Be ready to work your tail off - Cashier Panera Bread Employee Review

4.0
29 May 2011
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-You learn a lot of stuff -- how to deal with angry customers, how to work under pressure, and do tasks quickly. -They started me off with an hourly salary above minimum wage (It's likely they did this for others) -Good discount, and they give you free stuff pretty often. -You go through a lot of training before you're thrown to the sharks. -Good experience. Makes other jobs seem like a piece of cake. -Mostly a positive work environment. Their Christian background makes the store unique to others.

Cons

-If you work at a busy store, a lot of mistakes can be made which can be flustering and it gets a lot of people angry. -You need a manager to do EVERYTHING (i.e. give discounts to employees, get you more money for your drawer, etc) And during your busy hours, you tick off a lot of customers and waste time trying to track a busy manager down. -Customers aren't allowed to give you tips -You have to learn every ingredient on every sandwich -A ton of busy work, even when there's no time to do it. You can't stand around or talk to your co-workers even when there is some down-time.

Explore other reviews about Panera Bread

5.0
29 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Worked with college students so it was fun.

Cons

They fire people at the drop of a hat.

3.0
18 Apr 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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