Panera treats preggos right!

danuli8

I had a really good experience today at Panera and wanted to give them a shout-out. I was pretty queasy when I walked in for lunch and I wanted something soothing. I saw the new Sonoma chicken stew on the menu and decided to try it. I picked it up at the counter and walked to my table and thought, "OMG, what is that horrible smell?" I thought the chick at the next table had incredible BO or something, but then I realized it was the STEW! So I pushed it as far away as I could and ate the side of baguette in tiny bites and sipped water and made sure I knew exactly where the bathroom was. I felt much better after the baguette and took a tiny bite of stew. Yuck, cream-based and vaguely cheesy but in a totally nauseating way...I knew I couldn't eat it, but of course I was hungry.

I had this vague idea that I wanted to trade it in, but I was just so embarrassed. I stood up with my tray with this full bowl of stew on it and took a few hesitant steps back toward the counter. One of the girls busing tables and cleaning up saw me and said, "Is something not right? Are you okay?" I hesitantly explained that I was pregnant and never sure how foods were going to hit me, and I had never ordered this dish before and I knew if I ate it bad things were going to happen in her restaurant.

She was super nice and not flustered at all. She brought me back up to the serving counter and said, "We'd be glad to get you something else. What would you like?" I sputtered around and finally decided on nice safe chicken noodle soup, which the servers happily dished up for me with a smile. They even gave me another baguette. They didn't ask for money, they didn't make me feel embarrassed, they were just plain nice. I was so relieved it was all I could do not to get all hormonal and weepy in my gratitude.

So there you have it, ladies--Panera even understands pregnancy-induced nausea! Kudos to them! They will definitely be getting more of my business in the future.

Cailin+Deas+Rua

Yay!  As if I needed another reason to love this place!

asuchic

Aww, how sweet of them!  We don't have any here, but we do have Paradise Bakery.

tinychefjackson

danuli8:

 ... I knew if I ate it bad things were going to happen in her restaurant.

 

**cannot stop laughing**

sbonnie

that's so nice!! glad you got some soup you could eat!

MsAmeera25

I've been eating Panera for lunch for the last week lol I am glad you had a good experience. I LOVE that place!

jcarleo1

tinychefjackson:

danuli8:

 ... I knew if I ate it bad things were going to happen in her restaurant.

 

**cannot stop laughing**

Hilarious!

RussianMommy

Aw what a cute story!

popfan

That's so nice to hear. A lot of places have let customer service go out the window. Now they know you'll be coming back!

DarlingNIkki1028

Aww, so glad they were nice to you! I love their broccoli cheddar soup, but I have to avoid them now.   I was put on a low carb diet to control my preexisting diabetes, and we went in a few weeks ago, and I actually got emotional because I was drooling over all the baked goods I'm not allowed to have.  Stupid hormones!

AMJ6511

That's great! I'm glad they treated you right. 

TheSinger

That's awesome!!! I always ask them for a sample of like 3 soups before ordering so I know which one will settle well with me, and they are always nice about it! Love that place.

amber8287

That's great! A couple years ago, I was at Panera and decided to try a soup I hadn't had before. I don't even remember which one, but I didn't like it at all. An employee noticed I had barely touched my soup and I nicely said it just wasn't to my liking. They kindly replaced it with one I knew I liked. Always nice to receive great service!

youmakemyheartsmile

That's awesome!

kittaywhiskers

It always depends on the employees. I made sure to treat customers like that at all of my food service jobs. I've had fellow employees, including ones at Panera, who were definitely not so nice.

I hate sounding like an old lady at 25, but this generation sucks at customer service/being respectful. MOST of the time.

silverfanatic

I went to Panera for lunch today too...and I traded my food in too! lol. I had the Harvest Turkey Cranberry Salad. In the photo, it didn't appear to have dressing so I thought I'd get to pick one when I got to the counter...turns out it comes with Balsamic Vinagarette. I get grossed out just looking at brown salad dressing, let alone eating it. I took it back up and they agreed to make me a new salad w/ ranch on the side. FYI, theres not any cheese in the photo either - they hide blue cheese crumbles under all the lettuce...just in case anyone doesn't like that. I picked mine out.

mgarza1231

That's very sweet

svanjicki

What a great story! I know exactly how you feel...I never know what's going to sound or taste good literally from one minute to the next.  It's so frustrating, but i'm glad your story had a happy ending!

JSS1002

That is very sweet.  I love hearing stories about good customer service, pregnancy-related and otherwise.  I already liked Panera a lot and now I like it even more!

ThereBeDragons

I had a similar thing happen at a local seafood restaurant. Ordered gumbo because it sounded tasty but when it got to the table I could barely look at it, and eating it was out of the question. So I settled down to just nibbling off my husbands plate and shoved the soup as far away as I could. Waitress came by, saw I wasn't eating it- I explained that I was sure it was up to standards but that baby wasn't going to let me enjoy it. She offered to bring me anything else and made sure I wasn't charged for the soup.

Its awesome when someone goes that extra step to help  

bumpuser2669861

Mango smoothies from Panera have saved me a few times...love them!