Panera Bread
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
123 reviews

Panera Bread Employer Reviews

Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Not fun and unfair environment.
Associate Trainer (Current Employee), East Rutherford, NJ –
Pros: free soda !
Cons: paying for your own meal.
customers are rude, managment is rude and unfair. coworkers try to make the best of it, but there is only so much we could do by means of management. hardest part of the job is trying to keep smiling after being mistreated by customers or management. most enjoyable part of the job is probably when a customer actually thanks you or compliments you on – more...  whatever or maybe even closing time ! that is exciting – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Below Average
Cashier/ Team worker (Former Employee), Woodcliff Lake, NJ –
The management was good and the co-workers were fine but I felt the place was dirty. The pay was not good enough for the work you had to do. Dining room duty was the hardest and easily the worst job you could do.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Very career oriented
Associate (Former Employee), Dayton, OH –
Pros: great customer service skills, the customers
Cons: sometimes how it is run
A typical day at Panera Bread would be coming in and making sure the bakery is set up properly and ready to go when all product is finished in the oven and the doors open. My next duty would be to make all coffees and have the finished right before we open for our customers. Then keep all customers happy so they come back the next morning for the same – more...  bagel and coffee they receive everyday. The hardest part of my job and making sure the closers set up the bakery properly and didn't lose any of the pieces because the I go and find the missing ones. The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing the same customers everyday and making a relationship with them along with being able to memorize their particular and individual orders. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Awesome place to work
Cashier (Former Employee), Montgomery –
Working at Panera Bread you really feel like family, the down fall is not having personal time because of the erratic hours.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Strict, Fast-pace work environment
Associate (Current Employee), Saint Petersburg, FL –
Pros: 50% off on food, good hours, set-schedule
Cons: no benefits, hard to get evaluations, no "full-time", hard to get time off
A typical day at work starts at 5 am with spending the morning in the bakery. I set up the bakery case and put up bread and bagels. Around 11 am I move to the cafe line where I make sandwiches, salads, and consolidate the food onto a tray during the "lunch rush". I go home between 1 and 2. The hardest part of my job is the fact that the company goes – more...  through employees so frequently that no one is properly trained, and I end up having to do the jobs of 2 or more people. The most enjoyable part of the job is probably the hours. Management is trained to talk down to employees and do less work but most of my co-workers are very hard working. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Fun work environment; reasonable hours; it's a second family!
Assistant Manager (Current Employee), Burbank/La Grange Park IL –
Pros: employee/manager discount on food, great benefits, fun work environment
Cons: can be stressful at times, it all depends on what store you go to!
I've been with Panera for 9 years. The hours can be tough at times, but overall a great company to work for. It's a family environment, the relationships you gain from employees and customers can go a long way. It makes it fun to go into work. I've been managing for 4 years now and it has been a great experience. The knowledge gained with Panera has – more...  been profound. If seeking a manager position, you'll have a sub-roll of either inventory, labor or training specialist. There culture values and beliefs are strong and will continue to grow as they prosper within the food sector. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
A Productive and fun work environment
Hourly Associate (Former Employee), Houston, TX –
Pros: half off on any meals
Cons: sometimes no breaks at all
A typical day at Panera Bread was based with Productivity and great moral values coming from us, the employees. No one ever slacked on there work, only occasionally.I could say there were one or two people that would do so within the time-period i was working there. The hardest part of the job I would have to say was closing down the restaurant at the – more...  end of the night. Mostly, I enjoyed the out-going attitudes that the employee's had and never did it once interfere with store regulations. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Nice place, welcoming and fun.
Crew (Current Employee), Louisville, KY –
It's nice and busy. It's a good place to work, we all work together to get the job done and help the guest.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
fun eviorment
customer service professional (Former Employee), DORCHESTER, MA –
Pros: great training
great trainers, great people.
Customer are great and the emploee know there job and are always helpful.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
blah
Associate (Former Employee), Rowland Heights, CA –
Pros: discount on food
Cons: food is expensive
The work is not hard as long as the prepers do their job in the morning. Its only a temp job unless your trying to be a manager. The environment is peaceful but a lot of college students crowding the cafe because Panera has free wi-fi. They would take up a lot of room and barely buy anything. Hardest part of the job was during rush hour and not being – more...  able to say anything to the college students who barely bought anything. I would have liked to stay longer except management and I did not see eye to eye. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Enjoyed brining the 1st Panera Bread into this area.
General Manager (Former Employee), Asheville, NC –
Always fun when you help bring a new company to the area. Myself and two assistant mgrs. hired and trained 60 employees to have a sucessful grand opening.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
First College Job
Cashier/ Team Lead (Former Employee), Cincinnati, OH –
You will do anything for money and they notice that. Long hours and the store cleaning was intense.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
shift manager
Shift Manager (Former Employee), Erie, PA –
Had a fun experince and learned alot being a manager. The hours were hard while being a student. but it was a great place to work
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Review of Panera Bread
Dining Attendant/Cashier (Former Employee), Durham, NC –
The days were not very long but the work that was required at times was. people frequently visited Panera Bread because it was nearby and healthy. I was the one usually doing the lifting and taking out garbage, sweeping, and some other tasks along the way. I learned a couple of things like making some drinks how to interchange the syrups for the soda, – more...  stocking, restroom rules, and mainly how to properly handle myself around patrons and how to act when conversing with them. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
started out as a great place
Shift Supervisor (Former Employee), Franklin, MA –
Pros: free meals, social atmosphere
Cons: rop, hours, schedule
When I decided to work at Panera I knew I would enjoy the atmosphere because I am a very social person. I quickly embraced the atmosphere and the friendliness of the other employees. It was when I became a Shift Supervisor that things started to change. I did not realize my own social life would diminish and a strain be put on my marriage. The schedule – more...  was tough to deal with, constantly changing and my hours fluctuated and I really needed 40 hours. I couldn't enjoy a wknd and had to ask for days off hoping that I would get approved. My excitement went away when I had to deal with unrulely customers and get blamed for things that I had nothing to do with or any control over. It was unfortunate the way that my particular upper management handled situations and treated the employees and myself. Not a situation I wanted to be involved in anymore. – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Very lovely place to work.
Dining Room Member (Former Employee), Olde West Chester, OH –
Pros: free food, good schedules, friendly atmosphere.
Cons: a little too much work for one person at times.
I cleaned all the tables and got all the dishes together. Overall, the people I worked with were nice and friendly. The place was ran well. One thing that was hard was that there was only one person cleaning dishes, tables, taking out trash, making coffee and cleaning everything else. That did get a little overwhelming at times but overall it was a – more...  great place to work! – less
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Fun job
Trainer (Former Employee), panama city beach –
An excellent place to work and great people to work with. I would suggest working here to anyone.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
great place to work but no promotion chances
CERTIFIED TRAINER (Former Employee), Dayton, OH –
Prep for the morning and lunch. Make sandwichs and also worked as a cashier.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Sandwhich Booth Operator
Cashier (Former Employee), Miami, FL –
Prepared Sandwiches for customers.Help make salads. Helped give out food.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
Compensation/Benefits
Management
Job Security/Advancement
Job Culture
Job Work/Life Balance
Need to hire managers that work
prep trainer (Current Employee), Suffolk, VA –
Pros: the food is good, brocolli cheddar soup
Cons: lazy managers
The managers are lazy and don't like to do know work. All they do is sit around and eat. The employees was cool.They dont want to pay no money and want you to do all the work and also they dont promote within the company. They promote from on the outside first.
Was this review helpful?  YesNoComment
1 2 3 4 5 Next »

About Panera Bread

Panera Bread is expanding quickly across North America,operating 1,541 company-owned and franchise-operated bakery-cafes in – Read more