It's a good looking job on a résumé - Associate Panera Bread Employee Review

2.0
Aug 16, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Your coworkers -as cliché as this sounds yes the people who work here for the most part are pretty cool. No Grease- you don't smell when you go home and you'll most likely be okay if you where normal tennis shoes Respected- you may not think so but compared to other fast food chains Panera has earned some rep

Cons

Customers- Yup, as with most jobs this tends to be the problem but here it's another whole other ball park. The customers you meet are demanding, rude and held above on a pedi stool fit for royalty. Except you aren't paid a royal fee to care for them, nope, you make minimum wage and you work at Panera, not a 5 star resort. It's one thing to have customer service but why have rules if management won't enforce them for belligerent, unyielding customers. Room to grow(quickly)- if you expect to climb the chain of success look elsewhere. At Panera you can start as a hourly associate then after 9 months you can maybe and I seriously mean maybe you can move to a trainer and that's just about where the road stops because unless you have 4 years to give there's nowhere for you to go but if you do then yes Panera does have roads for you to take. Wage- You'll more than likely make minimum wage and if that's not okay don't work in food there is no real money to be made although Panera is probably the most unwilling company I've ever come across to give any compensation to any of the staff

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
Jul 6, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

fun environment, free food and drinks

Cons

its a fast food job

3.0
Apr 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

GM at this location is very on top of things, because it's the busiest Panera in Queens. Consistent hours. Shifts go by very quickly, especially in the morning.

Cons

Location is extremely busy so it gets very stressful, especially in the morning when someone is out / there is no second cashier scheduled so the single cashier in the morning has to clean the coffee counter, refill coffees, make drinks, stick bagels in the oven & serve those bagels, check and bag up RPU/delivery orders, get bakery items for barista screen, and ring up customers. It can get really intense when many people come in, which is most of the time. You will be running back and forth like crazy. Customers can be impatient, rude, demeaning, and nasty when the line gets too long. Not recommended for people who are sensitive, with high anxiety. As for Panera the company, this chain keeps making bizarre and difficult changes to the menu, all of which make employees' lives harder and harder. With every change comes strange, dismaying, and borderline impossible expectations for frontline staff that cascade down through management who cannot do much to alter the hard policies. You can tell the company is struggling greatly to keep itself relevant with the younger crowd (a solid 80% of customers are old people). The CEO and everyone making company decisions at Panera is extremely out-of-touch. EXTREMELY. With every nonsensical menu & operations adjustment, you can tell these people haven't actually worked at a food service job in like 40 years.

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