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| - As long time Panera fans, my wife and I were disappointed to have to walk out of two of our regular Paneras (one located at Ballantyne and the other at Pineville-Matthews & Carmel Rd intersection) due to consistently (and I emphasize, "consistently") unacceptable sanitary conditions in the low 90s before finally arriving at this shiny new Waverly location. Of course "new" can be deceiving; however, immediately upon entry, I recognized a long-time manager from the Arboretum store leading things here, which was cause for optimism (as was the high sanitation score). We arrived during the rush hour on a Saturday.
The entire restaurant and its workers did appear to be clean and the food was of the quality that we had grown to know and expect from Panera. Servers were also friendly and attentive. My wife and I ordered You-Pick-Twos, one with the grilled cheese and Ancient Grain, Arugula & Chicken Salad and the other with French onion soup and the Green Goddess Cobb Salad with Chicken. Other than the grilled cheese being a little on the dry side, everything was expertly prepared and displayed. Most importantly, it was delicious.
This will remain our go-to location, as we have given up on the others. I have confidence that as long as Carl, the "super manager", is here, that will remain to be the case. Otherwise, we will just move on from Panera altogether, as there is certainly no shortage of choices in the area.
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