Panera Bread - San Ramon, California

It's M.

02.09.2024 Update: Stopped back in at this location around 7pm, while on the road for a cup of coffee & loaf of bread. They weren't busy. Fresh decaf coffee was available, which we appreciated. Almond milk was almost empty, had enough for over serving only. Tables looked clean, restaurant seemed more organized & in order this time. We'll stop by again another time & hope that the first encounter isn't the norm. Unless something is really awful with the food or service, I believe it's more fair to reassess with two or three visits and edit my rating accordingly. +1 star on atmosphere, food, & overall. Didn't see any employees this visit, so couldn't get more almond milk.

01.2024 First time we stopped in at this location in San Ramon. It was a busy time of day, we understand that. Food was prepared to go as requested. Employee at the counter where others are preparing salads, bowls, etc. was totally unhelpful. There was a stack of napkins on the counter bow within her reach. I said, "Could we please have some extra napkins?" and she said, "They're over there" pointing to the cold drink counter about 12 ft away. Not sure back why she couldn't just accommodate that simple request, but instead, I picked up a large bag, with 2 beverages, and my purse, and walked back over there to get more napkins after setting everything down. We're not lazy. It was just napkins. In front of her. Which is why we asked her in the first place.

Food itself contained a large dollop of yogurt (Mediterranean bowl) though we didn't select yogurt on our bowl & have never had it with our meal in the past. We threw out a decent portion of our food because of this as we didn't have time to wait for them to remake it. Side baguette was yummy - chewy on the inside and crusty on the outside, but not too hard to chew as with prior baguettes. Sandwich with hummous was fresh, sparce on produce though we selected "extra" when ordering. Coffee was good, almond milk was available with no upcharge. Many tables needed to be cleared and wiped. Don't know why people don't take their dishes to the designated areas, but staff needs to wipe down tables, even when they're busy. Free parking lot with adequate spaces. Not far from 680 freeway.

La N.

We ordered a family feast with Mediterranean veg Sandwiches, quart of Tomato soup, Greek salad. Came with French Baguette. Separate Mediterranean veg soup as a bowl size that we ordered was very tasty. Sandwiches have just a small dab of hummus! It didn’t even taste like there’s something. They could have smeared a little more hummus. Baguette bread had some funny brown bag kind of smell. Soups and salad were yumm. It was a comfort and healthy meal for a family and not pricey. Order was nicely packed for pickup, but may be need better wrap for the baguettes. Curbside pickup option was well managed in this location.

A L. Y.

Great news menu, food was just ok, definitely slower/no service and felt overpriced dor the portion size, glad it was easy to park,

Gina B.

I actually come here semi often (maybe 2-3 times per month). This morning the cashier seemed frazzled. The man in front of me was trying to make small talk and wish her a good morning but she was acting like she was just trying to get through the couple people in line to start doing other stuff. I order a bagel, double toasted with cream cheese. Even says it on the receipt. However this doesn't look double toasted. I already got to work though and couldn't go back. The wait is pretty long when they first open. Even for something easy like a bagel. I waited 6 minutes for what I thought would be a double toasted bagel. There were only 2 other customers in the store.

Swathi A.

Panera has become more of a miss lately. My recent order of two "You Pick Two" meals was disappointing. The toasted garden caprese sandwich had no greens at all—just melted cheese and two tomato slices. This is far from what I expected for $15, especially when Ike’s across the street offers a much better meal. To make matters worse, the complaint forms on Panera's website don’t work, and their customer service is unreachable. This isn’t the first time I’ve had issues with them. I’m done with this place.

Rin R.

5 of us came in in the afternoon. Girl up front was nice. We ordered,payed and waited... and waited. Our buzzers never went off. When we figured out our food was ready two of the sandwiches had little to nothing in them. Our concerns didn't seem to concern them in the slightest. 50$ for 3 people with out drinks

Greg C.

3 of us went Sunday May 5. We eat Panera once or twice a month.
This particular day there was 4-5 kids working. I say kids because the eldest of the bunch had to no more than 22-23 years of age. My order was wrong, as was my mother-in-law's.
Happens, right? The problem is, the employees were more interested in having fun than properly serving customers. The area where plates and bowls are returned to was stacked so high I could not sort what was left on my plate as I usually do.

Edmund F.

I went here and the staff are really nice and helpful, the food was good, and the wait for the food wasn't long at all.