The worst Panera Bread in town. Every year I hoped it would get better no such luck. The service is okay, but the food is awful. I ordered a smoothie and was served it with sour yogurt. I ordered one of those souffle breakfast croissants and it was hard. The first bite made me gag. If you go through the drive through, you can smell how bad it is like they mopped the floor with a dirty mop. It appears that the managers do not give a crap because it is crowed anyway, using the fact that it is the only one in Chester. If you feel the need for Panera, take the drive up to the one on Hull Street or risk getting sick. read more

Love the food but the last 3 times we've ordered food at the drive thru they've given us the wrong food. Very disappointing that it keeps happening. read more

Ok.. where do I start. I go to panera bread all the time in San Diego (where I live). I am TDY and found this one near my hotel. This is the most despicable Panera ever! What are they doing in there? I had literally a teaspoon of dressing for my 1/4 of salad they gave me (not even a toddler would get full with this salad). The salad was wilted brown. They didn't give me a fork. On top of that, there was a dirty disgusting napkin in my bag. You gotta be kidding me.... I'm scared to eat the soup. Lord knows what's in it! Never go here again. I should call the health department or something. Ridiculous! Nasty nasty nasty! Never in my life been to a panera bread like this, I've been in San Diego, LA, Las Vegas and Chicago. This is a corporate owned panera I believe, you'd think it would be better because of that but I guess I'll stick to the franchises ones. read more

Panera is my go to quick meal on the go, but this location is a very poor representation of what I know Panera to be, and what I would imagine the standards Panera holds its franchises to. While waiting for my order to be completed, I observed at least one order fulfilled incorrectly. So it was no surprise that when I got home with mine, it was also incorrect with a soup and cookie missing. Both sandwiches (caprice and steak) were thrown together without care and where very disappointing. The chefs had long hair hanging out from underneath their hats and most had facial hair, not sure if it's expected for them to wear hair nets? (Lets hope no one winds up with hair in their food). The women's bathroom was absolutely filthy, toilet paper all over the floor and stains over the seat, looks like it had not been cleaned in a week. I would not recommend this location to anyone, not even as carryout/delivery. The food is horrible, not worth the cost, you could prepare yourself a better sandwich at home. It's very obvious the location is horribly managed. read more

Panera Bread - My disappointing Caprese sandwich, cheese smushed to one side, few tomatoes smooshed to the other. The bread didn't even taste fresh. - Sandwiches Near Me - Chester, Virginia

Went here yesterday for breakfast with some friends. The food was good. I had the asiago bacon egg and cheese sandwich and chocolate croissant. My complaint is the restaurant as a whole was filthy. The corner booth we sat in had stains all over the fabric seat (over by the drink station). There was water from a spill all over the drink station that was dripping onto the floor. One of the people who work there that was making the green tea and lemonade ignored it and went about making the beverages. The women bathroom was a mess with pieces of toilet paper and regular paper towels all the foot. This was at 9am on a Friday. It wasn't that busy where someone could have checked on the facilities or even cleaned up after a mess. Sorry but I won't be returning location. If these little messes aren't taken care of, what makes me think my food was made in a clean kitchen? read more

This is absolutely the slowest Panera I have ever been to. I don't think I will return because I sat in the drive thru for 30 mins and they did not even apologize for the time I waited! read more

A Panera Bread with a DRIVE THRU!!! Need I say more? Excellent!

The staff is always very helpful and exceptionally friendly. The management is on point, always happy to make conversation and see how things are going. I've never had a problem with anything, everything has always come out great! read more

I really like this Panera. It has a drive thru, the inside of the place is kept nice and clean, and the staff here are really friendly. The food has always been good and comes out fast. My only complaint would be the line to order (when it's about 5 people waiting to order) blocks the entrance/exit so it makes it hard to get in and out when several people are in line. read more

Had the quinoa and lentil bowl - terrible! No quinoa and no lentils - just sour broth with spinach leaf.

My mom and I ate late lunch yesterday and had a great experience. We both got turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwiches with pickle and kettle chips. Fresh sandwich. Ambiance was nice with fireplace. The woman behind the counter was very friendly and helpful. The tea was good. read more

Person who took our order got it wrong and charged us for 2 drinks when we specifically asked for only one. Then the order came out missing a smoothie and a sandwich. Also didn't have plasticwear read more

I rarely write reviews...but here goes. I used to come to this Panera multiple times a week simply due to proximity to my job. Over the past year or so the quality of the food, order accuracy and customer service have all gone down hill. Not sure if there's new ownership/management but the staff is basically all new and it shows. My pick two Caesar salad is particularly sad today. As someone who now only visits monthly, if that, even that is a disappointment. Sucks because there aren't many other quick options in the area. Try your hand at another location. read more

The turkey bacon avocado sandwich is very tasty. I like the drive-thru for those days when I don't have time to sit down and eat.

I love Panera, and I often find myself there while traveling. This trip was no different. I was so happy to find they had a drive thru, since we were out on a very rainy night. The couple of times we ended up stopping at this Panera, the service was slow and the food was a bit cold. Needless to say my soup did not warm me up that night. The employees were polite, parking spaces seemed limited. read more

I love this place; I consider it the Starbucks of bread. You got to try the grilled cheese and tomato soup. I also recommend the broccoli and cheddar soup and any of the fresh pastries. read more

I love Panera but this one is terrible. Not very clean inside. The bathrooms were especially gross. Also the service was terrible. We asked three times for them to make ice tea as the dispenser was empty. They kept saying someone would and then went back to talking and joking amongst themselves. I will not be stopping at this location ever again. read more

I like Panera, but this store was experiencing some operational problems when we stopped there one morning at 8:30. The cashier had trouble ringing up our order. Then they were out of coffee. What should have been a 5 minute stop took 20. read more

Disgusting and dirty. Employees standing around doing nothing and the place was littered with trash. Gross me out. Glad we were just passing through. I wouldn't go back if you paid me! read more

Great food and staff. Customer service is always excellent. Keep up the good work. My family and my favorite if the Powerwhouse breakfast with egg white, turkey sausage on a multigrain bagel. It's always excellent. The salads are excellent. read more

I used to love Panera. This location suffers from a huge lack of care when it comes to their food prep. They consistently forget ingredients in their salads and provide nowhere near enough dressing and when you ask for more they get aggravated. The sandwiches are mostly bread. The meat and other fillings are almost nonexistent and slapped on with no care whatsoever. It's inconceivable to me that I paid over $9.00 for a steak panini that had the onions on only one half, barely a smear of horse radish and the steak was so gristly and fatty it was inedible . Not to mention there was barely any on the sandwich. I ended up adding more horse radish from my home, pulling off the stringy meat , could not detect any cheese. I basically ate bread with a hint of onion and no meat. This is my third poor experience at this location so I'm done. read more

This Panera is the pits. I have been coming here ever since it opened. Over the last year the service and quality of food has really gone down hill. The manager really has not cared. Some examples of the issues: I ordered a spinach and bacon souffle and got a bowl of broccoli cheddar soup. Not cool for breakfast. manager said they would send me a $10 gift card to make up for having lunch for breakfast. I ordered a bagel toasted---it was burned, not brown, burned! The next day I asked for it to be toasted but not burned. They gave me a cut, but uncooked bagel. I ordered a chai tea latte, which I have been drinking daily for years. The cup was only 1/2 full. Their reasoning, a latte has foam in it. I came back the next day, I got a chai with no foam. It was 1/2 full. So, question...if I ordered a coke with no ice, would I get only "1/2 full" container? read more

Good food, decent atmosphere. I really enjoy Panera and like the drive thru option. Biggest issue is the lack of parking but this seems to be a common theme for Panera in Richmond area. read more

I'm severely disappointed in my experience at this Panera. I ordered a ham and Swiss flatbread, which I'd ordered at a Chesterfield Panera a few months ago and loved. This sandwich, however, was overcooked and had entirely too much mustard. My sister ordered a bagel, which was burned. I won't visit this store again. read more

Ok, I wished I could give no stars. Stopped in on a Friday afternoon around 3:00. Not too busy, but extremely dirty seating area. Tables were filthy, trash was spilling on the floor, Ladies Room dirty, the list goes on. I finally found a clean table. Cleanliness gets a 0. Now for the service. Ordered a Large Coffee, (how hard can that be?) and Everything Bagel w/ Cream Cheese. Oops, the Hazelnut Coffee is empty. After requesting for coffee to be brewed please, the employee got an attitude, and said we don't brew it very much during the day, it will be 10 minutes or so. My bagel was harder than a rock, asked kindly to have it replaced. My order was still sub-par, this bagel was even more stale, and barely toasted. So, I decided to order a Vanilla Cinnamon Roll. Upon receiving my order, I noticed my plate was dirty, coffee stains on the plate. I then proceeded to speak to a Manager and show them the plate. A Manager never came to the counter, and the Cinnamon Roll disappeared. The employee brought my new Cinnamon Roll to the table, it was less than half the usual size. Upon leaving, a Manager finally came out and asked me if everything was Ok. Apparently, he was alerted to all of these issues. I explained the entire experience, he apologized, and gave me a Cinnamon Roll to go. He stated that he would pass the information along as to how they can improve. I frequent Panera Bread, this was not a typical experience of any other location I have visited in the past 19 years. read more

So I Haven't been to panera for a while do to a bad experience and I needed some bagels for my work breakfast figured I'd give them another shot, found out you can order online it was easy fun and paid and chose the time to pick it up, I got there early I chose to pick it up at 7:20 I got there at 7:15 traffic was quick moving that morning. The bad was there in the shelf I checked it and everything was there so easy!!! My only complaint is they were a bit hard but nothing a quick microwave didn't fix at the office, will be using the online ordering again def a big plus. read more

Good food as always and stellar service !! The young staff out here are just so professional and patient!! We stopped by here a couple times during our interstate drives and were wowed by the service. The restrooms could use some cleaning though read more

Out of the last 3 times ive been there, they have only gotten my order right... never. It's a shame that i request something as small as a toasted bagel and the person at the window repeats my order but once i open the bag, its cold as ice. I just wish that the person at the window could get my order translated a little bit better. cold bread and cold butter = meh read more

The Manager really needs to follow through with the companies customer service protocol! I ordered and paid for a smoothie drink with my meal. And she came out to inform me that one of the main ingredients was not available. So, she offered to refund my $ and give me a complimentary drink. So, I thanked her and chose a different smoothie and she looks up at the board and says oh there the same price so we're even. She wasn't rude but that was not what she offered. I tried the drink and didn't like it so. I informed her that I would like my refund. The young lady who made my drink offered to make me a blended coffee I accepted. So, I told the Manager she was making me another drink and she told the worker to make it. Then she had the nerve to say do you want to pay the difference? I told her NO! I was totally turned off by how she treated me a paying customer. I didn't come in there looking to get something for nothing! The food didn't taste fresh either! I will not be returning to this store. read more

This is the best Panera I've ever been to, I typically Order delivery, it's always very quick and everything is exactly as I ordered, even when I modify orders. Dining in is no different, expect excellent service. read more

I just tried to call the manager of the Chester Panera to express my dissatisfaction with my purchase this evening but the recording says he's too busy to talk to me at this time. I need to call back between meal times. So, I'll just post on Yelp instead. I purchased two "bowls" of soup for carry out about an hour ago. The bag felt very light when it was handed to me so I looked in the bag to check that the order was correct. I figured a mistake had been made. Two little tiny cups did not appear to be the right size of the "bowl" others were eating from at various tables inside the restaurant. I went back to ask the manager and he demonstrated "cup" size and "bowl" size for me. So, okay, I get it. It is what it is. When I got home, I opened the soup containers to transfer the soup to my "bowls". I couldn't believe it but the cups with my Panera soup "bowls" are not even half full. What a joke. Both "bowls" together don't even add up to a "cup". Lesson to take away......do not do a carry out order for a "bowl" of soup at Panera if you expect to get a "bowl" of soup. Eat your "bowl" of soup at Panera since it appears that portion sizes are much larger than carry out! Better yet, go somewhere where they actually make their soup onsite. read more

Ordered a turkey sandwich and there was a random piece of lobster in it...which I'm extremely allergic to. had to go straight to patient first and what did Paneras manager do? He called me laughing about the situation! Later on so was drugged up on antihistamines and an Epi-pen shot when corporate called me and said they were going to send me a $15 gift card and I passed out while on the phone from the Meds. Why would I ever want to eat there again? And did they ever pay for my medical bills for having to go to patient first after they carelessly threw lobster on a turkey sandwich? No! ridiculous and disappointing even more is the manager laughing about the situation! health violations are not a laughing matter. read more

I asked for a turkey sandwich with just lettuce and the turkey. When it arrived they gave me everything I didn't ask for, honey mustard, mayo, tomato and onions. Would not go again for this is the second time they messed up my order since I've gone to Panera in the past week. Would not go again. read more

I called this store for our office and a drug rep and was completely denied due to a problem in the Colonial Heights Store. Ok this is not my problem that the colonial heights store has an issue that we have to suffer as an office. when I could just walk in there and get these boxed lunches. This has put a very bad taste in my mouth and I do not apprciate it at all. read more

So I called an order in over the phone tonight to pick up at the Chester location. I ordered two bread bowl soups with sandwiches. When I got home, I had the soups but no bread bowls. I called the number from which I ordered and talked to some guy named "Jamal" who was working at the call center in St. Louis. I explained what happened and how upset me and my wife were that I drove 20 minutes home and didn't have a he correct order. Jamal was as unhelpful as a person in customer service could be. He refused to get a manager when I requested to talk to one saying he was unavailable. I asked him to call the store itself and he also refused. Finally I called the store and talked to Johnny, the manager. He was behind nice and sympathetic towards my situation. It was close to closing and said he would t be able to get a driver to come out to my house to give me the bread bowls (which I was I requested I'd like to happen when I talked to Jamal. Instead, Johnny said when he closed the store he would personally deliver them to me himself. Not too much time later, there was Johnny, bringing me the bread bowls. THAT, my friends, is how you keep customers happy and make them WANT to return to your store. He went above and beyond and will be remembered for doing so forever. Thank you Johnny! Give that man a promotion! He deserves it. Oh, and Jamal should never work in customer service as long as he is alive. Fire him! read more

I ordered from their rapid online ordering system .... I requested the now button as I would like to pick it up as soon as possible. I placed an order for 9 pick 2 meals and the online system said because the size of my order it would be ready 1 hour later (I felt this was a long time to wait but none the less placed the order for my boss and his clients ) . I arrived approximately 30 minutes early and bought a beverage . The cashier asked the name on the order ( both the cashier and the woman in the bakery part where exceptionally friendly ) I told her and she went to see if they where at least working on it . a woman steps out from the back and said she didn't even see the order asked me for the paper and stated she would start on it from the receipt I had (great !) But after that it was all downhill ... The woman must have asked a man (I am assuming the manager) why she didn't have the order ... He stated the order was printed and because it had hot food it was set aside ... then he said if they wanted to come in earlier then they should have put that time ( It wasn't an option as the computer program gave me the time ) then yelling at each other she says well shes her now so what do you want me to do ?!? Not once did i mention I was in a hurry , I just sat in the chair next to rapid pick up ... while sitting there I listened to the employees complain about customers( This lady calls for delivery at lunch time then complains , she just wants free food , ect ect ect ), I even heard a woman slam something a few times and yell " I hate these people", The worse part was that the person I assume to be the manager was the one talking the most . Where is your level of professionalism ... When the pick up time hit I looked at the rapid pick up shelf and it was empty ... A gentleman came around the corner and asked what I was waiting for . I told him and they began looking for the order ... They found it at the cashier stand ? No one told me it was there , The bag sat there about 15 min as I recalled someone putting it there but thought it was for a delivery. I politely thanked them and walked out the door ... When I got back to the office and organized the lunches i noticed there where no forks for the salads , spoons for the soups, the Caesar salad box was crushed and if I hadn't asked for extra butter there would have been none for the bag of rolls that we had...My simple grilled cheese was like rubber.... This experience was extremely disappointing and will definitely cause us to seek other restaurants to order from for our clients ... read more