience ever. The only reason they even get two stars is because when your order is correct, it's good food. What all went wrong this time you ask? -I ordered my food and while waiting I was then told they were out of the bread the sandwich normally comes with. -they then told me they were out of rolls and had to give me baguettes instead when the woman I ordered with said that they had them available -The pasta we got had one tiny piece of chicken when it's called "CHICKEN tortellini Alfredo" I expect more than one tiny piece like other locations gives more chicken. I live in Athens and love Panera but I doubt I will ever visit this location again. I have had these same issues the past three times I've been here and I'm officially done trying. read more

Saturday Dec 9, 1:30pm: awful experience. First, the ladies restroom had napkins instead of toilet paper.....I ordered at the kiosk, waited around to find a table because it was so crowded. Sat at my table with my buzzer for 30 minutes for my food before going up to the counter to check on it. I was not asked if I needed help and I was not asked my name by any of the number of staff that were around. The staff were all yelling at each other behind the counter to get orders out and to help, they were shouting out people's names very loudly and almost aggressively. Stood at the counter for 5 minutes, gave up and went back to my seat and was about to ask for a refund for my food, when I saw my bag of food was sitting on my table. No receipt, my buzzer did not go off, & my name was not called. I immediately left after that, because it wasn't even pleasant to be sitting in there, it was so chaotic. Not likely to go back anytime soon. read more

First time reviewer anywhere and it really urks me to have to start my reviewing career like this but I started my yelp account to give this review b/c I feel strongly about it. Background: I have rushed in and out of Athens a great deal over the past 5 years and am always in need of a quick bite to eat when I am there. The fact that I avoid fast unhealthy food AMAP, really limits me as to where I can go and I don't know many town favorites. This brings me to Panera...often. I used to eat there all the time, getting a half n half combo w/ a chicken sammy. I stopped going there so much when I ate with a friend twice in a row(weeks apart). They got a beef sandwich each time. BOTH times his sandwich was cold....not lukewarm, COLD. That isn't a big deal if you don't mind cold sandwhiches, but then when we looked at the meat it was still BLEEDING; fine if you are getting a nice steak somewhere, but when you are at a chain-type sandwich shop, you want your meat cooked thoroughly to kill the probable bacteria. The first time it happened, he took his sandwich up and said something. I watched him smile and tell the cooks that it was no big deal, then I watched in astonishment as the staff returned my friend's light-hearted attitude with a nasty one of their own(and I mean nasty, it was colder than the sandwhich!). He got a new sandwich but no apologies and the manager never came out to offer us an apology himself nor was compensation of any kind offered(not that we were expecting it). The second time we got the sandwiches to go and they were both cold(chipotle chicken and roast beef of some kind) and my friend's was once again bloody. I know for a fact that this isn't common as I used to eat beef and live in Anderson right next to the Panera. We called them and they offered to fix it but we were on the other side of town by then and just threw them out. FF to a few months later and it had been a while since I had eaten there, so when my sister said she wanted to go, I said, *sigh* "let's go'. Same thing happened. both sammies were cold and hers was raw. That was about a year ago. I was in Athens tonight('bout a year later), and after stopping at Michael's, needed some grub. I thought, "Let's try Panera again, surely that manager/staff has been let go by now". Well, as far as I could see, the cooks and staff were all different. My chicken sandwich was piping hot and really yummy so when I saw Roast Beef Asiago on the menu, I grabbed one for my roommate. It was freezing cold and bleeding. I know this was a long review and I stressed a few things, but I promise you it is 100% accurate and not exaggerated in the least. I have been to other Panera restaurants before and never had this problem. This one has given it to me 4 out of the last 5 times I have been there. NOT a one time incident. I worked in a kitchen for 6 years, I know accidents happen, and it's not a big deal when they do. But this many times is ridiculous!! tl;dr: This Panera is a health hazard and gives people raw, cold sandwiches. NOT a place for kids or old people!(or people who don't like food poisoning)! read more

The last time we were here, they were out of a lot of food. Since they were getting ready to shit down for remodeling, we gave them the benefit of the doubt. Tried again tonight. Strike 1: out of avacado. Strike 2: Caesar salad came without croutons. What else is Caesar salad but lettuce, cheese and croutons. Strike 3: took 20 minutes to get 2 salads. I love Panera typically, but this location needs to get their act together. read more

This Panera on Atlanta Hwy has really gone down hill. The service has been slow and the employees behind the counter are extremely rude. The last time I went there the woman behind the counter saw me but did not acknowledge I was standing at the counter waiting to place an order. She slowly proceeded to slice several bags of bagels before taking my order. When she did finally take the order she acted like she was angry- like taking my order was putting her out. My friend and I were the only ones in line. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant. This is not the first time I have experienced this rude treatment but it will be the last because I refuse to go back to this location. read more

Went on Sunday at 11. Ordered a Napa chicken salad sandwich to go. Took 40 min to get. Horrible service rude staff. Totally bad management. Will not be back read more

Love Panera but this location is very poorly-managed. I pick up a bulk order of food every Monday morning for an 8am meeting and use their online rapid order service. 2 times in the past 5 weeks when I showed up at 745 to pick up an order that was promised to be ready by 730 it was not only not ready but hadn't even been started yet. Not even an apology... Reliably unreliable service. read more

My expectations have gone down over the years for Panera overall but tonight Panera Bread ran out of bread. Ordered a bowl of soup and they told us they were out of bread bowls and baguettes. We asked if we could have a slice regular bread and was told no. read more

I enjoy Panera's food, but this location is one of the worst Panera's I've had the displeasure of having to frequent because it is the only Panera around. The service is slow and the employees appear to have something better to do than what they are paid to do i.e. talk and check their cell phones, but my biggest grievance is they never have anything in stock. Three mornings in a row and no quiches ... what's the point of breakfast quiches if you don't have them at breakfast time. read more

really overpriced. the sandwiches were icy cold and disgusting. i think this panera has a longer wait time than the ones in the metro

This Panera just needs to do one thing: in the morning when their cashiers in front of the lunch and dinner menub boards are closed, they need to have an obvious way for the people to see a paper lunch and dinner menu from the other cash register. They technically do have paper lunch and dinner menus near that register, but they are positioned so they are behind the people ordering, and they're labled "catering" which implies they're only going to list the items you can cater, but they do actually have the menu in them. They just need to take a small stack of those menus and put them by that register with a sign by them explaining what they are. Also this place needs some reminders posted that they don't serve soup until after noon (or whenever), I didn't see any. See, the problem is I don't have your menu memorized, so I had to go over to read the lunch menu and memorize what I wanted, then go over to the register to order it, then be told that they're not serving soups yet so what else do I want? Except I can't see the menu from that side so how am I supposed to know what you have? See the problem? At least you need the signs reminding people you don't serve soups at all hours. Also my cashier charged me the full price for the bakery item when you're supposed to get them for $1.20 when you order a lunch or dinner entree. But that's whatever, I should have been reading my display. read more

Best place to eat in Athens! I mean as far as fast food goes. My friends always say that this place is expensive but if you order a full/half portion meals instead of the up2 then you will pay half as much. Which is about the same price as zaxbys or other high end fast food. The staff is wonderful and the managers are always out helping. Everyone should get to know them that are good people. Bottom line if you want to be healthy then panera is your place (even tho they are a little much on price but hey it good for you). Health trumps all else in life. read more

I DO NOT recommend this Panera bread. First off they were out of almost everything (no exaggeration). Ate here and ordered the steak and cheddar panini, and got my sandwich, the steak was red. There was blood soaked in the bread, the manager told me they cook their steak rare. They offered another sandwich I got a turkey, apple, and cheese and asked only for turkey and cheese (very clearly). I got my sandwich with everything on it. I love Panera, but will not be coming back to this location. Not my first bad experience at this location. read more

They have fantastic salads and the best broccoli and cheese soup around. I would eat there much more often if I lived closer.

The food is always good, but the past three times I've been there, I've paid before the staff told me that they were out of the item I had ordered. Each time, the cashier has told me I just had to find a substitution. As much as I love Panera soups, I think next time I'd try some place else. read more

Pretty sure this was the one we went to-didn't realize there were 2 in Athens. If not, I apologize. We went on Tue Jan3 at/around 1 p.m. We were 'helped' by a guy named Mike who I hope wasn't a manager. Very friendly at first. After a while though, the whole place reeked of 'burnt bread'. Was not happy with Mike. I think he could tell; he didn't ask if everything was OK. He promised he would 'find' us and bring us our food. After hearing my name called 3 times, I got tired of waiting for him to make good on that commitment, jumped up and got it. The staff didn't seem too happy they had to call my name that many times, which wasn't my fault. Mike had no problem, however, serving the large group just next to us. I may be a fancy, big city boy but when you go to a restaurant, doesn't matter if its sit-down or fast food, and they say they will 'bring it out' to you, you expect that. I would say that the food was definitely overpriced and did not match the level of service and customer care we received. BLECH! This experience RUINED the rest of my day. This was my first time to a Panera Bread and, based on this first impression, I would not go back or refer it to anyone I care about. read more

just had dinner there and really thought about cancelling our order after being told the total, $27.58 for two people with the "pick two" half salad and half sandwich!!! This food was just average. Will not go back for sure....would have had better food at a more reasonable price at Applebee's. Buyer beware read more

Ordered online, the salad was suppose to be regular size but was half, changed the salad dressing recipe it now has a bad after taste. yuk