Panera Bread - Camp Pendleton South

Not a huge fan on Panera but our options on base were limited. Went with take two options. My wife's grilled cheese was not toasted well. Both of our soups were good and my spicy chicken sandwich was OK. Thought it was somewhat pricey for what we got. I likely wouldn't return for meals.

I have never written a review before, but my experience today was so exceptional I didn't have to write this, I needed to write this. I have recently had to go gluten and dairy-free and when I knew my only option was Panera Bread due to visiting Camp Pendleton for some work and being short on time I was very concerned they were not going to have anything. On top of my concern, the place was packed. When I got to the cashier the woman that took my order could not have been more patient and genuinely helpful. When I asked her if there was anything on the menu that would meet my constraints she quickly pulled out her green binder and proceeded to look through all the items we thought might work and looked at their ingredients. After narrowing things down we finally settled on the Asian Chicken salad without the wontons. The salad was good, but the service was excellent! I should have given a bigger tip!!

I'm waiting for the owner of this franchise to contact me. I've left my info with the current manager. No response from the franchise owner. I had an employee yell at my husband and I that we've never worked a hard in our lives. My husband is a 20 year Veteran who served this country everyday willing to give his life for our freedom. I am a former labor leader of 1.6 million people. I fought for the fight for $15 at the state capitol so the little girl who yelled at us could make what she does... We never had our receipt given to us as the employee threw it away. Lukas the old manager had a staff pull out a ladder to fix the old menu. Corporate told me I needed my husbands debit card to get a refund. I was yelled at. My charges couldn't be explained by the person who took my order and later came and threw away my receipt after the manager printed it out. The over charge couldn't be explained by the manager Lukas who said we ordered a Greek goddess but we didn't we ordered a cord on blue sandwich. I will never eat at a Panera again. NEVER I encourage all military personnel to avoid the Panera on Camp Pendleton. Shame on you Panera franchise owner! Shame on you!!!

Second visit to this location, but it 's definitely going to be my last! I walked in, no greeting, no eye contact, no how can I help you? not even a halfway smile. Despite this place being basically empty, except for 2 people sitting in the back of the restaurant! I came in looking for a dozen bagels to take to a morning meeting. It was before 8:00 a.m. and already there were VERY slim pickings, most of their baskets were almost empty as they only had one or two bagels left. I noticed the menu offers a Tuesday special on their Baker 's Dozen so I inquired on that, only to receive no response from the woman behind the register area, just a glare. Wow! I brushed it off and just said I 'd take a dozen, again, no response. So I start naming the bagels I want, as I have no idea what she 's doing or if she needs this info yet. She was ringing up on the register, so I assumed she was ready, because still at this point, she has not uttered a single word to me. Now she finally speaks and says, wait, that 's it, nothing else. No customer service at all! That 's my pet peeve! After I finally got through with my order, which was worse than pulling teeth, I waited at the end of the counter to wait for her to package my stuff. When she was finished, she did not say a word! Not a here 's your items or your order is ready or anything at all. Obviously I knew my stuff was ready when I saw the bag on the counter so I went to pick it up, and again no acknowledgement from her at all. It 's just an awful feeling to walk into a business and purchase goods without any interaction and being left like you 're a burden for coming in. You 'd think it wouldn 't happen at this location because it is on base, but it did. Oh well, we live and we learn.

I went to Panera Bread on base this morning and received excellent customer service. The person that waited on me was so nice and my order was completed on a timely manner. I wish I would have gotten her name to acknowledge her. Thanks Panera