Panera- not so kid friendly

[sarahdennisscott]

I went out with my mommie friends and their babies today for lunch at Panera Bread. All of us had little ones between 7 mo- 3yrs. There were 4 moms and 5 kids.
Near the end of our meal. A lady who worked there brought out a broom and dust pan and leaned it up against our table and said to one of the moms, "Here. I thought you may need this." Her son had made quite a mess, but I just think that is rude! She didn't touch the broom at all. She had a 3 yr old and a 9 mo old... both tired and ready to go. Did they really expect her to stay and clean up?

I use the Fisher Price Booster Seat with tray. My son never drops anything on the floor. If he did, I would pick it up. Personally, I wouldn't allow my child to make a mess like that.

I'm just wondering what you all think. I can see both sides, I guess.

[Casalinga]

I don't know, I'm not sure this is an indictment of Panera in general. Probably just one not so great employee at one Panera.

I always picked up after my child anyway, but if it were me I'd have a little fun with it and start sweeping up around the whole area when we were done. Then when the manager wanted to know what I was doing, it would have been my pleasure to tell her that her employee had asked me to do it.

[3qtzzzzz]

To be polite, I would probably pick up any big items that my child had dropped but, frankly, if you're in the restaurant business and you allow children to dine in your restaurant you must know that childrens' messes are part of the business. That was very immature and unprofessional of the employee to expect the mom to clean up. The employee is paid to clean up. I think I would have spoken to the manager or left a comment card for the manager to speak to the employee about what is expected of an employee and what is expected of a customer.

[aspyne]

This is a tough one. I always pick up after my daughter - I don't think it's anyone else's job to do so. But I do think it was rather rude of the employee to bring out a broom. I guess she just didn't want to sweep up that day.

[kirchberg@ltdkate.com]

Once my daughter spilled a drink at Chik-Fil-A. I notified an employee because I didn't want anyone to slip and fall. They kindly came over and cleaned it up and even offered me another drink. They didn't hand me mop and expect me to clean up. You can just tell from the verbage used by Chik-Fil-A employees that they are trained well and value their customers.

I don't know what kind of "customer service" training Panera employees are given, but it sounds like this person needs a refresher course. Or maybe just a Midol! Which ever the case, I think it is very unprofessional to hand a customer a broom. How much business could have been lost by that one incident? I doubt seriously that any of the Mommies in the group will give their business to that store again. Yes, we as customers must do our best to be neat and tidy and teach our children good manners, but who among us hasn't had a few crumbs land on the floor?

[lismom2]

I worked in restaurants for 15 years and managed for 8 of those and I would personally complain. Send a letter to the Panera Home offices or simply call that particular panera bread and let them know about your experience. Whether you clean up the mess or not (and many thanks to the parents who pick up after their children, it IS noticed and appreciated by the staff), an employee should never have done that. It is VERY poor customer service.

[vimalnina]

I own a fast casual restaurant, and I can tell you that kind of behavior from an employee would be unacceptable at my establishment.
Kids make messes, heck sometimes adults make bigger messes, but parents should not be required to clean them up in public places. I would complain to that particular store and I would also complain to panera's corporate office.

[newmomma2003]

While I agree that the employee had no business handing the customer a broom, I think that it might make some people think about what kind of mess they leave for the staff. I have so many parents who come into my resturant and let their kids run wild, leave trash all over the floor and the table, that many times I wish I could ask them to leave. While I would never personally hand a person the broom and suggest they use it, I do appreciate it when the parents take care of their kids and their messes!
Yes, we are paid to work there but many times it certainly is not worth being a maid as well.

[freckles]

Well according to your story, I thought the lady at Panera was definitely rude and out of line....only if you gals were still sitting? Just sounds like to me that the lady did not give your friend a chance to clean after her own child. She still does not get to say anything like that.

[MeashLL]

Wow...I'm really surprised by that. I have had no problems at either of the Panera's I've been to. My daughter is pretty well behaved in restaurants. She is 19 months and we've been taking her out with us since she was a month old. We try to keep her area as clean as possible but kids are kids and sometimes messes happen. I try to clean up as much of the big stuff as I can. But, it is a restaurant and you would think that having kids dine there, they would expect to have to do some clean up. For an employee to bring a broom to the table is extremely rude and unacceptable. If that happened to me, I would definitely be having words with the manager. And I would definitely not be dining at that particular Panera again.